We ask that you inform us about the rulings of the festival, what is recommended in it, mentioning what contradicts it, and whether the Friday prayer is dropped if the festival falls on a Friday.

The questioner : We ask that you inform us about the rulings of the festival, what is recommended in it, mentioning what contradicts it, and whether the Friday prayer is dropped if the festival falls on a Friday.

The Shaykh : Allah the Exalted has established multiple rulings for the festival, among which are:
First: It is recommended to recite the takbir on the night of the festival, from the setting of the sun on the last day of Ramadan until the imam arrives for the prayer. The manner of the takbir is for a person to say: , or to recite the takbir three times and say: . All of this is permissible. A person should raise his voice with this dhikr in the markets, in the mosques, and in the homes. As for women, they should not raise their voices with it.
Second: A person should eat an odd number of dates before going out to the festival, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So he eats three dates, or five dates, or seven dates, as he wishes. The important thing is that he stops at an odd number, that it be three or more, and that he stops at an odd number, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did.
Third: He should wear his best clothes, and this is for men. As for the woman, she should not wear beautiful clothes if she intends to go out to the festival prayer place, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning in ordinary clothes that are not clothes of adornment. It is forbidden for her to go out in clothes of adornment or wearing perfume.
Fourth: Some scholars also recommended that a person take a full ritual bath for the festival prayer, because this is reported from some of the Salaf, and because the festival prayer is a festival prayer, so the bath is recommended for it, like the Friday prayer. The people gather in it as they gather in the Friday prayer, so the bath is recommended for that. If a person takes a bath, that is good.
The one in i'tikaf (spiritual retreat) and the one not in i'tikaf are the same in this. The one in i'tikaf should also wear his best clothes, because i'tikaf ends with the setting of the sun on the night of the festival. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to perform i'tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan, and it is known that when the entry of Shawwal is confirmed, Ramadan has ended and the last ten days have ended.
Fifth: On the day of the festival is the festival prayer. The Muslims have agreed that the festival prayer is prescribed (mashru'). They differed, and some scholars said it is a recommended practice (sunnah), and others said it is a collective obligation (fard kifayah).
Another group said it is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), and that whoever leaves it is sinful. They cited as evidence for this that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered even the women, even those in their seclusion, the young girls, and those who do not usually go out, to attend the festival prayer place. However, he ordered the menstruating women to stay away from the prayer place, because it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to remain in the mosque. It is permissible for a menstruating woman to enter the mosque passing through it, but it is not permissible for her to remain in it.
What is stronger for me from the evidence is that the festival prayer is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), and that it is obligatory for every male to attend the festival prayer, except for one who has an excuse. But if it is missed, is it made up? Or if it is missed, is it dropped?
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "It is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), and if it is missed by a person, it is dropped", because it is like the Friday prayer. The Friday prayer, if it is missed by a person, is dropped. If it were not that the time is the time of the midday prayer, we would say to the one who missed the Friday prayer that he does not pray the midday prayer. But because the Friday prayer is dropped from him, the midday prayer becomes obligatory for him because it is the time of the midday prayer. As for the festival prayer, there is no obligatory prayer for it other than the festival prayer, and he has missed it.
Some scholars held that if it is missed by a person, it is recommended for him to make it up. So if you come to the festival prayer and the imam is delivering the sermon, and the festival sermon, as we all know, is after the prayer, then you pray the festival prayer in the manner in which the imam prayed it, meaning with the additional takbirs.
In the festival prayer, the imam recites Subhan in the first rak'ah and al-Ghashiyah in the second rak'ah, or he recites Surat Qaf in the first rak'ah and Surat al-Qamar in the second rak'ah. Both of these are supported by a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Sixth: If the Friday prayer and the festival prayer coincide, the festival prayer is performed, and the Friday prayer is also performed, as indicated by the apparent meaning of the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir, which Muslim narrated in his Sahih. So both prayers are performed, the festival prayer and the Friday prayer. But whoever attends the festival prayer with the imam, if he wishes, let him attend the Friday prayer, and if he wishes, let him pray the midday prayer.
Among the rulings of the festival prayer, according to many scholars, if a person comes to the festival prayer place before the imam arrives, he sits and does not pray two rak'ahs, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the festival prayer in two rak'ahs and did not pray before them or after them. Some scholars held that if he comes, he should not sit until he prays two rak'ahs. They said that the festival prayer place is a mosque, and the evidence that it is a mosque is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited the menstruating women from it. The establishment of the ruling of a mosque for this place indicates that it is a mosque; otherwise, the rulings of a mosque would not be established for it. On this basis, it falls under the general meaning of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
As for the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pray before them or after them, it is because he had no need to pray them. Why? Because when he arrives, he will begin the prayer immediately. So the festival prayer drops the greeting of the mosque, just as the greeting of the mosque is dropped by the other obligatory prayers. And because if we took from this hadith that the festival mosque has no greeting, then the Friday mosque would have no greeting, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he arrived for the Friday prayer, would deliver the sermon, then pray two rak'ahs, then leave and pray the regular voluntary prayer of Friday in his home. So he did not pray before the Friday prayer or after it.
What is stronger for me is that the festival mosque is where two rak'ahs are prayed as the greeting of the mosque. But with that, it is not recommended for some of us to disapprove of others in this issue, because the issue is one of scholarly disagreement, and in issues of disagreement, disapproval is not recommended unless the text is clear. If the text is clear, it must be clarified to the one who disagrees. In this issue, the text is not clear in all its clarity. So if someone comes and sits, it is not recommended to shout at him and say, "Get up, do not sit until you pray two rak'ahs." And if someone comes and prays, it is not recommended to shout at him and say, "Sit, this is not a place for prayer."
Among the rulings of the festival, on the day of the festival, zakat al-fitr (the alms given at the end of Ramadan) is paid out. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that it be paid out before the festival prayer or before the people go out to the prayer. It has been mentioned to us previously that it is permissible to pay it out a day or two before that. But if he pays it out after the prayer, it does not suffice him for the alms of the festival, due to the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): . On this basis, it is forbidden for a person to delay zakat al-fitr beyond the festival prayer. If he delays it beyond the festival prayer without an excuse, it is an unacceptable zakah.
As for if he has an excuse, such as the festival coming upon him while he is a traveler in the desert, and he does not have what to pay out, or he does not have someone to bring the food to them, or he is relying on his family to pay the zakah for him, and they are relying on him to pay the zakah for himself, and then he learns of it, he pays it out when it becomes easy for him, even if it is after the prayer, and there is no sin on him in this case because he is excused.
...some of them greet one another with the arrival of the month of Ramadan. Consequently, some people fall into a great error. For example, a man comes to the house of a relative where there are women who are adorned and are not his mahram (a relative one may not marry). They uncover their faces and extend their hands to shake this man's hand. This is haram (forbidden), because a man is not permitted to shake hands with a woman who is not one of his mahram. Some people have told me that in some regions, it is customary for a man to shake hands with his paternal or maternal cousin, and that if he refuses to do so, they will be offended. I say that it is obligatory to make it clear to them that this is haram, and that it is not permissible for a man to shake hands with a woman who is not one of his mahram, whether directly or through a garment. In this case, if they become angry with him because he did not shake hands with a woman who is not one of his mahram, they are the wrongdoers, not him. The severance of ties is from them, not from him. Nevertheless, he should say to them: if you do not trust me, you have scholars; ask the scholars. If someone issues a fatwa (a scholarly legal ruling) to you that it is permissible for a man to shake hands with his paternal or maternal cousin, then the sin is upon him. But if you become angry without any reason, just because it is one of your customs, know that customs do not make the haram permissible, nor do they make obligatory what is not obligatory. The one who argues based on the actions of his fathers and grandfathers is like those who said: .
Likewise, some people have the custom of going out on the day of Eid to the graveyards to congratulate the people of the graves. Did the people of the graves fast and stand in prayer?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : So they do not need congratulations. Visiting the graveyard is not specific to Eid, nor to Friday, nor to any particular day. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
If someone were to say that it is recommended for anyone whose heart has hardened and who has forgotten the Hereafter to go out to the graveyard to remember it, and if someone were to say that the ruling is tied to that, his statement would not be far off, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the reason for the command to visit the graveyards as being the remembrance of the Hereafter. So whenever we are heedless of the Hereafter, we go to the graveyards.
But in truth, I have not seen a scholar say that, although if it were said, it would have a basis. However, I cannot be certain of this matter. Visiting the graveyards is not specific to Eid or to Friday; rather, it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he visited the graveyard at night, as in the authentic hadith of Aisha in Sahih Muslim.
In any case, I say that it is not recommended for us to do this, because visiting the graveyards is an act of worship, and worship is not in accordance with the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) unless it agrees with the Shari'ah in six matters, one of which is the time. Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specify the day of Eid for visiting the graveyards? No. So it is not recommended for us to specify the day of Eid for visiting the graveyards.
The student: What about hugging?

The Shaykh : Hugging is more severe than shaking hands.
The student: Men hugging men!

The Shaykh : Men hugging one another is permissible and there is no blame on them. But regarding kissing women, if the woman is one of your mahram, then your kissing her is permissible, except that some scholars disliked it, except for the mother, where a man may kiss her forehead or head, and likewise a daughter, where her father may kiss her. As for the other mahram, it is better and safer for a person to avoid kissing the cheek and the lips.
The student: Is the Friday prayer dropped?

The Shaykh : Fine. As for the dropping of the Friday prayer due to the Eid prayer, I have already explained that.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : My brothers reminded me of something I had forgotten, which is that it is prescribed for the one who goes out for the Eid prayer to go by one path and return by another, following the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This sunnah (recommended practice) is not prescribed for any other prayers. That is, the one who comes to the Friday prayer is not recommended to come by one path and return by another, and likewise the one who comes to the five daily prayers is not recommended to come by one path and return by another. Although some scholars said regarding the Friday prayer that it is recommended to come by one path and return by another. But based on the principle we established previously: that what existed in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) whose cause did not remain, adopting it as an act of worship is a bid'ah (religious innovation).