this takbīr. However, we say: the sunnah is to say it aloud, as a manifest observance of this rite. Women, however, say the takbīr quietly, unless no men are nearby, in which case there is no harm in saying it aloud.

His statement, “on the two nights of the Festivals,” means the Festival of al-Adha and the Festival of al-Fitr. Islamic law has only three Festivals: the Festival of al-Fitr, the Festival of al-Adha, and the weekly Festival, Friday. Each of them has its occasion.

As for the occasion of the Festival of al-Fitr, it is that people have fulfilled one of the obligations of Islam, namely fasting. Thus Allah, Most High, has made this day a Festival for them, in which they rejoice and engage in permissible merriment and play, thereby openly marking this Festival and giving thanks to Allah, Most High, for this blessing. Yet they do not rejoice because they have rid themselves of fasting; rather, they rejoice because, through fasting, they have rid themselves of sin. The difference is that one who intends to rid himself of fasting feels that fasting is burdensome, and is happy to be free of it. But one who intends to rid himself of sin through fasting rejoices because fasting has freed him from sins. For whoever fasts Ramadan with faith and seeking Allah’s reward, Allah forgives his previous sins; whoever stands in prayer during Ramadan with faith and seeking Allah’s reward, Allah forgives his previous sins; and whoever stands in prayer on Laylat al-Qadr with faith and seeking Allah’s reward, Allah forgives his previous sins.

Thus, the rightly guided person rejoices at the Festival of al-Fitr because through it he has been freed of sins, as his previous sins may have been forgiven. The heedless person rejoices at the Festival of al-Fitr because he has been freed from the fasting in which he finds fatigue and hardship. There is a great difference between the two joys.

As for the Festival of al-Adha, its occasion too is evident, for it comes after the ten