1 – It is mustahab to recite takbeer during the night of Eid from sunset on the last day of Ramadhan until the Imam comes to lead the prayer. The format of the takbeer is as follows:
Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, laa ilaaha ill-Allaah, Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, wa Lillaahi’l-hamd (Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, there is no god except Allaah, Allaah is Most Great, Allaah is Most Great, and all praise be to Allaah).
Or you can say Allaahu akbar three times (instead of two).
Men should raise their voices reciting this dhikr in the marketplaces, mosques and homes, but women should not raise their voices.
2 – You should eat an odd number of dates before leaving for the Eid prayer, because the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) did not set out on the day of Eid until he had eaten an odd number of dates. You should stick to an odd number as the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) did.
3 – You should wear your best clothes – this is for men. With regard to women, they should not wear beautiful clothes when they go out to the Eid prayer-place, because the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) said: “Let them go out looking decent” i.e., in regular clothes that are not fancy. It is haram for them to go out wearing perfume and makeup.
4 – Some of the scholars regarded it as mustahab to do ghusl for the Eid prayer, because it is narrated that some of the salaf did this. Doing ghusl for Eid prayer is mustahab, just as it is prescribed for Jumu’ah because one is going to meet people. So if one does ghusl that is good.
5 – The Eid prayer. It seems to me, based on the evidence, that it is fard ‘ayn (an individual obligation) and that every male is obliged to attend the Eid prayer except for those who have an excuse. This was the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him).
6 – If Jumu’ah and Eid fall on the same day, the Eid prayer should be held, as should Jumu’ah prayer, as is indicated by the apparent meaning of the hadith of al-Nu’maan ibn Basheer (radiallahu anhu) which was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. But those who attend the Eid prayer with the imam may attend Jumu’ah if they wish, or they may pray Dhuhr.
7 – Ruling on Tahiyyatul-Masjid. What seems more likely to be correct in my view is that we should pray two rak’ahs in the Eid prayer-place to greet the mosque, but we should not denounce one another with regard to this issue, because it is a matter concerning which the scholars differ. We should not denounce others with regard to matters where the scholars differ, unless there is a clear text. So we should not denounce the one who prays (Tahiyyatul-Masjid) or the one who sits down without praying.
8 – One of the rulings on the day of Eid – Eid al-Fitr – is that Zakat al-Fitr is due on this day. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) enjoined that it should be paid before the Eid prayer.
9 – People should greet one another, but that results in haram actions on the part of many people, such as men entering houses and shaking hands with unveiled women without any mahram being present. Some of these evils are worse than others.
Some people have the custom of going out to the graveyard on the day of Eid to greet the occupants of the graves, but the occupants of the graves have no need of any greeting or congratulations, because they do not fast or pray qiyaam.
Visiting the graves is not something to be done especially on the day of Eid or Friday or any particular day.
Visiting graves is an act of worship, and acts of worship are not acceptable unless they are in accordance with sharee’ah. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasalam) did not single out the day of Eid for visiting the graves, so we should not do so either.
10 – There is nothing wrong with what men do on the day of Eid of embracing one another.
11 – It is prescribed for the one who goes out to the Eid prayer to go by one route and return by another, following the example of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam). This Sunnah does not apply to other prayers, Jumu’ah or anything else, it only applies to Eid.
[Adapted from Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 16/216-223]
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