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)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
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.
