after it (9). I have seen him perform a few rak'ahs after it in his house, and sometimes he would perform them on the road, entering some mosques. It is narrated from Abu Sa'id, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to not perform any prayer before the Eid prayer (10), but when he returned to his home, he would pray two rak'ahs. Narrated by Ibn Majah (11). This is because he only abandoned prayer in the place of prayer in following the example of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his companions, and due to his being occupied with the prayer and waiting for it; this reason is absent elsewhere than the place of prayer.

310 - Issue: He said: (And if he goes out by one path, he should return by another.)

The sum of this is that returning by a path other than the one he went out by is a sunnah. This is the opinion of Malik and al-Shafi'i. The basis for this is that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, used to do so. Abu Hurayrah said: When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would go out on the day of Eid by one path, he would return by another (1). Al-Tirmidhi said: This is a hasan hadith. Some scholars said: He only did this intentionally to take the longer route on the way out so that his reward and footsteps toward the prayer would be increased, and he would return by the shorter one because it is easier while returning to his home. It is said: He liked for both paths to bear witness for him. It is also said: He liked to treat the people of both paths equally by bestowing blessings upon them through his passing by them, by their joy at seeing him, and so that they might benefit from his counsel. It is also said: So that charity might be obtained from those accompanying him for the poor people of both paths. And it is said: So that both paths might be blessed by his walking upon them. In sum, following his example is a sunnah, due to the possibility that the meaning for which he did it remains, and because one may perform an action for a specific reason and it remains a sunnah for others even after the reason vanishes, such as al-raml (brisk walking) and al-idtiba' (exposing the right shoulder) during the Tawaf of arrival; he and his companions did it to demonstrate strength to the disbelievers, and it remained a sunnah after they were gone (3). For this reason, it is narrated from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "Why should we perform al-raml now, and to whom should we show our shoulders, when Allah has banished the polytheists?" Yet he said thereafter: "We shall not abandon anything we used to do with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him" (4).

311 - Issue: He said: (And whoever misses the Eid prayer should pray four rak'ahs, like the supererogatory prayer, and if he wishes, he may separate them by a taslim after every two rak'ahs.)

The sum of this is that whoever misses the Eid prayer is not required to perform a qada' (make-up) for it because it is a fard kifayah (communal obligation) that has already been fulfilled by those whose participation sufficed. If he wishes to make it up, he is free to choose; if he wishes, he may pray it as four rak'ahs, either with one taslim or two. This is narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, and it is the view of al-Thawri, based on what was narrated from (2) Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, who said: "Whoever misses the Eid [prayer] should pray four, and whoever misses the Jumu'ah should pray four." It is also narrated from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "If I were to order a man to lead the weak among the people in prayer, I would order him to pray four." Sa'id narrated both of them (3). Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "This is strengthened by the hadith of Ali, that he ordered a man to lead the weak among the people in prayer as four [rak'ahs], without delivering a khutbah" (4). And because it is a qada' of an Eid prayer, it is four [rak'ahs] like the supererogatory prayer.