Eid al-Fitr, the reward at the gate
The Eid that ends Ramadan is not the finish line, it is the receipt. What it celebrates and what comes after.
Outline
- 1
What we are celebrating
Allah completed for us the month He raised the Quran in. He let us reach it, fast it, stand it. Eid is the takbeer of one who has been pardoned, not the party of one who has been released.
- 2
The sunnah of the Eid morning
Eat dates before going out (Bukhari 953). Go by one path and return by another (Bukhari 986). Wear the best clothes you own. Pray Eid in congregation, listen to the khutbah, then visit family.
- 3
The day after
Many of the salaf said: the sign of an accepted Ramadan is what happens after it. If the fajr-jamaah continues, if the Quran stays in your hands, if the night prayer is not abandoned the day after, your Ramadan was accepted.
Closing line
Taqabbal Allahu minna wa minkum, may Allah accept from us and from you. The dua of the salaf on Eid morning.
Ammar ibn Yasir (RA) reported that the Prophet ﷺ called a man's long prayer and short khutbah a sign of his understanding (Sahih Muslim 869). Aim for fifteen to twenty minutes. Two sections separated by a brief sitting is the Sunnah pattern.