deeds. For someone who does not pray may nevertheless remember the name of his Lord.

Some jurists say that this means mentioning His name at the beginning of prayer. This, Allah knows best, is why self-purification is mentioned first in this verse. Some of the early generations would invoke this verse when giving the alms of Eid al-Fitr before the Eid prayer. One of them—I believe it was Yazīd ibn Abī Habīb—considered it recommended to give charity before every prayer for this reason.

Since Allah mentions prayer before sacrifice in His words:

“So pray to your Lord and sacrifice,”

and mentions self-purification before prayer in His words:

“Successful indeed is the one who purifies himself, and remembers the name of his Lord and prays,”

the Sunnah is to give charity before the prayer on Eid al-Fitr and to slaughter the sacrifice after the prayer on the Eid of Sacrifice.

It also seems—and Allah knows best—that fasting may be included in the self-purification mentioned in the verse. For Allah says:

“Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become mindful of Allah.”

The purpose of fasting is therefore piety, which is part of the meaning of self-purification.

In the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās:

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made the alms of Eid al-Fitr obligatory as a purification for the fasting person from idle and obscene speech, and as food for the needy.”