The Emirates Council for Sharia Fatwa clarifies the ruling on meeting Eid and Friday prayers on the same day

Abu Dhabi, 16 March / WAM / The Emirates Council for Sharia Fatwa issued a fatwa in which it clarified the legal ruling if the Eid day falls on a Friday, explaining that the principle is to hold the Eid prayer and the Friday prayer, each at its time and in accordance with its Sunnah, and this is the opinion that most scholars agree with and is relied upon in the council’s fatwa.

In the fatwa that came in response to the public’s questions about this issue, the Council explained the legal provisions related to it as follows:

First: God Almighty’s saying: “O you who have believed, when the call to prayer is called on the day of Friday, then strive to the remembrance of God and give up trading. That is better. For you if you only knew [الجمعة: 9].

The reason for the inference is that the verse commanded one to strive for the Friday prayer when the call to prayer is made, and this command applies to the rest of the congregation, and is not specific except with conclusive evidence, and the evidence contained in the omission of the Friday prayer for those who prayed the Eid all remain speculative in proving the significance.

Secondly: What was reported on the authority of Al-Nu’man bin Bashir, may God be pleased with him, who said: “The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, used to recite on the two Eids and on Friday, ‘Glorify the name of your Lord Most High’ and ‘Has there ever come to you a hadith? Al-Ghashiyah; He said: “And if the Eid and Friday prayers come together on one day, they are also recited in the two prayers.” Agreed upon, and this is clear in that the Messenger, peace and blessings of God be upon him, prayed both of them at the same time, and it was not reported that he did not pray Friday prayers. Because he was satisfied with the Eid prayer.

Third: The Friday prayer is one of the greatest obligations of Islam, and it is the only prayer whose attendance in congregation is unanimously agreed that its attendance in congregation is an individual obligation for the person obligated to it if he has no excuse that allows him to be absent. As for the Eid prayer, its ruling according to the scholars revolves between the Sunnah and the specific or sufficient obligation. One of the established fundamentalist rules is that an obligation is not waived if it is of a lower rank in the Sharia ruling.

Therefore, Friday prayers must be held in the state’s mosques, and this is the doctrine of the majority of scholars from the three Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi’i schools of thought, and it is one of the opinions in the doctrine of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Fourth: The legal evidence contained in the guidance of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, regarding the permission for those who attended the Eid prayer to pray the noon prayer instead of the Friday prayer, was not lost on what the council chose according to what was done and the evidence supported it. And all of this evidence has been answered by the scholars and clarified what is meant by it, and it is possible to refer to its places in the books of jurisprudence and explanations of the hadith, knowing that he took the other opinion of the scholars who saw the permission to leave the Friday prayer for those who prayed the Eid and prayed the noon prayer instead at home. There is no blame on him for that, and if he prays it in Friday prayers with the imam, following the determination, then it is preferable to avoid disagreement and in keeping with the original.

The Emirates Council for Sharia Fatwa called on all Muslims to seize the remainder of the blessed month of Ramadan with piety, faith, and good deeds, and to make the Eid day an occasion for connecting relatives, reconciling relationships, spreading harmony and kindness to the poor and needy, and bringing joy to orphans, widows, and the needy.

The Council directed its prayers to God Almighty to preserve the leadership and people of the UAE, to perpetuate the blessing of security and stability, and to return these blessed occasions to the nation with goodness, prosperity and blessings.

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