الحمد لله ربِّ العالمين حمدًا كثيرًا طيِّبًا مباركًا فيه
وأصلي وأسلم على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله
O servants of Allah! As for the holiday prayer (salatu l-‘id), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered both men and women, and even young girls, who usually do not leave the house, to go out to perform the holiday prayer. And even women who are menstruating are ordered. Which means even those who usually do not go out: that all Muslims be present at this grace, at this prayer, at these requests (du’a) to Allah (exalted be He and exalted).
As for the woman who is having her period, she is at a distance, that is, not in the place where the prayer is performed, but she is still present during this worship. Look how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) persistently ordered to go to Eid prayer. Even if those people who usually do not leave the house – small, young girls who are hidden at home, behind a partition, who generally do not leave the house – are ordered to go out on this day.
All this indicates the obligatory nature of the holiday prayer. Yes, many say that it is desirable (sunnah), but the correct opinion is that it is obligatory (wajib). Umm Atiyya asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “O Messenger of Allah! And it happens that one of the women does not have a veil (jilbab) to go to the holiday prayer.” What did the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say to her? “Okay, let her sit at home, that’s not necessary”? No, he said:
لِتُلْبِسْهَا أُخْتُهَا مِن جِلْبَابِهَا
Let her sister cover her with her outer garment.
This hadith was narrated by al-Bukhari (324) and Muslim (890). Let her sister give her jilbab, if she has a spare one, so that she can put it on and go to the Eid prayer.
O servants of Allah! Therefore, point out to yourself and your families the need to go out for Eid prayer. Let it be young and old to worship Allah (pure and exalted is He), to carry out the order of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and to receive this benefit, because goodness descends into this place, the prayer of Muslims is accepted here.
Regarding the regulations (hukmah) related to the holiday prayer.
It is advisable for a believer to perform a complete ablution (ghusl) for the holiday prayer. Men go to the festive prayer clean, putting on their best clothes, anointing themselves with incense, anointing themselves with pleasant smells. But a Muslim must under no circumstances adorn himself on this day (as well as on other days) with any kind of silk clothing (because silk clothing is prohibited for men) or with clothing that goes below the ankles, because this is prohibited , putting on clothes that are specific to the wicked and unbelievers, or putting on clothes that are see-through or tight around the private parts.
Further, O servants of Allah. Some people say: “For the holiday, I need to have a nice shave and go to prayer shaved.” This is forbidden (haram), O servants of Allah. The correct opinion is that shaving the beard is haram. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade this, he ordered the believers to differ from the polytheists and grow beards. You cannot decorate yourself with anything that contradicts the order of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
As for women, be careful: a woman should not go to prayer wearing particularly elegant clothes that attract attention, or flaunting her beauty and body parts that are prohibited for outsiders to see. A woman should not anoint herself with perfume or incense when going to a holiday prayer. The sister is going now to worship Allah (pure and exalted is He). How will she commit such sins?
O servants of Allah! The Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is to eat a few dates (preferably an odd number) before leaving home for Eid prayer (don’t forget to practice this Sunnah!). This is what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did: before going to the place to perform festive prayer (musallu), he ate dates.
It is advisable, if possible, to walk and return to the holiday prayer. And it is advisable to go to the holiday prayer one way and return another.
Further, O servants of Allah. There are no additional prayers (sunnah) either before the Eid prayer or after the Eid prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came, performed 2 rak’ahs of the holiday prayer, and that’s it. There is no prayer before or after. Unless, of course, the prayer is performed in a mosque: then a person makes 2 rak’ahs of greeting to the mosque, as he does in normal times.
O servants of Allah! For holiday prayer (Eid prayer) there is no azan, iqama is not read, words such as “As-salatu jami’a, as-salatu jami’a!” are not pronounced. We hear how in some mosques people say before prayer: “As-salatu jami’a, as-salatu jami’a!” There’s no such thing. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to the place where the holiday prayer (musallu) was performed and immediately began with prayer. As it is said in the hadiths, without iqama, without azan. This hadith was reported by al-Bukhari (2/451), Muslim (2/604). This is the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
How is Eid prayer performed? It consists of two ordinary rak’ats. The imam reads the Quran loudly in these rak’ats. The peculiarity of these two rak’ats is that they have additional takbirs. It was narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that there are seven additional takbirs in the first rak’at, and five in the second rak’at. This hadith was narrated by Ahmad (2/180), Abu Daud (1151), ibn Majah (1278), Sheikh al-Albani called it authentic.
These additional takbirs are not obligatory (wajib), i.e. if a person forgot to say something from these additional takbirs or missed something, his prayer is valid and he continues to pray. Should I say something between additional takbirs? There is nothing reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for him to say anything between takbirs. It was narrated from Ibn Masud that he said: “Between every two takbirs, pronounce the praise of Allah (pure and exalted is He) (hamd and sana).”
After the holiday prayer, people sat in rows, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) addressed them with a sermon (khutbah), in which he exhorted, instructed, reminded and ordered. The khutbah of the holiday prayer is highly desirable. Is it necessary for a person to sit and listen to it? No, not necessarily. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
إِنَّا نَخْطُبُ فَمَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَجْلِسَ لِلْخُطْبَةِ فَلْيَجْلِسْ وَمَنْ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَذْهَبَ فَلْيَذْهَبْ
We shall deliver the sermon; he who likes to sit for listening to it may sit and he who likes to go away may go away. This hadith was reported by Abu Dawud (1155), an-Nasai (1570), ibn Khuzaimah (462), Sheikh al-Albani called it authentic.
But, of course, a person should not miss this grace of hearing a reminder of the religion of Allah (pure and exalted is He).
And, O servants of Allah, there is a mistake: many people come right before the beginning of prayer. It is desirable (sunnah) to go early, sit and wait for the imam, and be close to the imam in prayer. While a person is waiting for prayer, he is in prayer; It is written down for him as if he were performing namaz.
On this day there is no need to do any business in the morning. Hadiths indicate that on this day no work is done before prayer. Your job this morning is to prepare for prayer and go to the holiday prayer.
O servants of Allah! So, there is still an opportunity. There are still a few days left. Today will be the 27th night. Therefore, I once again urge myself and you to strive in the best possible way towards Allah (pure and exalted is He), towards His bounties. If you were one of those who showed negligence and omissions during the previous days, then at least now try to somehow compensate, to catch up. If a person, by the grace of Allah, has been diligent this month, let him continue to be diligent and maintain his worship, because, O servants of Allah, deeds are judged by their completion. Remember! Therefore, do not be one of those who are like the woman who spun yarn and then took it and unraveled it into threads.
And be sure to remember that there are still a few important nights left, which relate to the last ten nights (al-‘ashru l-‘awahir). On these nights, you and I are looking for the Night of Predestination. This is a blessed night, this is a night that is full of blessing (baraka), mercy. “It is all peace until the break of dawn.” (Quran, Surah “Predestination”, 97:5). On this night the angels descend, on this night the revelation of the Quran began. Do not forget what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
مَنْ قَامَ لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ إِيمَانًا وَاحْتِسَابًا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
“He who observed prayer on Lailat-ul- Qadr with faith and seeking reward (from Allah), all his previous sins would be forgiven.” This hadith was narrated by al-Bukhari (38) and Muslim (760).
And do not forget that you need to turn to Allah a lot with prayer (du’a). And do not forget about the du’a that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught:
اللهمَّ إنك عفوٌّ تُحبُّ العفوَ فاعفُ عَنَّا
“O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning, [Generous,] You love pardon, so pardon me. (Allāhumma innaka `Afuwwun [Karīmun], tuḥibbul-`afwa fa`fu `annī).’” This hadith was narrated by at-Tirmidhi (3513) and ibn Majah (3850), Sheikh al-Albani called it authentic.
O servants of Allah! This month is running out. Some of us will not live to see next Ramadan. What a blessing it is if a person made a profit this month, and what a loss it is if a person missed this month! What does he hope for? Hoping to survive until next Ramadan? Perhaps this opportunity will no longer be given to him. Therefore, O careless one! Wake up, wake up from this sleep of carelessness, end this month in a good way! How sad it is when a person looks at people of faith (iman), people of conviction, how they rush to their Lord, how they received contentment, how they approached Allah this month, but he remained far away! He sees a caravan of successful people leaving, and he is among those left behind.
Hurry to Allah (pure and exalted is He), because the hour of death (ajal) will come unexpectedly. And you keep putting it off and putting it off. Are you hoping for eternity? How many people will there be who will greatly regret it when the day of the holiday comes! How many people will there be who will regret when they receive their scrolls with deeds from Allah (pure and exalted is He) on the Day of Judgment.
We ask Allah (pure and exalted) to allow us to finish this blessed month, having received its contents, so that our share from this month will not be only that we did not eat or drink, only hunger and thirst. May Allah (pure and exalted be He) forgive us our sins.
