Number of Takbīrs in the Eid Prayer
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
According to authentic narrations and the practice of numerous Companions and early scholars, the prescribed number of additional Takbīrs in the Eid prayer is as follows:
➊ Seven Takbīrs in the First Rakʿah (before Qirāʾah)
➋ Five Takbīrs in the Second Rakʿah (before Qirāʾah)
❖ Narrated by ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb from his father from his grandfather:
"The Takbīrs in ʿEid al-Fiṭr are seven in the first (rakʿah) and five in the second, and recitation follows both."
Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 1020, Ibn Mājah: 1278, Aḥmad: 180/2
✔ Classified ḥasan; supported by strong corroborating evidence.
❖ Narrated by ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf al-Muzanī (رضي الله عنه):
"The Prophet ﷺ said seven Takbīrs in the first rakʿah before the recitation, and five in the second before the recitation."
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tirmidhī: 442, Ibn Mājah: 1279, Ibn Khuzaymah: 1438
Though one narrator in this chain (Kathīr ibn ʿAbdullāh) is weak, scholars such as Imām Nawawī and Shaykh Ṣafī Ḥalāl deem it authentic by supporting narrations.
✔ Imām Aḥmad, Imām Shāfiʿī, and Imām Mālik:
⟶ Seven Takbīrs in the first rakʿah and five in the second (before recitation).
✔ This position is also narrated from many Companions:
ʿUmar, ʿAlī, Abū Hurayrah, Abū Saʿīd, Jābir, Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Ayyūb, Zayd ibn Thābit, ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنهم), ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Imām al-Zuhrī, al-Awzāʿī, al-Makḥūl, and others.
✔ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah:
⟶ Three Takbīrs after Takbīr al-Taḥrīmah in the first rakʿah (before Qirāʾah), and three Takbīrs in the second rakʿah after Qirāʾah.
✔ The majority of scholars and narrations support the seven and five Takbīr view.
✔ This is the strongest and most widely accepted opinion, endorsed by:
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ The Count of Takbīrs in Eid Salah
According to authentic narrations and the practice of numerous Companions and early scholars, the prescribed number of additional Takbīrs in the Eid prayer is as follows:
✦ Prescribed Takbīrs:
➊ Seven Takbīrs in the First Rakʿah (before Qirāʾah)
➋ Five Takbīrs in the Second Rakʿah (before Qirāʾah)
Authentic Evidence
❖ Narrated by ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb from his father from his grandfather:
"The Takbīrs in ʿEid al-Fiṭr are seven in the first (rakʿah) and five in the second, and recitation follows both."
Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 1020, Ibn Mājah: 1278, Aḥmad: 180/2✔ Classified ḥasan; supported by strong corroborating evidence.
❖ Narrated by ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf al-Muzanī (رضي الله عنه):
"The Prophet ﷺ said seven Takbīrs in the first rakʿah before the recitation, and five in the second before the recitation."
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Tirmidhī: 442, Ibn Mājah: 1279, Ibn Khuzaymah: 1438Though one narrator in this chain (Kathīr ibn ʿAbdullāh) is weak, scholars such as Imām Nawawī and Shaykh Ṣafī Ḥalāl deem it authentic by supporting narrations.
✦ Scholarly Opinions
✔ Imām Aḥmad, Imām Shāfiʿī, and Imām Mālik:
⟶ Seven Takbīrs in the first rakʿah and five in the second (before recitation).
✔ This position is also narrated from many Companions:
ʿUmar, ʿAlī, Abū Hurayrah, Abū Saʿīd, Jābir, Ibn ʿUmar, Ibn ʿAbbās, Abū Ayyūb, Zayd ibn Thābit, ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنهم), ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, Imām al-Zuhrī, al-Awzāʿī, al-Makḥūl, and others.
✔ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah:
⟶ Three Takbīrs after Takbīr al-Taḥrīmah in the first rakʿah (before Qirāʾah), and three Takbīrs in the second rakʿah after Qirāʾah.
Referenced Classical Works:
- al-Majmūʿ: 1/395, 5/205
- al-Umm, al-Mughnī, Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ, al-Mabsūṭ, al-Hidāyah, Bidāyat al-Mujtahid
- Nayl al-Awṭār: 2/600–601 (lists ten scholarly views on this issue)
- Ṣidīq Ḥasan Khān: al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 1/358
Preferred View
✔ The majority of scholars and narrations support the seven and five Takbīr view.
✔ This is the strongest and most widely accepted opinion, endorsed by:
- Imām Aḥmad
- Shawkānī
- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī
- Amīr Ṣanʿānī
- Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān
