Ramadan Articles - Eid Etiquette and Rulings

Praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be
upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions.
"Eid" is an Arabic word referring to something habitual, that returns
andis repeated. Eids or festivals are symbols to be found in every
nation,including those that are based on revealed scriptures and those
that are idolatrous, as well as others, because celebrating festivals
is something that is an instinctive part of humannature. All people
like to have special occasions to celebrate, where they can come
together and express their joy and happiness.
The festivals of the kaafir nations may be connected to worldly
matters, such as the beginning of the year, the start of an
agricultural season, the changing of the weather,the establishment of
a state, the accession of a ruler, and so on. They may also be
connected toreligious occasions, like many of the festivals belonging
exclusively to the Jews and Christians, such as the Thursday on which
they claim the table was sent down to Jesus, Christmas, New Year's,
Thanksgiving, andholidays on which gifts are exchanged. These
arecelebrated in all European and North American countries nowadays,
and in other countries where Christianinfluence is prevalent, even if
the country is not originally Christian. Someso-called Muslims may
also join in these holidays, out of ignorance or hypocrisy.
The Magians (Zoroastrians) also have their own festivals, such as
Mahrajaan, Nowruz and so on.
The Baatinis have their own festivals too, such as"Eid al-Ghadeer",
when they claim that the Prophet [an error occurred while processing
this directive] (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gavethe
khilaafah to 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) and to the twelve
imaams after him.
The Muslims are distinguished by their festivals
The Prophet's words "Every nation has its festival, and this is your
festival"indicate that these two Eids are exclusively for the Muslims,
and that it is notpermissible for Muslims to imitate the kuffaar and
mushrikeen in anything that is a distinctive part of their
celebrations, whether it be food, dress, bonfires or acts of worship.
Muslim children should not be allowed to play onthose kaafir
festivals, or to put up decorations, or to join in with the kuffaar on
those occasions. All kaafir or innovated festivals are haraam, such as
Independence Day celebrations, anniversaries of revolutions, holidays
celebrating trees or accessions to the throne, birthdays, Labour Day,
the Nile festival, Shimm al-Naseem (Egyptian spring holiday),
teachers'day, and al-Mawlood al-Nabawi (Prophet's Birthday).
The Muslims have no festivals apart from Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adhaa,
because of the hadeeth narrated from Anas (may Allaah be pleased with
him) who said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) came to Madeenah and the people had two days when they
would play and have fun. He said, 'What are these two days?' They
said, 'We used to play and have fun on these days during the
Jaahiliyyah. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said,'Allaah has given you something better than them, the
day of Adhaa and the day of Fitr.'"(Sunan Abi Dawood, 1134)
These two Eids are among the signs or symbols of Allaah which we must
celebrate and understand the aims and meanings behind them.
There follows a discussion of some of the rulings and manners of the
two Eids according toIslamic sharee'ah
1 – Ahkaam al-Eid (Rulings on Eid)
Fasting
It is haraam to fast on thedays of Eid because of the hadeeth of Abu
Sa'eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said that the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
forbade fasting on the day of Fitr and the day of Sacrifice (Adhaa).
(Reported by Muslim, 827)
Ruling on the Eid prayers
Some of the scholars say that Eid prayers are waajib (obligatory) –
thisis the view of the Hanafi scholars and of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him). They say that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) always prayedthe Eid
prayer and never omitted to do it, not evenonce. They take as evidence
the aayah (interpretation of the meaning),"Therefore turn in prayer to
your Lord and sacrifice (to Himonly)"[al-Kawthar 108:2],i.e., the Eid
prayer and the sacrifice after it, which is an instruction, and the
fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
ordered that the women should be brought out to attend the Eid
prayers, and that a woman who did not have a jilbaab should borrow one
from her sister. Some scholars say that Eid prayer is fard kifaaya.
This is the view of the Hanbalis. A third group say that Eid prayer is
sunnah mu'akkadah. This is the view of the Maalikis and Shaafa'is.
They take as evidence thehadeeth of the Bedouin which says that Allaah
has not imposed any prayers on His slaves other than the five daily
prayers. So the Muslim should be keen to attend Eid prayers,
especially since the opinion that it is waajib is based on strong
evidence. The goodness, blessings and great reward one gets from
attending Eid prayers, and the fact that one is following the example
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) by doing
so, should be sufficient motivation.
Essentials and timing of Eid prayer
Some scholars (the Hanafis and Hanbalis) saythat the conditions of Eid
prayer are that the iqaamah should be recited and the prayer should be
offered in jamaa'ah (congregation).Some of them said that the
conditions of Eid prayer are the same as the conditions for Friday
prayer, with the exception of the khutbah, attendance at which is not
obligatory. The majority of scholars say that the time for the Eid
prayer starts when the sun has risen above the height of a spear, as
seen by the naked eye, and continues until the sun is approaching its
zenith.
Description of the Eid prayer
'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:"The prayer of Eid and
al-Adhaa is two complete rak'ahs, not shortened. This is according to
the words of your Prophet, and the liar is doomed."
Abu Sa'eed said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) usedto come out to the prayer-place on the day of
Fitr and al-Adhaa, and the first thing he would do was the prayer."
The Takbeer is repeated seven times in the first rak'ah and five times
in the second, the Qur'aan isto be recited after each.
It was reported from 'Aa'ishah: the Takbeer of al-Fitr and al-Adhaa is
seven in the first rak'ah and five in the second, apart from the
takbeer ofrukoo' . (Reported by AbuDawood; saheeh by the sum of its
isnaads)
If a person joining the prayer catches up with the imaam during these
extra takbeeraat, he should say "Allaahu akbar" with the imaam, and he
does not have to make up any takbeeraat he may have missed, because
they are sunnah,not waajib. With regard to what should be said between
the takbeeraat, Hammaad ibn Salamah reported from Ibraaheemthat Waleed
ibn 'Uqbah entered the mosque when Ibn Mas'ood, Hudhayfah and Abu
Moosa were there, and said, "Eid is here, what should I do?" Ibn
Mas'oodsaid:"Say 'Allaahu akbar',praise and thank Allaah, send
blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
and make du'aa', then say Say 'Allaahu akbar', praise and thank
Allaah, send blessings on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him)…etc."(Reported by al-Tabaraani. It is a saheeh hadeeth
that is quoted in al-Irwaa' and elsewhere).
Recitation of Qur'aan in Eid prayers
It is recommended (mustahabb) that in the Eid prayers the imaam should
recite Qaaf [soorah 50] and Aqtarabat al-saa'ah [al-Qamar, soorah 54],
as it is reported in Saheeh Muslim that 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab asked
Abu Waaqid al-Laythi, "What did the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite at [Eid] al-Adhaa and
al-Fitr?" He said,"He used to recite Qaaf. Wa'l-Qur'aan al-majeed
[Qaaf 50:1] and Aqtarabatal-saa'ah wa anshaqq al-qamar [al-Qamar
54:1].
Most of the reports indicate that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) usedto recite Soorat al-A'laa [87] and Soorat
al-Ghaashiyah [88], as he used to recite them in theFriday prayer.
Al-Nu'maan ibn Bishr said:"The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite on the two Eids and on
Fridays, Sabbih isma rabbika'l-a'laa [al-A'laa 87:1] and Hal ataaka
hadeeth al-ghaashiyah [al-Ghaashiyah 88:1]."(Saheeh Muslim, 878).
Samurah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:"The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite on the two Eids,
Sabbih isma rabbika'l-a'laa [al-A' laa 87:1] and Hal ataaka hadeeth
al-ghaashiyah [al-Ghaashiyah 88:1]."(Reported by Ahmad and others; it
is saheeh. Al-Irwaa', 3/116)
The prayer comes before the khutbah
One of the rulings of Eid is that the prayer should come before the
khutbah, as is reported inMusnad Ahmad from the hadeeth of Ibn
'Abbaas, who testified that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed before the khutbah on Eid,
then he gave the khutbah." (Musnad Ahmad, 1905. The hadeeth is also in
al-Saheehayn).
Another indication that the khutbah should be after the prayer is the
hadeeth of Abu Sa'eed (may Allaah be pleased with him): "The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) usedto go out to the
prayer-place on the day of al-Fitrand al-Adhaa, and the first thing he
would do was to pray, then he would stand up facing the people, whilst
they were still sitting in their rows, and would advise and instruct
them. If he wanted to send out a military expedition, he would decide
about the matter then, or if he wanted to issue a command, he would do
itthen."Abu Sa'eed said:"This is what the people continued to do until
I came out [to the Eid prayers] with Marwaan, when he was governor of
Madeenah, on either Adhaa or Fitr. When we reached the prayer-place,we
saw the minbar, which had been built by Katheer ibn al-Salt. Marwaan
wanted to get on the minbar before theprayer. I pulled on his cloak,
and he pulled on mine in return, then he got on the minbar and gave
the khutbah before the prayer. I said, 'You have changed it, by
Allaah! ' He said, 'O Abu Sa'eed, what you know isgone.' I said, 'What
I know, by Allaah, is better than what I do not know.' He said, 'The
people will not remain sitting after the prayer, so we made it [the
khutbah] before the prayer.'"(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 956).
Anyone who wants to leave during the khutbahis allowed to do so
'Abd-Allaah ibn al-Saa'ib said: "I attended Eid with the Prophet ]
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and when he finished the
prayer, he said: "We will give the khutbah, so whoever wants to sit
(and listen to) the khutbah, let him sit, and whoever wants to leave,
let him go.'"(Irwaa' al-Ghaleel, 3/96)
Not delaying the prayer for too long
'Abd-Allaah ibn Bishr, the companion of the Prophet [an error occurred
while processing this directive] (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), went out with the peopleon the day of Fitr or al-Adhaa, and
objected tothe fact that the imaam came very late. He said, "At the
time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) we
would have finished by now," and that was at the time of al-Tasbeeh ."
(Reported by al-Bukhaari)
Naafil prayers in the prayer-place
There are no naafil prayers to be done eitherbefore or after the Eid
prayer, as Ibn 'Abbaas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) used to come out on the day of Eid and pray two
rak'ahs, with nothing before or after them.
This is the case if the prayer is offered in a prayer place or public
place. If, however, the people pray the Eid prayer in a mosque, then
they should pray two rak'ahs for Tahiyat al-Masjid ("Greeting the
mosque") before sitting down.
If people did not know about Eid until the next day
Abu 'Umayr ibn Anas reported from his paternal uncles among the Ansaar
who said:"It was cloudy and we could not see the new moon of Shawwaal,
so we started the day fasting, then a caravan came at the end of the
day and told the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) that they had seen the new moon of Shawwaal the day before,
so he told thepeople to stop fasting, and they went out to pray the
Eid prayer the next day."(Reported by the five. It is saheeh;
al-Irwaa', 3/102)
If someone misses the Eidprayer, the most correct view is that he may
makeit up by praying two rak'ahs.
Women's attendance at Eid prayers
Hafsah said:"We used to prevent prepubescent girls from attending Eid
prayers. Then a woman came and stayed at the fort of Banu Khalaf, and
told us about her sister. Her sister's husband had taken part in
twelve campaigns with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and [she said],'my sister was with him on six of them. She
said, "We used to treat the wounded and take care of the sick. My
sister asked the Prophet (peaceand blessings of Allaah beupon him)
whether therewas anything wrong with her not going out [on Eid] if she
did not have a jilbaab. He said, 'Let her friend give her one of her
jilbaabs so that she may witness the blessings of Eid and see the
Muslims gathering.'"' When Um 'Atiyah came, I asked her, 'Did you hear
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) [say this]?'
Shesaid, 'May my father be sacrificed for him' – and she never
mentioned himwithout saying 'may my father be sacrificed for him' – 'I
heard him sayingthat we should bring out the young girls and thosewho
were secluded, or the young girls who were secluded, and the
menstruating women, so that they could witness the blessings of Eid
and see the gathering of the believers, but those who were
menstruating were to keep away from the prayer-place itself." (Saheeh
al-Bukhaari, 324).
The 'young girls' ('awaatiq, sing. 'aatiq) are girls who have reached
adolescence or are close to it, or have reached the age of marriage,
or are very precious to their families,or who are spared from having
to do humiliating work. It appears that they used to prevent these
young girls from going out because of the corruption that arose after
the first generation of Islam; but the Sahaabah did not approve of
that and they thought that the ruling should remain in their time as
it had been during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him).
Where it says"My sister was with him"it seems that there is something
omitted, probably"the woman said". [This is reflected in the
translation above. Translator].…
"Her jilbaabs"– she should lend her some of her clothes that she does not need.
"Secluded" – they would have a curtain in the corner of the house
behind which virgins would stay.
"Menstruating women"– huyyad, sing. haa'id – this may refer either to
girls who have reached the age of puberty, or women who are having
their period and are not taahir (pure).
"Menstruating women should avoid the prayer-place itself"– Ibn
al-Munayyir said:"The reason why they should avoid the prayer-place is
that if they stand with the women who are praying even though they are
not praying, it may appear that they have no respect for the prayer or
are careless, so it better for them to avoid that."
It was said that the reason why menstruatingwomen should avoid the
prayer-place is as a precaution, so that women will not come near men
for no reason ifthey are not praying, or so that they will not offend
others with their blood or their odour.
The hadeeth urges everyone to attend Eid prayer, and to co-operatewith
one another in righteousness and piety. The menstruating woman should
not forsake the remembrance of Allaah or places of goodness such as
gatherings for the purpose of seeking knowledge and remembering Allaah
– apart from mosques. The hadeeth also indicates that women should not
go out without a jilbaab.
This hadeeth tells us that it is not proper for youngwomen and women
in seclusion to go out except for a valid reason. It states that it is
preferable (mustahabb) for a woman to wear a jilbaab, and that it is
permissible to lend and borrow clothes. It also indicates that Eid
prayer is obligatory (waajib).
Ibn Abi Shaybah also narrated that Ibn 'Umar used to take whoever he
could of his household out to the Eid prayers.
The hadeeth of Umm 'Atiyah also states the reason for the ruling,
which is so that women may witness the blessingsof Eid, see the
gathering of the Muslims, and sharethe blessings and purification of
this day.
Al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his Sunan, after
quoting the hadeeth of Umm 'Atiyah:"Some of the scholars referred to
this hadeeth and allowedwomen to go out to the Eid prayers, and some
of them disliked this. It was reported that 'Abd-Allaahibn al-Mubaarak
said: 'I do not like for women to go out to Eid prayers nowadays. If a
woman insists on going out, her husband should let her, ifshe goes out
wearing hershabbiest clothes and notadorning herself. If she insists
on adorning herself, then she should not go out. In this case the
husband has the right to stop her from going out. It was reported that
'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: 'If the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had seen whathas happened
to women,he would have stopped them from going to the mosques, just as
the women of Bani Israa'eel were stopped.' It was reported that
Sufyaan al-Thawri did not like women to go to the Eid prayers in his
day."(Al-Tirmidhi, 495).
Umm 'Atiyah gave her fatwa in the hadeeth mentioned above a whileafter
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah beupon him) had died, and
it is not reported that anyof the Sahaabah disagreed with this. The
words of 'Aa'ishah, "If the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) had seen whathas happened to women,he would have stopped
them from going to the mosques",do not contradict this (provided that
women are meeting the Islamic conditions attached to their going out)…
It is better if permission is given only to those women who are not
who are not going tolook at men or be looked at, whose attendence
willnot lead to anything undesirable and who are not going to rub
shoulders with men on the street or in the mosque. (i.e., women whose
going out will not cause fitnah or temptation to her or to men).
Men should check on their womenfolk when they going out for the prayer
to make sure that their hijaab is complete, because they are the
"shepherds" who are responsible for their "flocks". Women should go
out in shabby clothes, not adorned or wearing perfume. Menstruating
women should not enter the mosque or prayer-place; they can wait in
the car, for example, where they can hear the khutbah.