1

I have a close Muslim personal friend who is getting married soon. Being a close friend, I was invited to his wedding. The wedding takes place in a conventional event venue (i.e., not a mosque or any other religious building). Can I attend his wedding?

Most online responsa, including this one I've seen here, deal primarily with Christian weddings conducted in a church. There are fairly evident halachic issues regarding gatherings of idolaters and entering an idolatrous house of worship. However, those reasons don't apply here. I know that the prevailing view is that Islam is not idolatrous, and one answer to that responsum says that you could attend a Muslim wedding, but does not elaborate. In my mind, this would be even more the case since the venue is not a house of worship, even if it seems like the poskim tend to permit entering a mosque. Would this be the correct view here?

P.S. I know there are tangential halachic issues. For kashrut, I won't be eating anything, and there's no alcohol served. The couple are fairly devout and I must assume that most of the guests would be expected to conform to Islamic dress customs, so I would think that there wouldn't be very many issues of tzniut here either.

Improve this question
5
  • So what issue could there possibly be?
    – Chatzkel
    Sep 23, 2022 at 19:10
  • I don't know, that's why I am asking @Chatzkel
    – user31526
    Sep 23, 2022 at 19:11
  • Related judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/23228/…
    – Chatzkel
    Sep 23, 2022 at 19:29
  • The way this is phrased, it sounds like asking for a psak. Even if it is technically mutar, it is still a good idea to ask a Rabbi for advice for your particular situation.
    – N.T.
    Sep 24, 2022 at 0:21
  • Welcome to MiYodeya Jason and thanks for this first question. Your question might get closed because this site is not a good place for personal questions. Those should be asked to a rabbi well-versed in the relevant laws who will ask questions on context and personal specifics to come to a good answer. This site can't substitute for this. Please don't let this deter you from coming back to learn with us. Also can I recommend you take the tour to get a sense of how the site works?
    – mbloch
    Sep 25, 2022 at 6:38

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

From Halachapedia:

Yabia Omer Section 10, Yoreh Deah 13, Rav Ovadia argues that since Muslims are not idol worshipers the prohibition of eating and drinking at a non-Jewish wedding does not apply to Muslim weddings.

On the other hand, Shut Chessed L'Avraham 14:26 pg. 127a, Darkei Teshuva 114:1, Ben Yisrael Lenachri pg. 398 disagree. According to their view it is forbidden to eat and drink at the wedding of a Muslim, the issue of eating and drinking at the wedding of a non-Jew is that it will lead to intermarriage. Therefore, it is still an issue to eat and drink at the wedding of a muslim as this practice may lead to intermarriage

Improve this answer
4
  • So it would seem that by both opinions, one can attend. I am not eating anyway as the food isn't kosher.
    – user31526
    Sep 23, 2022 at 19:34
  • See the whole piece in Halachapedia about general parties with non Jews and attending without eating. For practical advice, ask your rabbi
    – Chatzkel
    Sep 23, 2022 at 19:35
  • @jason29 Some hold accepting the invitation even without eating is already a biblical prohibition.
    – Double AA ♦
    Sep 23, 2022 at 20:18
  • 1
    @jason29 I wasn't discussing which weddings this prohibition applies to; only the notion that going without eating avoids the issue. As for lo plug, if it is a biblical prohibition (which is the simple pshat in the gemara) then the onus is on the one trying to carve out an exception.
    – Double AA ♦
    Sep 23, 2022 at 21:04