Q: My family in the recent years have developed this habit of distributing eid gifts amongst the entire family. Whilst it is totally permissible and sunnah to exchange gifts, the family gathers together and each gift is opened and ooohs an ahhhs are shared.
My concern is this practice may mimic the Kuffar when done on the festive days and secondly with every passing year the gifts somehow need to become more elaborate than the year before since it is presented in a formal gathering of the entire family being present.
Can Mufti saheb please provide some direction of how this sunnah should be practiced when presenting a gift and should this existing practice be kept or done away with?
A: Gifts are received or given to create mahabbat, and mahabbat can be created only if it is done with love and informality. When these are not found then this will defeat the whole object.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)