Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “I participated in the Eid al-Fitr Prayer with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, and all of them held `Eid Prayer before Khutbah, and then the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, delivered the Khutbah (sermon).” (Narrated Muslim)
Umm Atiyah reported: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded us to bring out onEid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, young women, hijab-observing adult women and the menstruating women. The menstruating women stayed out of actual Salah but participated in good deeds and Dua’ (supplication). I (Umm `Atiyah) said to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: ‘Oh! Messenger of Allah, one does not have an outer garment.’ He replied: ‘Let her sister cover her with her garment.’” (Narrated Muslim)
On the `Eid day, every believing man, woman and child should go to the prayer ground and participate in this joyous occasion.
Structure of `Eid prayer:
Eid prayer is wajib (strongly recommended, just short of obligatory). It consists of two Rakahs (units) with six or thirteen additional Takbeers. It must be offered in congregation. The prayer is followed by the Khutbah.
The Khutbah is part of the worship and listening to it is Sunnah. During the Khutbah, the Imam must remind the community about its responsibilities and obligations towards Allah, fellow Muslims and the fellow human beings. The Imam must encourage the Muslims to do good and ward off evil. The Muslim community must also be directed to the state of the community and the Ummah at large and the feelings of sacrifice and Jihad should be aroused in the community. At the conclusion of the prayer the Muslims should convey greetings to each other, give reasonable gifts to the youngsters and visit each other at their homes. Muslims should also take this opportunity to invite their non-Muslims neighbors, co-workers, classmates and business acquaintances to `Eid festivities to expose them to Islam and Muslim culture.
