Permissibility of Performing Eid Prayer in the Mosque Due to an Excuse
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Narration on Performing Eid Prayer in the Mosque Due to Rain
It is narrated from Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه):
“On the day of Eid, the people were caught in rain, so the Prophet ﷺ led them in the Eid prayer inside the mosque.”
📚 [Dhaʿīf: Sunan Abū Dāwūd: 248, Book of Prayer: Chapter on Leading the People in Eid Prayer in the Mosque on a Rainy Day; Mishkāt: 1448; Ibn Mājah: 1313]
Although this Hadith is weak, there exists a mauqūf narration (statement of a Companion) from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb (رضي الله عنه) indicating that in the event of rain, the Eid prayer may be performed in the mosque.
📚 [Bayhaqī: 310/3]
❖ Jurisprudential Principle
This permissibility is also supported by a well-known juristic maxim:
الضرورات تبيح المحظورات
“Necessities make prohibitions permissible.”
📚 [Al-Qawānīn al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubrā – Dr. Ṣāliḥ bin Ghānim: p. 247]
❖ Scholarly Opinions on the Preferred Location of Eid Prayer
Scholars have differed regarding whether it is better to perform Eid prayer in a spacious mosque or outside the town in an open area.
✔ Imam al-Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله):
If the mosque is sufficiently spacious to accommodate all, praying in the mosque is preferred, because the primary objective is to gather men and women, which can be fulfilled inside the mosque.
✔ Imam Mālik (رحمه الله):
Going outside the town is better, because the Prophet ﷺ consistently performed Eid prayer in the open.
ʿAlī (رضي الله عنه) said regarding Eid prayer in the open:
“If it were not Sunnah, I would have prayed in the mosque.”
📚 [Ibn Abī Shaybah: 185/2; Nayl al-Awṭār: 591/2; Sabil al-Salām: 686/2; Fatḥ al-Bārī: 126/3]
✅ Preferred Opinion:
The opinion of Imam Mālik (رحمه الله) is stronger (rājih) — i.e., praying Eid outside the town is preferred unless there is a valid excuse such as rain.
📚 [As-Sayl al-Jarrār: 320/1]
