Is Saying "Taqabbalallahu Minna wa Mink" on Eid Authentic?

Source: Excerpt from Ahkaam wa Masaa'il Kitaab-o-Sunnat ki Roshni Mein by Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani

❖ Question:​

Some people recite "تقبل الله منا ومنك" (May Allah accept from us and from you) upon meeting on the day of Eid. Does this have any Shar'i (Islamic legal) basis? Please clarify in the light of the Qur'an and Hadith.

❖ Answer:​

When Muslims meet one another on Eid and say:


تقبل الله منا ومنك
"May Allah accept from us and from you",


there are both marfū‘ (Prophetic) and mawqūf (Companion-based) narrations reported regarding this.

① Marfū‘ Narration​

Narrated by Wāthilah رضي الله عنه:


كنت مع النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يوم العيد فقلت: يا رسول الله تقبل الله منا ومنك. قال: نعم تقبل الله منا ومنك.
“I was with the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Eid. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, may Allah accept from us and from you.’ He replied: ‘Yes, may Allah accept from us and from you.’”

Reference: al-‘Ilal al-Mutanāhiyah 1/476, Hadith 811

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā lil-Bayhaqī 3/319, Hadith 6294

Reference: Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn 2/301

However, this narration is transmitted by Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shāmī Abū ʿAbdillāh through a chain that includes Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd, and there are several problems with this chain:

❖ Weaknesses in the Chain:​

✔ Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shāmī is considered munkar al-ḥadīth (rejected in ḥadīth):

• Imām Ibn ʿAdī:
  
  “He is munkar al-ḥadīth and most of his narrations are unreliable.”
  
  Reference: al-Kāmil 6/2274–2275
  
  
  
• Imām al-Dāraqutnī:
  
  “A liar.”
  
  Reference: Mawsūʿah Aqwāl Abī al-Ḥasan al-Dāraqutnī 2/543
  
  
  
• Abū Nuʿaym al-Aṣbahānī:
  
  “His narrations from several narrators are fabricated (mawḍūʿāt).”
  
  Reference: Kitāb al-Ḍuʿafāʾ p.144
  
  
  
• Ibn Ḥibbān:
  
  “He used to fabricate ḥadīths on the authority of Shāmīs.”
  
  Reference: Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn 1/301
  
  
  
• Ibn Ḥajar:
  
  “He is munkar al-ḥadīth.”
  
  Reference: Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb 3/207
  
  

✔ Therefore, the narrator Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shāmī is unreliable and accused of fabrication.

❖ Additional Weakness:​

✔ Baqiyyah ibn al-Walīd, another narrator, is a mudallis (one who conceals his source):

• Ibn Ḥajar:
  
  “He used to heavily practice tadlīs from weak and unknown narrators.”
  
  Reference: Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallissīn p.49
  
  
  
• Imām al-Dhahabī:
  
  “When he says ‘from (ʿan)’, his narration is not a proof.”
  
  Reference: Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 1/331
  
  
  
• Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ:
  
  “Narrations from a mudallis are not accepted unless he explicitly states that he heard (samiʿtu).”
  
  Reference: Muqaddimah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ 1/82
  
  

Hence, due to both tadlīs and unreliability, this marfū‘ narration is not authentic.

② Another Marfū‘ Narration​

Narrated by ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit رضي الله عنه:


سألت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن قول الناس فى العيد تقبل الله منا ومنكم فقال: ذلك فعل أهل الكتابين وكرهه
“I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about people saying on Eid: ‘May Allah accept from us and from you.’ He said: ‘This is the practice of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians),’ and he disliked it.”

Reference: Kitāb al-Majrūḥīn 2/149

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā lil-Bayhaqī 3/320, Hadith 6297

Reference: Tārīkh Dimashq 34/97

❖ Problems in Chain:​

✔ Contains ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn Zayd, who is munkar al-ḥadīth, not trustworthy, and unreliable.


✔ Furthermore, the narration is mursal, disconnected.


✔ Imām al-Bayhaqī:


“This narration is not authentic.”

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā 3/219

Hence, this narration too is not sahīh.

③ Mawqūf Narrations (Authentic)​

✔ Jubayr ibn Nufayr رضي الله عنه said:


كان أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا التقوا يوم العيد يقول بعضهم لبعض: تقبل الله منا ومنكم
“When the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ met on the day of Eid, they would say to each other: ‘May Allah accept from us and from you.’”

Reference: Ḥāwī lil-Fatāwā by al-Suyūṭī 1/82

• Imām al-Suyūṭī and Ibn Ḥajar declared this chain ḥasan.
• Shaykh al-Albānī:
  
  “Its isnād is sahīh.”
  
  Reference: Tamām al-Minnah p.355
  
  

✔ Muḥammad ibn Ziyād narrated:


“I was with Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī and others from the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. When they returned (from Eid), they would say to one another: ‘May Allah accept from us and from you.’”

Imām Aḥmad: “Its chain is jayyid (good).”

Reference: al-Jawhar al-Taqī 3/320

✔ Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Mālik ibn Anas, and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz were also reported to practice it.

❖ Conclusion:​

✔ Though there is no authentic marfū‘ (Prophetic) narration on saying “تقبل الله منا ومنك” on Eid,


✔ There are multiple authentic mawqūf narrations proving that the Companions and Tābiʿīn practiced it.


✔ Therefore, saying "تقبل الله منا ومنك" upon meeting your Muslim brother on Eid day is permissible and correct based on authentic evidence from the Salaf.