Thus we have now shown that this alleged excuse collapses, because the very claim on which it rests is groundless. Accordingly, we say:

Even granting, for the sake of argument, that the Prophet’s Mosque could not accommodate the worshippers, they still could have prayed in the many other mosques that existed, just as people do today. Their deliberate choice to leave those mosques and pray in the open-air musalla is a clear proof that the sunnah is to perform the ʿEid prayer there rather than inside mosques. The intended ruling stands confirmed, and their attempt to abolish the practice is refuted.

They went on to say: “When the number of Muslims grew so large that gathering them in the musalla became impracticable—especially in major cities like Damascus because of the crowds—they began to assemble in the various mosques as circumstances required.”

I reply: Observe, dear reader, this inverted reasoning. They portray gathering the Muslims in the musalla as impossible, when in fact it is both easy and feasible. The proof is that the practice has continued in most regions, as Imam al-Nawawi states in