This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Muhammad Farooq's book Issues of the Two Eids.
A sermon is prescribed on Eid
After the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha prayers, a sermon is prescribed because there are hadiths describing the Eid sermon:
(1) Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates:
شهدت العيد مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأبي بكر وعمر وعثمان رضي الله عنهم فكلهم كانوا يصلون قبل الخطبة
"I attended the Eid prayer with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them), and they all performed the prayer before the sermon."
Reference: Sahih Bukhari, Book of the Two Eids, Chapter: The sermon after Eid: 962 - Sahih Muslim, Book of Eid Prayers: 884
(2) It is narrated from Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them) that he said:
قام النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم يوم الفطر فصلى فبدأ بالصلاة ثم خطب
"The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) stood on the day of Eid al-Fitr, prayed, and he (peace be upon him) started with the prayer, then delivered the sermon."
Reference: Sahih Bukhari, Book of the Two Eids, Chapter: The Imam's admonition to women on Eid day: 978 - Sahih Muslim, Book of Eid Prayers: 885 - Sunan Abu Dawood, Book of Prayer, Chapter: The sermon on Eid day: 1141 - Musnad Ahmad: 696/3
Benefits:
These hadiths and other similar narrations in which the Eid sermons are mentioned are evidence that one sermon is Sunnah in the two Eids because these narrations do not mention two sermons for Eid. Also, the narrations that mention two sermons for Eid are weak.
(1) It is narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him):
خرج رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يوم فطر أو أضحى فخطب قائما ثم قعد قعدة ثم قام
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) set out on the day of Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha (for the Eid prayer) and he (peace be upon him) stood and delivered a sermon, then he sat, then stood again (and delivered a second sermon).”
Reference: Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Establishing Prayers, Chapter on what has been narrated about the sermon in the two Eids: 1289 - Its chain is weak
In the chain of this hadith, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Uthman ibn Umayyah Abu Bahr Bakrawi and Isma’il ibn Muslim are weak narrators, and Abu al-Zubayr al-Makki is a tadlis narrator.
(2) ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uqbah states:
السنة أن يخطب الإمام فى العيدين خطبتين يفصل بينهما
“The Sunnah method is that the Imam gives two sermons in the two Eids and sits in between them to create a gap.”
Reference: Kitab al-Umm: 272/1 - Bayhaqi: 299/3 - Its chain is very weak
Imam Shafi’i’s teacher Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bayti Aslami is a discarded narrator, and ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Utbah is a Tabi’i. When a Tabi’i calls an act Sunnah, it does not mean the Prophetic Sunnah, because such a narration is usually mursal.
Sayyid Sabiq says: All such narrations in which it is mentioned that there are two sermons for Eid and that sitting between them to create a gap is Sunnah are weak, and An-Nawawi states that there is no authentic hadith regarding the repetition of the Eid sermon.
Reference: Fiqh as-Sunnah: 304/1
It is Sunnah to deliver the Eid sermon standing on the ground opposite the attendees:
Giving the Eid sermon standing on the ground without a pulpit is permissible. The evidences for this are as follows:
(1) Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:
أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم خطب على رجليه
"Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) delivered the (Eid) sermon standing on his feet."
Reference: Musnad Ahmad: 31/3 - Its chain is authentic
(2) It is narrated from Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يخرج يوم العيد فيصلي بالناس ركعتين ثم يسلم فيقف على رجليه فيستقبل الناس وهم جلوس فيقول تصدقوا تصدقوا
"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to proceed towards the Eid ground on the day of Eid and lead the people in two rak'ahs of prayer, then he would turn in salaam and stand on his feet facing the people while they were sitting, and he (peace be upon him) would deliver the sermon and say: Give charity, give charity."
Reference: Sahih Ibn Majah, Book of Establishing Prayers, Chapter on what was narrated about the sermon on the two Eids: 1288 - Musnad Ahmad: 54/3 - Its chain is authentic
(3) It is narrated from Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يخرج يوم الفطر والأضحى إلى المصلى فأول شيء يبدأ به الصلاة ثم ينصرف فيقوم مقابل الناس والناس جلوس على صفوفهم فيعظهم ويوصيهم ويأمرهم
"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would go out towards the Eid ground on the days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and the first thing he would begin with was the prayer, then after finishing the prayer, he would stand facing the people and give them admonition and advice and command them, while the people were sitting in their rows."
Reference: Sahih Bukhari, Book of the Two Eids, Chapter on going out to the prayer ground without a pulpit: 956 - Sunan Muslim, Book of Eid Prayers: 889
