If he eats before going out to the prayer, we do not say to him: “You have gone against the sunnah.”

It is disliked to hold it in the congregational mosque without an excuse.

His statement, “It is disliked to hold it in the congregational mosque without an excuse,” means that holding the Eid prayer in the town’s congregational mosque without an excuse is disliked. The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that it is disliked to hold it in the congregational mosque, whether in Mecca, Medina, or any other city.

As for Medina, it apparently follows the same ruling as other places: it is recommended for its inhabitants to go out to the open prayer-ground and perform the Eid prayer there. This is preferable, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to do. It is disliked for them to pray in the Prophet’s Mosque except when there is an excuse. Yet people have continued, since ancient times, to perform the Eid prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque.

As for Mecca, I do not know of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, or of any of those who governed Mecca, ever going outside the Sacred Mosque. For this reason, al-Rawd al-Murbi‘ makes an exception for noble Mecca. Perhaps the wisdom behind this—and Allah knows best—is that praying in the open in Mecca is difficult, since it consists of mountains and valleys, and it would be burdensome for people to go out. Therefore, the Eid prayer was held within the Sacred Mosque itself.

His statement, “without an excuse,” indicates that if they pray in the congregational mosque due to an excuse, then there is nothing disliked about it.

Such excuses include rain, strong winds, and fear—for example, if there is a danger that prevents them from leaving the town.

If someone were to ask: What is the evidence that it is disliked, when you say that merely abandoning a sunnah does not entail that something is disliked unless there is evidence?