How To Perform The Eid Prayer

eid prayer consists of two rak'ahs


the eid prayer is one where the imam attends and leads the people in praying two rak’ahs. ‘umar (may allaah be pleased with him) said: “the prayer of al-fitr is two rak’ahs and the prayer of al-adha is two rak’ahs, complete and not shortened, on the tongue of your prophet, and the one who fabricates lies is doomed.” narrated by al-nasaa’i, 1420 and ibn khuzaymah. classed as saheeh by al-albaani in saheeh al-nasaa’i.
 

the prayer is performed first

it was narrated that abu sa’eed said: "the messenger of allaah saws (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) used to come out on the day of al-fitr and al-adha to the prayer place, and the first thing he would do was to offer the prayer." narrated by al-bukhaari, 956

the first raak'ah consists of additional 6 takbeers - after the opening takbeer


in the first rak’ah he should say takbeerat al-ihraam (say “allaahu akbar” to start the prayer), after which he should say six or seven more takbeers, because of the hadeeth of ‘aa’ishah (may allaah be pleased with her), “the takbeer of al-fitr and al-adha is seven takbeers in the first rak’ah and five takbeers in the second, apart from the takbeer of rukoo’.” narrated by abu dawood and classed as saheeh by al-albaani in irwa’ al-ghaleel, 639.
then he should recite al-faatihah, and recite soorat qaf in the first rak’ah.


the second raak'ah consists of additional 5 takbeers - after the takbeer coming up from rukhoo


in the second rak’ah he should stand up saying takbeer, and when he has stood up completely he should say takbeer five times, and recite soorat al-faatihah then soorat al-qamr. the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) used to recite these two soorahs during the two eids. or if he wishes he can recite soorat al-a’la in the first rak’ah and soorat al-ghaashiyah in the second, because it was narrated that the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) used to recite al-a’la and al-ghaashiyah in the eid prayer.
 

the imam should revive the sunnah be reciting these soorahs so that the muslims will become familiar with the sunnah.

 khutbah of eid

after the prayer, the imam should address the people. part of the khutbah should be addressed specifically to the women, telling them of the things that they should do and warning them against the things that they should avoid, as the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) used to do.
muslim (885) narrated that jaabir ibn ‘abd-allaah said: i attended the prayer on the day of eid with the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him). he started with the prayer before the khutbah, with no adhaan or iqaamah.
the muslims who wish to leave after the prayers may do so; without disturbing the khutbah and those who wish to stay should sit quietly as they would do during jummuah.