Praise be to Allah.
What is ‘Eid prayer?
The ‘Eid prayer is one where the imam attends and leads the people in praying two rak’ahs. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The prayer of al-Fitr is two rak’ahs and the prayer of al-Adha is two rak’ahs, complete and not shortened, on the tongue of your Prophet, and the one who fabricates lies is doomed.” Narrated by al-Nasai, 1420 and Ibn Khuzaymah. Classed as sahih by al-Albani in Sahih al-Nasai.
Abu Sa’id said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to come out on the day of al-Fitr and al-Adha to the prayer place, and the first thing he would do was to offer the prayer. Narrated by al-Bukhari, 956
How to pray ‘Eid prayer
In the first rak’ah he should say Takbirat al-ihram (say “Allahu akbar” to start the prayer), after which he should say six or seven more takbirs, because of the hadith of ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), “The takbir of al-Fitr and al-Adha is seven takbirs in the first rak’ah and five takbirs in the second, apart from the takbir of ruku’.” (Narrated by Abu Dawud and classed as sahih by al-Albani in Irwa’ al-Ghalil, 639)
Then he should recite al-Fatihah, and recite Surat Qaf in the first rak’ah.
In the second rak’ah, he should stand up saying takbir, and when he has stood up completely he should say takbir five times, and recite Surat al-Fatihah then Surat al-Qamar.
What to recite in ‘Eid prayer
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite Surat Qaf and Surat al-Qamar during the two ‘Eids . Or if he wishes he can recite Surat al-A’la in the first rak’ah and Surat al-Ghashiyah in the second, because it was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite al-A’la and al-Ghashiyah in the ‘Eid prayer .
The imam should revive the Sunnah by reciting these surahs so that the Muslims will become familiar with the Sunnah.
Giving khutbah after ‘Eid prayer
After the prayer, the imam should address the people. Part of the khutbah should be addressed specifically to the women , telling them of the things that they should do and warning them against the things that they should avoid, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to do.
See Fatawa Arkan al-Islam by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him), p. 398; Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah, 8/300-316).
The prayer comes before the khutbah
One of the rulings of ‘Eid is that the prayer comes before the khutbah, because of the hadith of Jabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah who said, The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out on the day of al-Fitr and started with the prayer before the khutbah. (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 958; Muslim, 885)
Another indication that the khutbah comes after the prayer is the hadith of Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to come out to the prayer place on the day of al-Fitr and al-Adha, and the first thing he would start with was the prayer, then he would go and stand facing the people, while the people were sitting in their rows, and he would preach to them and advise them and command them. If he wanted to send out a military expedition he would do so and if he wanted to tell the people to do something he would do so, then he would leave.
Abu Sa’id said: The people continued to do that until I went out with Marwan – who was the governor of Madinah – on ‘Eid al-Adha or ‘Eid al-Fitr, and when we came to the prayer-place, there was a minbar that had been built by Kathir ibn al-Salt. When Marwan wanted to ascend it before he prayed, I grabbed his garment and he pushed me away and climbed up and delivered the khutbah before the prayer. I said, “You have changed it, by Allah.”
He said, “O Abu Sa’id, what you knew has gone.”
I said, “What I know, by Allah, is better than what I do not know.”
He said, “The people will not sit and listen to us after the prayer, so we did it before the prayer.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 956)
And Allah knows best.
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