60.

٦٠. عَنْ نُبَيْشَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَال:َ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

«إِنَّا كُنَّا نَهَيْنَاكُمْ عَنْ لُحُومِهَا أَنْ تَأْكُلُوهَا فَوْقَ ثَلَاثٍ لِكَيْ تَسَعَكُمْ فَقَدْ جَاءَ اللّٰهُ بِالسَّعَةِ فَكُلُوا وَادَّخِرُوا وَاتَّجِرُوا أَلَا وَإِنَّ هٰذِهِ الْأَيَّامَ أَيَّامُ أَكْلٍ وَشُرْبٍ وَذِكْرِ اللّٰهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ».

60. Nubayshah (r.a.) reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“We forbade you to eat the sacrifice meat for more than three days in order that you might have abundance. Now Allah has produced abundance, so you may eat, store up, and seek reward from Allah by distributing some. Beware, the days of Eid are days of eating, drinking and remembrance of Allah, Most High. (Abu Dawud, Al-Dahaya, 9-10/2812, 2813)^[1]

Explanations:

At the time when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) emigrated from Mecca to Medina, there were two festivals in which people of Medina used to perform various plays. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saw this and said:

“Corresponding to these two festivals, Allah gave you better ones, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha” (Ahmad, III, 103, 178, 235, 250; Abu Dawud, Salah, 239/1134; Nasai, I‘dain, 1/1554)

Eid days are the signs of Allah’s mercy. Eid days are exceptional days where feelings of forgiveness, tolerance, cooperation, conciliation, affection, kindness, and goodness are experienced. Those believers who devote themselves to worship in Ramadan and Hajj and achieve forgiveness and contentment of Allah are the ones who benefit more comfortably from the blessings of Allah in eid days. In a sense, the festivity days represent the believers’ reception of the blessings of Paradise by completing the test of this world that is full of hardships and their affection with other believers there without having any negative feelings in their hearts such as envy, jealousy, or hatred. Actually, the real eid is on that day. As a matter of fact, the friends of Allah said:

“The real eid is not for those who put on new clothes but for those who are secure from Allah’s torment.”

In the first hadith, we are given the good news that the hearts of those believers who spend the nights of eid days worshipping, remembering Allah, supplication, and thinking of Allah will not die. That is because they are the people who experienced the joy of worshipping Allah and can keep their carnal self under control. While all others pursue their carnal desires, they enjoy worshipping by not falling for the temporal joys. Even if they coincide with an era where hearts are dead due to ubiquity of sins, their hearts stay alive, they do not prefer the world over hereafter, and they never fall into disbelief. Also, their aftermath is goodness. Those people do not get surprised and terrified neither at the time of their death or in their grave nor on the Day of Judgment but rather go to their Lord with a peaceful heart. That is because they experience the joy of worshipping. They realize and are conscious of the fact that they are in this world for a test and should take advantage of this world of opportunities until their last minute.

When something is rare and difficult to perform, it means a higher value. While most people forget worshipping with the excitement of eid, performing acts of worship during the nights of the eids shows the strength of faith and love of Allah for those who worship. Even if all hearts die, such hearts that are full of faith and love of Allah never die.

In our second hadith, we are informed that the days of eid are the days of social solidarity and unity, exchanging gifts, cooperation, treating each other with respect and honor, and benefitting from the divine blessings and remembering Allah. Otherwise, eid days are not days of vacation and entertainment.

On the other hand, in order to show happiness, games and entertainment performed without encouraging the carnal self for wrong desires are permitted in weddings and eid days. That is because displaying happiness during eid days is one of the principles of Islam. (Ahmad Naim, Tecridi Sarih Tercümesi, III, 157)

As a matter of fact, on an eid day, two young girls together with Aisha were singing songs about the Battle of Buath. The Prophet (pbuh) was resting while his face covered with a cloth. At that moment, Abu Bakr (r.a.) came in and wanted to interrupt.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, uncovering his head:

“O Abu Bakr! There is an Eid for every nation and this is our Eid!” (Bukhari, I‘dain, 3; Muslim, Salat al-I‘dain, 16)

In other words, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave permission to Muslims to celebrate eids in this way even though he did not watch it himself. Also on another eid day, a group that came from Ethiopia was playing with shields and spears in the mosque. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) let Aisha watch this game over his shoulders hiding her behind himself and covering her with his wrap. (Bukhari, I‘dain, 2; Salah, 69)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) always emphasized the spiritual side of the eids in order for these permissible entertainments and the atmosphere of celebration not to go beyond acceptable limits. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) who encouraged worshipping, doing well, and remembering Allah in eids said in a hadith:

“The first thing to be done on this day (first day of Eid) is to pray.” (Bukhari, I‘dain, 3, 10; Muslim, Adahi, 7)

“Beautify your eid days with saying al-Takbir (Allahu Akbar –God is Greatest)!” (Haythami, II, 197)

Indeed, the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) kept eid days alive with saying Takbirs.  Umar used to say Takbirs in his small tent in Mina and people in the mosque used to repeat after him. When people in the market also joined them, the Mina would be reverberated with the sound of Takbirs. Ibn Umar used to say Takbir continuously on eid days. He used to say Takbir after each prayer, when he went to sleep, when he entered his tent, while sitting or walking, in other words, at all times and conditions during these assigned days. (Bukhari, I‘dain, 12)

As it can be seen, the happiness of Muslims is displayed by worshipping Allah and exalting His religion. There is no share of the carnal self in their happiness. In the moments of happiness, they never act exorbitant and perform forbidden acts. In these happy days, they run to good deeds that would help them to gain the contentment of Allah and especially treat the needy and the poor nicely and try to please them. They help the poor, helpless, orphan, widow, and people who are tired and exhausted. They make children, especially orphan and poor ones, happy. Eids strengthen the feelings of friendship and kinship by awakening the spirituality of Muslims and carry the good traits such as compassion, mercy, loyalty, and empathy to their peak.

The following is such a good example that shows the cooperation and empathy between Muslims before the eid.

There was a man who did not have anything but a hundred dinars. When eid was approaching, one of his friends wrote him a letter and asked for his help saying:

“Eid is coming, but we do not have anything to satisfy the needs of the children.”  Upon that, that man put the hundred dinars in a money bag, sealed it, and sent it to his friend. When the man who asked for help got the money, this time he received a letter from one of his friends. The latter also wrote that he did not have enough money and asked for help to get his needs for the eid. So the man sent the money to his friend without even opening it.

The man who initially sent the money bag to his friend also wrote a letter to another one of his friends and asked for help. But this man was last man who got the dinars. Then, this man, too, sent the money to his friend without opening the seal. When the man who initially sent the dinars received the money bag and saw that this was his own sealed money bag, he was surprised. He went to his friend taking the money bag with him and asked:

“What is with this money bag you sent me?”

He explained the situation. Upon the clarification of the situation, he said:

“Let’s go to the other friend of us.”

They went to the other friend’s place and talked about the situation and opened up the money bag and shared the money. (Hatib Bagdadi, Tarihu Bagdad, XIV, 282)

On the eid day, first we send our holiday wishes to our relatives who have already passed away and who are waiting for our prayers and rewards of giving alms in their names. Their souls get exalted by reciting the chapter al-Fatiha and giving alms in their names. By taking lessons from their situation, we realize that we need to get ready for the real eid. Then, we need to visit our relatives and friends and inquire after their health. Everybody forgives his rightful dues on each other and those who offended each other reconcile.

There are some things that Islam considers nice to be done on the eid days. Some of them are:

To wake up early on eid days, to perform ghusl (bath lustration), to clean the mouth by using a miswaq,^[2] to wear nice fragrances, to put on clean and nice clothes, to be happy and cheerful to thank the blessings of Allah etc.

It is better to perform the eid prayer in an open and wide space. It is preferred that men, women, and children come to an open and wide place called Musalla.^[3]  Even women who could not perform the ritual prayer (due to menstruation) are advised to come and join this good deed and prayers of Muslims. That is because having the more people who attend the eid prayers the more it carries the meaning of showing strength of believers and exalting the religion of Allah.

It is sunnah to eat something sweet before going to prayer of Eid al-Fitr. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) would not go to Eid Prayer without eating a few dates. In addition, he used to pay attention that the number of the dates would be odd such as three or five. (Bukhari, I‘dain, 4)

It is considered better not to eat anything until the end of the prayer of Eid al-Adha^[4] and eat later from the meat of the sacrificed animal. That is because acting this way shows the importance and respect given to the sacrifice.^[5]

Reciting Takbirs silently in Eid al-Fitr and audibly in Eid al-Adha, taking a different way if possible when returning from the Eid Prayer,^[6] treating people in a friendly manner and saying nice things to Muslims when coming across them, and give alms as much as possible are among the beauties of the Eid.

Another issue is that the Prophet did not consider appropriate to carry weapons on Eid days in mosques, markets, and where people congregate when there is no danger of enemy. (Bukhari, I‘dain, 9; Salah, 66, Fitan, 7; Muslim, Birr, 120-124; Ibn Majah, Iqamah, 168; Abdurrazzak, Musannaf, III, 289)