Wedding Ceremony according to Hindu customs

First of all apologies if this email is not meant for any type of questions and answer but i looked at irf.net and i couldnt find a way where i can get an answer. My name is Firoz Ali age 32 married to a revert. My wife 29 is a revert muslim and she accepted islam long before the marriage willfully without any pressure or condition.

We did nikah without including family members since girls side weren’t accepting and eventually they accepted our nikah and things are ok between the two families. Lately the girls side have requested to do a shaadi as per hindu traditions to which i denied only for pheras as i know its a shirk. I had requested them to cancel the pheras ceremony or anything which includes idols or any pandit and agreed to reception only. eventually time passed by and now girls mother and siblings are requesting with all they could to do the pheras. They promised me that they will shorten all the rituals and just for the sake of there people they are requesting me to do the pheras thinking its an acting. I have sympathy for there situation and have made up my mind not to do the pheras. My wife too isnt willing since she accepted islam long ago and she is a practising muslim but failed to convince her family.

Now i am very well aware of this being a shirk and i dont have to bow down but is it permissible to do phera just for the sake of her parents respect and dignity in the society. On the other side we are not showing our identity being a muslim due to society problems at there side.

Please can you advice me with the help of some hadith which can correlate to my circumstances because as of now i am very adamant to not do the pheras and incur a sin of doing shirk but at the same time i dont want to get other side family suffer from humility and embarrasment in the society if quran/hadiths permits me do to pheras under this circumstances.

One mistake i did before the marriage: I told her mother that i will do pheras just to convince her to let me marry her daughter but i know i have made a big mistake by saying this and later i did apologize to her mother and my wife . My wifes parents don’t know that my wife is now a muslim and is a practicing muslim.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

A Muslim believes in Tawheed (Oneness in Allah Taala.)We ought to be sensitive to Tawheed and never compromise in that. We should jealously guard our Tawheed against Kufr and Shirk.

The saat phere (“seven circumambulations“) is one of the most important features of the Hindu wedding, involving seven rounds around a pious fire. The bride and groom circumambulate a consecrated fire seven times, reciting specific vows with each circuit to Agnideva Lord of Fire; held as both witnessing and blessing the couple’s union. [1]

It is not permissible to do or accept doing the saat phere even for the purpose stated in your e-mail as it is clearly Shirk.[2]

 Consider the warning in the following verse:

ولا تركنوا إلى الذين ظلموا فتمسكم النار وما لكم من دون الله من أولياء ثم لا تنصرون

And do not incline towards the wrongdoers, lest the Fire should catch you, and you have no supporters other than Allah, then you should not be helped.[3]

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Huzaifah Deedat

Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia 

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.