Doing the marriage contract on Friday
Question

                I am going to do the marriage contract with my fiancée in the very near future, in sha Allah. I chose Friday to do the marriage contract, then I found out that some scholars stated that it is mustahabb to do the marriage contract on Friday, whilst others think that it is an innovation. What do you advise me to do? Should I stick to my plan or change it so as to avoid falling into innovation?.
Praise be to Allah.
      There is no particular day of the week or year for doing 
      marriage contracts. Rather a person may do his marriage contract on any 
      day he wants, whether it is a Friday or any other day, so long as the 
      reason why he chooses this day is because that is most suitable for him. 
      There is nothing in this matter, in and of itself, that has to do with 
      Sunnah or bid ‘ah. 

    This is based on the apparent meaning of your question, that 
    you chose Friday – in the first place – then you heard something about it. 
    Based on that, you do not have to change that appointment and there is no 
    innovation involved in that, in sha Allah. 

    With regard to it being mustahabb to do the marriage contract 
    on that day, and deliberately seeking to do that, this was mentioned by more 
    than one of the fuqaha’ among the followers of all four madhhabs. 

    Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    It is mustahabb to do the marriage contract on a Friday. End 
    quote. 

    Al-Mughni, 7/64 

    Al-Nafaraawi al-Maaliki (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    It is mustahabb for the proposal and the marriage contract to 
    be on a Friday. End quote. 

    Al-Fawaakih al-Dawaani, 2/11 

    See also Asna’l-Mataalib by Shaykh Zakariya al-Ansaari 
    al-Shaafa‘i, 3/108; Fath al-Qadeer by Ibn al-Humaam al-Hanafi, 3/189 

    They quoted as evidence for that the actions of a number of 
    the early generation, including Damurah ibn Habeeb, Raashid ibn Sa‘d and 
    Habeeb ibn ‘Utbah. They also noted that Friday is a blessed day, so there is 
    the hope that Allah will bless the marriage if it takes place on the blessed 
    day; and because it is a noble day and a day of Eid. 

    It should be noted that the way the fuqaha’ spoke of it was 
    to say that it is mustahabb; they did not say that it is Sunnah, because 
    they knew that encouragement to do the marriage contract on a Friday was not 
    narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him); rather 
    it was narrated from some of the early generation and early fuqaha’, and was 
    based on their own opinions on attaining blessing for the marriage if it 
    coincided with the blessing of Friday, and in the hope that Allah would 
    answer supplications offered on that day. 

    The fuqaha’ often use the word mustahabb to refer to 
    something for which no particular evidence was narrated. So what is 
    mustahabb in their view is broader in scope that what is described as 
    “Sunnah”, because the latter requires proof that it is indeed narrated from 
    the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in a saheeh, marfoo‘ 
    hadeeth. 

    Hence some of the scholars pointed out that we cannot rely 
    upon the description of something as being mustahabb as meaning that it is a 
    proven Sunnah from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), 
    so that it will not be thought to be Sunnah; rather it should be noted that 
    the issue of it being mustahabb is subject to further discussion. 

    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    I do not know of any Sunnah concerning this. They gave as the 
    reason for that the fact that the latter part of Friday is a time when 
    supplications are answered, so there is the hope that the supplication that 
    is usually offered for blessing for the couple will be answered. 

    But it might be said: Was it the practice and Sunnah of the 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to seek out this time? If 
    that is proven, then saying that it is mustahabb is acceptable. But if it is 
    not proven, then it should not be taken as a regular practice. Hence the 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to perform marriages 
    and get married at any time, and there is no proof that he chose any 
    particular time. 

    Yes, if it happens to take place at that time we say that 
    this, in sha Allah, is a fortunate coincidence, but as for seeking out this 
    time, that is subject to further discussion, unless there is evidence to 
    that effect. 

    So the correct approach is that whenever it is possible to do 
    the marriage contract, whether in the mosque or at home or in the 
    marketplace or on an airplane and so on, and whenever it is possible to do 
    it, that is fine. End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti‘, 12/33 

    To sum up: 

    So long as you chose that day from the outset, there is 
    nothing wrong with you doing that, and you do not have to change it, and we 
    hope that Allah will bestow upon you the blessing and grace of that day. 

    And Allah knows best.