Chapter: The Prayer of the Two ‘Eids

It is recommended to perform ghusl (a full ritual bath) for both ‘Eids. Likewise, on the Day of Fitr it is recommended to eat before setting out for the prayer-ground, unlike the Day of Naḥr (Eid al-Aḍḥā). It is also recommended to return home by a different route, and in the view of Malik and the scholars of Madinah this is even more emphatically encouraged than eating beforehand. Walking to the prayer, and pronouncing the takbīr on the way and at the site until the imam begins the sermon—all of this is praiseworthy, recommended, and enjoined.

The two ‘Eid prayers are an established sunnah that ought not to be neglected. They apply to all Muslims in every region—city-dwellers, villagers, and Bedouins—who should go out to their open prayer-ground and perform the prayer there. It is not to be held in a mosque except out of necessity, the sole exception being the people of Mecca, whose sunnah is to pray it in the Sacred Mosque. The ‘Eid prayer is not incumbent on travelers, nor on the residents of Mina or the pilgrims, for they are travelers occupied with other rites.

There is no objection to women attending the ‘Eid prayers, nor to boys who are able to control themselves. Nevertheless, in my view it is preferable that women refrain from attending because of the public display of adornment that has become common. No voluntary prayers are to be offered at the prayer-ground either before or after the ‘Eid prayer; however, if the prayer is conducted in a mosque, one may perform optional prayers there.