Friday 19 Ramadan 1445 - 29 March 2024
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There is no call or adhaan etc for the Eid prayer

Question

Is it Sunnah to give a call for the Eid prayer by saying “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”, as in the case of the eclipse prayer (salaat al-kusoof)?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

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. 

Al-Bukhaari (960) and Muslim (886) narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas and Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah al-Ansaari said: No adhaan was given on the day of al-Fitr or the day of al-Adha (i.e., for the Eid prayer). Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah al-Ansaari said: There is no adhaan for the prayer on the day of al-Fitr when the imam comes out, or after he comes out; no iqaamah, no call, nothing. There is no call on that day and no iqaamah. 

This hadeeth indicates that there is no adhaan or iqaamah for the Eid prayer and that no call is given for it. 

Some of the scholars are of the view that a call should be given for it by saying “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)” by analogy with the eclipse prayer. 

This is an analogy which contradicts the hadeeth of Jaabir quoted above, so no attention should be paid to it. 

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

Some of our companions said that a call should be given for it, i.e., “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”. This is the view of al-Shaafa’i. But the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is more deserving of being followed. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: 

There is no call for the Eid prayer or prayers for rain (al-istisqa’). This is the view of a number of our companions. This was quoted from him in al-Insaaf, 1/428. 

Ibn al-Qayyim said in Zaad al-Ma’aad: 

When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) reached the prayer-place he would commence the prayer – i.e., the Eid prayer – with no adhaan or iqaamah, and he did not say “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”. The Sunnah is not to do any of those things. 

Al-San’aani said in Subul al-Salaam, concerning the view that it is nustahabb to call people to the Eid prayer by saying “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”: 

This view is not correct, because there is no evidence that it is mustahabb. If it were mustahabb the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would not have failed to do it, and neither would the Rightly-Guided Caliphs who came after him. That is proven with regard to the eclipse prayer, not for any other, and it is not correct to draw an analogy between them, because if there was a reason for doing something during his lifetime but he did not do it, doing it after he is gone is a bid’ah (innovation), so it cannot be proven by analogy or otherwise. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked: Is there any adhaan or iqaamah for the Eid prayer? 

He replied: 

There is no adhaan or iqaamah for the Eid prayer, as was proven in the Sunnah, but some scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) said that a call may be given for it by saying “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”. But there is no evidence for this view, so it is weak (da’eef). It is not correct to draw an analogy with the eclipse prayer, because an eclipse may come without people realizing it, unlike the Eid prayer. So the Sunnah is not to give any adhaan or iqaamah to call people by saying “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”. Rather the people should come out, and when the imam arrives they should pray without any adhaan or iqaamah, then after that comes the khutbah. 

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 16/237.

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Source: Islam Q&A