How is the Eid prayer performed?

The steps, in order

Before the prayer

1. Purify and dress well. The scholars recommend ghusl for the two Eids, wearing perfume and one's best clothes for those who are able, and walking to the prayer with calm and dignity.
2. Eat before going out on Eid al-Fitr, but not on Eid al-Adha. On Fitr the sunnah is to eat an odd number of dates before leaving; on Adha, not to eat until after the prayer.
3. Go by one route and return by another. Jabir رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ would take a different route on the day of Eid.
4. Do not pray anything before or after it in the prayer ground. Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ went out on a day of Adha or Fitr, prayed two rak'ahs, and did not pray before or after them.

The first rak'ah

5. Make your intention and the opening takbir. The imam intends the Eid prayer and says the takbir of ihram; the follower intends the Eid prayer with the intention to follow.
6. Say the opening supplication, then six takbirs after the takbir of ihram. Raise your hands with each takbir. Between each two takbirs, the Hanbali scholars recommend praising Allah and sending blessings on the Prophet ﷺ, as reported from Ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه; no fixed wording is required.
7. Recite aloud: al-Fatihah, then a surah. The sunnah is Sabbih isma Rabbika al-A'la (Surah al-A'la) in the first rak'ah.
8. Bow and prostrate as in any prayer.

The second rak'ah

9. Stand up with a takbir, then say five takbirs before the recitation.
10. Recite aloud: al-Fatihah, then a surah — the sunnah is Hal ataka hadith al-Ghashiyah (Surah al-Ghashiyah).
11. Bow, prostrate, and give the salam.

The khutbah

12. The imam then delivers two khutbahs, sitting briefly between them. He faces the people, and the people remain in their rows. In the Fitr khutbah he urges them to give charity; in the Adha khutbah he teaches the rulings and virtue of the sacrifice. He should also address a section to the women, as the Prophet ﷺ did.

What makes it valid

When it is prayed

The time begins when the sun has risen to the height of a spear — the scholars define this as when its redness has gone — and it ends at the sun's decline (zawal). The majority of the jurists (the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis) hold this; the Shafi'is hold that its time runs from sunrise until zawal. The preferred time is at the sun's rising to a spear's height. It is recommended to hasten the Adha prayer and to delay the Fitr prayer slightly.

Where it is prayed

The sunnah is to pray it in the musalla, outside the town, and not in the mosque except for a need such as rain, severe heat or wind. Ibn Uthaymin notes that the Prophet ﷺ had a separate prayer ground outside Madinah, and that praying the Eid outside the mosque is the sunnah "without doubt," even though people today pray it in the mosque. The Permanent Committee adds that the Eid prayer is only held in cities and villages — it is not legislated in the desert or while travelling.

If you miss it, or pray alone

In the Hanbali school the Eid prayer is a communal obligation (fard kifayah), and Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Uthaymin held it obligatory on every man able to attend; women are encouraged to go out to it, as the Prophet ﷺ commanded. If you miss it, you may make it up at home in the same way: two rak'ahs, seven takbirs in the first counting the opening takbir, five in the second besides the takbir of standing, reciting aloud, and no khutbah.

Key takeaways

• The Eid prayer is two rak'ahs before the khutbah, with six extra takbirs in the first rak'ah and five in the second.
• There is no adhan and no iqamah for it.
• Its time runs from the sun's rising to a spear's height until the sun's decline.
• The sunnah is to pray it in an open prayer ground outside the town, not in the mosque, unless there is a need.
• If you miss the congregation, you may still pray it alone at home as two rak'ahs, without a khutbah.

Further reading

• Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni
• Ibn Abd al-Barr, al-Kafi fi Fiqh Ahl al-Madinah
• The fatwas of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin on the prayer of the two Eids

And Allah knows best.