Eid prayer is performed slightly differently from the five daily prayers, there are acts that are performed on the Eid prayer. That said, the description is outlined below so you could get the answer to ‘what is the description of the Eid prayer?’
The report from Umar describes that Eid prayer is one where the imam 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.
Similarly, on the praying ground, the first thing to do is to perform the two Rakat first. As narrated by Abu Sa’eed, who 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. From al-Bukhaari, 956.
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Descriptions on How to perform the Eid prayer
The two Rakat of the Eid prayer is performed this way. The Imam begins the first rak’ah with the saying of Takbeerat al-ihraam (To say ‘Allaahu Akbar) after which he should say six or seven more takbeers.
The proof of this desciption is 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’.” From Abu Dawood and al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 639.
To point out, the people at the back of Imam will also say the takbeerat out loud and they should raise their hand only in the first takbeerat.
After that, the Imam will recite surat al-Faatihah, and recite surat Qaf in the first rak’ah. Also in the second rak’ah, he should stand up saying takbeer, when he has stood up completely he should say takbeer five times and recite Surat al-Faatihah then Soorat al-Qamar.
That’s one thing that answers what is the description of the Eid prayer.
With that, The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to recite these two surahs 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 (PBUH) used to recite al-A’la and al-Ghaashiyah in the Eid prayer.
After The Eid Prayer
However, after the Imam has performed the two Rakat as described above, he should face the Muslims he leads (in prayer) and addresses them.
That said, this is the Khutbah, after the Imam complete addressing the male, he should move closer to the women and address them specifically.
The Imam would tell them of the things that Muslims should do while also warning them about the things that they should avoid, as the Prophet (PBUH) used to do.
Check out Fataawa Arkaan al-Islam by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him), p. 398; Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 8/300-316), to get more detail.
It is worth pointing out that the prayer comes before the khutbah, and not the other way round.
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That said, one ruling that describes the Eid prayer and it Khutbah is that the prayer comes before the khutbah, due to the hadeeth of Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah who said, The Prophet (PBUH) came out on the day of al-Fitr and started with the prayer before the khutbah. From al-Bukhaari, 958; Muslim, 885.
Likewise, the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to come out to the prayer place on the day of al-Fitr and al-Adha, and the first thing he would start with was the prayer, then he would go and stand facing the people, while the people were sitting in their rows, and he would preach to them and advise them and command them.
If he wanted to send out a military expedition he would do so and if he wanted to tell the people to do something he would do so, then he would leave.
Abu Sa’eed said: The people continued to do that until I went out with Marwaan – who was the governor of Madeenah – on Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr, and when we came to the prayer-place, there was a Minbar that had been built by Katheer ibn al-Salt.
When Marwaan wanted to ascend it before he prayed, I grabbed his garment and he pushed me away and climbed up and delivered the khutbah before the prayer. I said, “You have changed it by Allaah.”
He said, “O Abu Sa’eed, what you knew has gone.”
I said, “What I know, by Allah, is better than what I do not know.”
He said, “The people will not sit and listen to us after the prayer, so we did it before the prayer.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 956.
In conclusion, It is recommended to perform the Eid prayer first before the actual Khutbah as the hadeeth of the prophet explain. Allah knows best.
