I also saw the wedding feast of Zainab, and he (the Holy Prophet) served bread and meat to the people, and made them eat to their heart's content, and he (the Holy Prophet) sent me to call people, and as he was free (from the ceremony) he stood up and I followed him. Two persons were left and they were busy in talking and did not get out (of the apartment). He (the Holy Prophet) then proceeded towards (the apartments of) his wives. He greeted with as-Salamu 'alaikum to every one of them and said: Members of the household, how are you? They said: Messenger of Allah, we are in good state 'How do you find your family? He would say: In good state. When he was free from (this work of exchanging greetings) he came back, and I also came back along with him. And as he reached the door, (he found) that the two men were still busy in talking. And when they saw him having returned, they stood up and went out; and by Allah! I do not know whether I had informed him, or there was a revelation to him (to the affect) that they had gone. He (the Holy Prophet) then came back and I also returned along with him, and as he put his step on the threshold of his door he hung a curtain between me and him, and (it was on this occasion) that Allah revealed this verse: (" O you who believe), do not enter the houses of the Prophet unless permission is given to 'you" (xxxiii. 53).

I was the best informed among the people pertaining to Hijab (veil and seclusion). Ubayy b. Ka'b used to ask me about it. Anas (Allah be pleased with him) thus narrated: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) got up in the morning as a bridegroom of Zainab bint jahsh (Allah be pleased witt her) as he had married her at Medina. He invited people to the wedding feast after the day had well risen. There sat Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and there kept sitting along with him some persons after the people had stood up (for departure) ; then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stood up and walked on and I also walked along with him until he reached the door of the apartment of 'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her). He then thought that they (those who had been sitting there after meal) had gone away. So he returned and I also returned with him, but they were still sitting at their places. So he returned for the second time and I also returned until he reached the apartment of 'A'isha. He again returned and I also returned and they had (by that time) stood up, and he hung a curtain between me and him (at the door of the apartment of Hadrat Zainab, where he had to stay), and Allah revealed the verse pertaining to veil.

He who is invited to a wedding feast or like it, he should accept it.

If any one of you is invited, he should accept (the invitation). In case he is fasting, he should pray (in order to bless the inmates of the house), and if he is not fasting he should eat.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) through another chain of transmitters.

I was sitting behind Abu Talha on the Day of Khaibar and my feet touched the foot of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), and we came (to the people of Khaibar) when the sun had risen and they had driven out their cattle, and had themselves come out with their axes, large baskets and hatchets, and they said: (Here come) Muhammad and the army. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Khaibar is ruined. Verily when we get down in the valley of a people, evil is the morning of the warned ones (al-Qur'an, xxxvii. 177). Allah, the Majestic and the Glorious, defeated them (the inhabitants of Khaibar), and there fell to the lot of Dihya a beautiful girl, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got her in exchange of seven heads, and then entrusted her to Umm Sulaim so that she might embellish her and prepare her (for marriage) with him. He (the narrator) said: He had been under the impression that he had said that so that she might spend her period of 'Iddah in her (Umm Sulaim's) house. (The woman) was Safiyya daughter of Huyayy. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) arranged the wedding feast consisting of dates, cheese, and refined butter, and pits were dug and tiers were set in them dining cloths, and there was brought cheese and refined butter, and these were placed there. And the people ate to their fill, and they said: We do not know whether he (the Holy Prophet) had married her (as a free woman), or as a slave woman. They said: If he (the Holy Prophet) would make her wear the veil, then she would be a (free married) woman, and if he would not make her wear the veil, then she should be a slave woman. When he intended to ride, he made her wear the veil and she sat on the hind part of the camel; so they came to know that he had married her. As they approached Medina, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) drove (his ride) quickly and so we did. 'Adba' (the name of Allah's Apostle's camel) stumbled and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) fell down and she (Radrat Safiyya: also fell down. He (the Holy Prophet) stood up and covered her. Women looked towards her and said: May Allah keep away the Jewess! He (the narrator) said: I said: Aba Hamza, did Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) really fall down? He said: Yes, by Allah, he in fact fell down.

When the 'Iddah of Zainab was over, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to Zaid to make a mention to her about him. Zaid went on until he came to her and she was fermenting her flour. He (Zaid) said: As I saw her I felt in my heart an idea of her greatness so much so that I could not see towards her (simply for the fact) that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had made a mention of her. So I turned my back towards her. and I turned upon my heels, and said: Zainab, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has sent (me) with a message to you. She said: I do not do anything until I solicit the will of my Lord. So she stood at her place of worship and the (verse of) the Qur'an (pertaining to her marriage) were revealed, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came to her without permission. He (the narrator) said: I saw that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) served us bread and meat until it was broad day light and the people went away, but some persons who were busy in con- versation stayed on in the house after the meal. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) also went out and I also followed him, and he began to visit the apartments of his wives greeting them (with the words): As-Salamu 'alaikum, and they would say: Allah's Messenger, how did you find your family (hadrat Zainab)? He (the narrator) stated: I do not know whether I had informed him that the people had gone out or he (the Holy Prophet) informed me (about that). He moved on until he entered the apartment, and I also went and wanted to enter (the apartment) along with him, but he threw a curtain between me and him, as (the verfes pertaining to seclusion) had been revealed, and people were instructed in what they had been instructed. Ibn Rafii had made this addition in his narration:" O you who believe, enter not the houses of the Prophet unless permission is given to you for a meal, not waiting for its cooking being finished..." to the words"... Allah forbears not from the truth."

When any one of you is invited to a feast, he should accept. 'Ubaidallah took this feast to be a wedding feast.

Come to the feast, when you are invited.

When any one of you is invited to a feast, he should accept it. He may eat if he likes, or he may abandon (eating) if he likes. Ibn Mathanni did not make mention of the word" feast".

A hadith like this has been narrated on the authority of Abd Zubair with the same chain of transmitters.

The worst kind of food is the wedding feast to which the rich are invited and the poor are ignored. He who does not come to the feast, he in fact disobeys Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ).

Abu Haraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying. The worst kind of food is at the wedding feast from which one who comes is turned away, and he who refuses it is invited, and he who did not accept the invitation disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ).

There came the wife of Rifa'a to Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) and said: I was married to Rifa'a but he divorced me, making may divorce irrevocable. Afterwards I married Abd al-Rahman b. al-Zubair, but all he possesses is like the fringe of a garment (i. e. he is sexually weak). Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) smiled, and said: Do you wish to return to Rifa'a. (You) cannot (do it) until you have tasted his sweetness and he ('Abd al-Rahman) has tasted your sweetness. Abu Bakr was at that time near him (the Holy Prophet) and Khalid (b. Sa'id) was at the door waiting for the permission to be granted to him to enter), He (Khalid) said; Abu Bakr, do you hear what she is saying loudly in the presence of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?

Safiyya (Allah be pleased with her) fell to the lot of Dihya in the spoils of war, and they praised her in the presence of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: We have not seen the like of her among the captives of war. He sent (a messenger) to Dihya and he gave him whatever he demanded. He then sent her to my mother and asked her to embellish her. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then got out of Khaibar until when he was on the other side of it, he halted, and a tent was pitched for him. When it was morning Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: He who has surplus of provision with him should bring that to us. Some persons would bring the surplus of dates, and the other surplus of mush of barley until there became a heap of bals. They began to eat the hais and began to drink out of the pond which had the water of rainfall in it and which was situated by their side. Anas said that that constituted the wedding feast of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). He (further) said: We proceeded until we saw the walls of Medina, and we were delighted. We made our mounts run quickly and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) also made his mount run quickly. And Safiyya (Allah be pleased with her) was at his back, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had seated her behind him. The camel of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stumbled and he (the Holy Prophet) fell down and she also fell down. And none among the people was seeing him and her, until Allah's Messeuger (ﷺ) stood up and he covered her, and we came to him and he said: We have received no injury. We entered Medina and there came out the young ladies of the household. They saw her (hadrat Safiyya) and blamed her for falling down.

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) gave no better wedding feast than the one he did (on the occasion of his marriage with) Zainab. Thabit al-Bunani (one of the narrators) said: What did he serve in the wedding feast? He (Anas) said: He fed them bread and meat (so lavishly) that they (the guests) abandoned it (of their own accord after having taken them to their hearts' content).

When Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) contracted marriage with Zainab (Allah be pleased with bet), Umm Sulaim sent him hats in a vessel of stone as a gift. Anas stated that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to him: Go and invite on my behalf all the Muslims whom you meet. So I invited on his behalf everyone whom I met. They entered (his house) and they ate and went out. And Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had kept his hand on the food, and he invoked blessing on that, and said whatever Allah wished him to say, and none whom I met was left uninvited. They ate to their fill and went out, but a group among them remained there and was engaged in lengthy discussion. Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) felt shy of saying them anything. So he went out and left them in his house and Allah the Great and Majestic revealed this verse:" 0 you who believe, enter not the houses of the Prophet unless permission is given to you for a meal, not waiting for its cooking being finished." Qatada (instead of using the word Ghaira Nazirina) used the word Ghaira Mutahayyinina (i. e. not waiting for the time of the food). But when you are invited, enter..." up to this verse. This is purer for your hearts and their hearts.

When any one of you is invited to a feast, he should attend it.

When any one of you invites his brother, he (the latter) should accept his wedding feast, or any other like it.

When you are invited to a feast (even though it is) the leg of the sheep, you should accept it.