Question:
He (the questioner) explains that most people in their locality perform the Eid prayer in the mosques near their homes. The reason is that they do not hold the view that Eid prayer must be performed in an open ground. Those who believe strongly that the Prophetﷺ performed Eid prayer in an open field consider that practice very important, so they organize the prayer in open grounds. But many others follow the view that it can be performed inside a mosque.
The questioner then raises another issue. In those mosques, the Eid prayer is performed with three extra takbirs in each rak‘ah. However, according to the authentic hadiths, the Eid prayer is performed with seven takbirs in the first rak‘ah and five in the second. That is the method practiced by those who strictly follow the hadith.
But the Hanafi school performs it differently. In the Hanafi method there are three additional takbirs in the first rak‘ah and three in the second. So the questioner and his group perform the prayer according to the hadith method—seven and five—while the majority in their area perform it according to the Hanafi madhhab.
There are further differences as well. The prayer is held inside the mosque instead of an open ground. A minbar is placed and the sermon is delivered from it. But the Prophetﷺ did not take a minbar to the Eid ground; he delivered the sermon standing on the plain ground.
So, several practices differ from what they consider to be the Sunnah. Despite explaining these matters to the people, many refuse to participate in the prayer organized by this group. The questioner says they invite people, saying: “The Eid prayer should be performed with seven and five takbirs, and ideally in an open ground as the Prophetﷺ did.” But many people refuse to attend.
Even worse, some people discourage others from joining them. If a few people come to pray with them, others tell them not to go there. They label them as “Wahhabis” or accuse them of following misguided ideas and try to redirect people back to the mosque.
How should we deal with this situation? People argue that one should simply follow the mosque near his home. Even when they approached the main imam of the mosque and suggested that the Eid prayer could be performed according to the Sunnah method, the imam did not respond to their arguments. Instead, he told them that ordinary people should simply follow the imams and scholars. If Allahﷻ questions them in the Hereafter, those imams will answer on their behalf.
Answer:
Now the answer to this issue is important. The problem here is not really about Eid prayer itself. The real issue is a fundamental doctrinal problem.
These people follow a particular madhhab, and they believe that everything must be practiced according to the rulings of that madhhab. Therefore, the way they perform Eid prayer comes from their madhhab. Their five daily prayers follow their madhhab. Their Friday prayer follows their madhhab. Even their fasting practices follow their madhhab.
So, the disagreement about Eid prayer is only one example of a larger issue.
Because of this, you cannot solve the problem by discussing Eid prayer alone. Even if you present a thousand explanations about the correct method of Eid prayer, it will not change their minds. If you show them a hadith from Sahih Bukhari, they will reply: “That may be in Bukhari, but Imam Abu Hanifa said something else.” If you show them a narration from Sahih Muslim, they will respond: “That may be in Muslim, but our Hanafi madhhab teaches differently.”
In other words, their reference point is not the hadith itself but the madhhab.
Therefore, arguing specifically about the Eid prayer will not convince them. The real discussion must begin with a more basic question: What is the authority in Islam? Is it the Qur’an and Sunnah, or is it a madhhab?
Once people understand this foundational principle, the rest will automatically fall into place. If someone truly accepts that the Qur’an and Sunnah are the ultimate sources of guidance, then not only the Eid prayer but every aspect of worship will eventually align with the authentic teachings.
For this reason, the discussion should focus on explaining what a madhhab actually is, when it emerged, and whether the founders of the madhhabs themselves ever asked people to blindly follow them. One must ask: did those scholars say that their opinions must always be followed even if they contradict authentic hadith?
To help with this discussion, we have written a book titled “Is Madhhab Necessary?” In that book we have explained in detail the errors in the concept of blindly following madhhabs and answered the common arguments used to defend them.
This book has been available for more than ten years. It is uploaded on our websites, where it can be downloaded and read online. Anyone can print it, study it carefully, and note the arguments presented in it.
In that book we respond to every major justification given for following madhhabs. Once people study those discussions and understand the foundational principles, they will naturally realize that the Qur’an and Sunnah must be the final authority.
If that understanding is established, then the Eid prayer issue will resolve itself. Not only the Eid prayer, but all matters of worship will return to the correct method.
But if this foundational issue is not addressed, then every discussion will end in the same way. They will simply say, “Your madhhab says one thing, our madhhab says another.” And the debate will go nowhere.
Therefore, the solution lies in addressing the root belief about madhhabs, not merely the specific details of Eid prayer.