and even if this were conceded, one would reply: this prayer has distinctive features that no other prayer shares. The established Sunnah was for all the Muslims to gather behind the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his caliphs after him. They did not do this for other voluntary prayers. He would lead them out into the open country, proclaim Allah’s greatness during the prayer, and deliver a sermon afterward. This is prescribed on every Eid as a regular religious observance.

Seeking rain, however, was not confined to prayer. Sometimes he would seek rain through supplication alone while in Madinah; at other times, he would go out into the open country and seek rain, with or without prayer. Indeed, some scholars, such as Abū Hanīfah, did not recognize a prayer for seeking rain. Since seeking rain is prescribed without either prayer or a sermon, and for individuals as well, it cannot be placed in the same category as Eid, which invariably involves prayer and a sermon. Eid is a regular religious observance, not one prescribed in response to an occasional circumstance, as are the eclipse prayer and seeking rain.

Furthermore, when Alī ibn Abī Tālib appointed someone to lead the weak in the Eid prayer in the congregational mosque, he instructed him to pray four units, just as someone who does not perform the Friday prayer prays four units. Before Alī, people had known no practice of performing the Eid prayer except with the imam in the open country. Since the practice of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his caliphs included no Eid prayer except with the imam, it is invalid to equate it with prayers that they performed both individually and in congregation.

Furthermore, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not prescribe it for women; rather, he commanded them to go out on Eid. He even commanded that menstruating women be brought out. They said to him: “If not