Anyone who comes into the mosque for that prayer may, if he wishes, perform two rak‘ahs as the greeting of the mosque; if he does not, there is no blame.
Its time extends from the point at which voluntary prayers become permissible—when the sun has risen and turned bright—until the sun reaches its zenith. It is not offered after that, for supererogatory practices are not made up later. The sunnah is that it should not be delayed to the end of this period except out of necessity, and performing it soon after the sun has risen white is preferable. The Prayer of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) should, in their view, be held slightly earlier than the Prayer of Breaking the Fast (Eid al-Fitr).
Adorning oneself with perfume and one’s finest clothes, for those who are able, is a commendable sunnah. Setting out for the prayer-ground after sunrise is recommended, though there is no harm in going earlier. There is no adhān or iqāmah for this prayer—nor for any other recommended or voluntary prayer; the call and the iqāmah are confined to the obligatory prayers. Should someone nevertheless give the adhān and iqāmah, his prayer is still valid, but he has not observed the ancient sunnah.
The imam begins with the prayer before the sermon, for that is the original sunnah. In the first rak‘ah he pronounces seven extra takbīrs, and in the second rak‘ah five extra takbīrs, not counting the opening takbīr of consecration nor the takbīr for rising to the second rak‘ah, according to a group of scholars from the Hijaz. If one counts the opening takbīr among the seven of the first rak‘ah, that is the view of Malik. All of these takbīrs precede the Qur’anic recitation.
Between the takbīrs there is no dhikr, supplication, or other words—only a brief silence, just long enough for those behind him to finish their own takbīrs. If he forgets the takbīrs, begins his recitation, and then remembers before bowing, he should return, pronounce the takbīrs correctly, recite again, and continue his prayer, making the prostration of forgetfulness after the salām. If he does not remember, nor is reminded, until after he has bowed, he continues and performs the prostration of forgetfulness before the salām.
The missed takbīrs of one rak‘ah are not made up in another. There is no fixed selection of passages to recite, though the sunnah is to recite aloud. When he has concluded the prayer with salām, he delivers two sermons.