“...required of me?” He replied: “No, unless you offer voluntary prayers.” (1) This is general in meaning, for every prayer other than the five daily prayers falls under it. The Messenger ﷺ said, “No”—that is, they are not obligatory—“unless you offer voluntary prayers,” meaning: unless you perform them voluntarily. This is the view of Malik and al-Shafi‘i.

The third view is that it is an individual obligation upon everyone: all Muslims must perform the Eid prayer, and whoever stays behind is sinful. This was the view of Abu Hanifah and was preferred by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him.

They cite as evidence that the Prophet ﷺ “commanded women—including menstruating women and women in seclusion—to go out to the prayer-ground, so that they might witness the good and the supplication of the Muslims.” (2) This indicates that it is an individual obligation, because if it were a communal obligation, the men would have fulfilled it. In my view, this is the closer of the opinions [and the preponderant one].

IF THE PEOPLE OF A TOWN ABANDON IT, THE RULER SHALL FIGHT THEM ..........

His statement: “If the people of a town abandon it, the ruler shall fight them,” means that if the people of a town abandon the Eid prayer, the ruler is to fight them—that is, if they do not perform it. If the ruler learns that they have abandoned it and calls them to perform it, but they persist in abandoning it, then he must fight them until they perform the prayer.

Fighting is not the same as killing; it is broader in scope. Not everyone whom it is permissible to fight may be killed, nor does the obligation to fight necessarily mean that the one being fought is a disbeliever. Rather, he may be a believer and yet be fought, as Allah Most High says: “And if two groups of believers