Hudhayfah said, “He has spoken truly.” Abū Mūsā added, “That is the very way I used to pronounce the takbirs in Basra when I governed the people there,” and a number of scholars agreed with this practice.

Abū Ḥanīfah and the other jurists of Kūfah, however, relied on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, for it is soundly reported that he taught them the two ʿĪd prayers in the manner set out above. All the scholars had to adopt the statements of the Companions in this question, because nothing authentic has been established from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—concerning it, and it is understood that the Companions’ practice here is itself definitive, since analogy has no place in the matter.

They also disagreed about raising the hands with each extra takbir. Some considered it prescribed—this is al-Shāfiʿī’s school—others allowed the raising only with the opening takbir, while a third group left the worshipper free to choose.

They further differed over the category of people for whom the ʿĪd prayer is obligatory—in the sense of an emphatic Sunnah. One group held that both residents and travellers must perform it; this was the opinion of al-Shāfiʿī and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī. Al-Shāfiʿī also stated that it is incumbent upon desert dwellers and upon those who do not attend the Friday prayer, even upon a woman in her own home.

Abū Ḥanīfah and his companions maintained that the Friday and the two ʿĪd prayers are obligatory only for the inhabitants of towns and cities. It is related from ʿAlī that he said, “No Friday prayer and no ʿĪd (tashrīq) may be held except in a town possessing a congregational mosque.” Al-Zuhrī is likewise reported to have said, “There is no ʿĪd al-Fiṭr or ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā prayer upon a traveller.”

The root of this disagreement is whether the ʿĪd prayer should be analogised to the Friday prayer. Those who adopted the analogy ruled on it exactly as they rule on Jumuʿah, while those who rejected the analogy held that, as a rule, every legally responsible person is addressed by the command until an explicit exemption is proven.

The Qāḍī remarks: The Sunnah has differentiated between women with respect to the ʿĪd prayers and the Friday prayer, for it is authentically established that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—ordered women to go out for the two ʿĪds, but he did not command them to attend Jumuʿah.

They likewise differed about the distance from which attendance becomes obligatory, just as they did concerning the Friday prayer, with opinions ranging from three miles to a full day’s journey.

They all agree that the time for the ʿĪd prayer begins at sunrise and ends when the sun reaches its zenith.

They then disagreed about people who only learn that it is the day of ʿĪd after the zenith has passed. One group held that such persons are not required to pray the ʿĪd, neither on that day nor on the following day; this is the view of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Abū Thawr.