Section: If one does not know of the day of Eid until after the sun has passed its zenith, he should go out the following day and lead the people in the Eid prayer. This is the view of al-Awza'i, al-Thawri, Ishaq, and Ibn al-Mundhir, and al-Khattabi deemed it correct. It is narrated from Abu Hanifah that it is not made up. Al-Shafi'i said: If he learns of it after sunset, it is as we say; but if he learns of it after the sun has passed its zenith, he should not pray it. This is because it is a prayer for which gathering and a khutbah have been legislated, so it is not made up after its time has passed, like the Jumu'ah prayer. He only prays it if he learns of it after sunset because the Eid is the next day, based on the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: "Your breaking of the fast is the day you break your fast, your sacrifice is the day you sacrifice, and your Arafah is the day you perform Arafah" (8). Our argument is what Abu Umayr ibn Anas narrated from some paternal uncles of his among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that some riders came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and testified that they had seen the crescent moon the previous day, so he ordered them to break their fast and, when they reached the morning, to go out to their prayer ground. This was recorded by Abu Dawud (9). Al-Khattabi said (10): "The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is more deserving [to be followed], and the hadith of Abu Umayr is authentic, so acting upon it is obligatory." Furthermore, because it is a prayer with a [specified] time, it does not lapse by the passage of the time, like all other obligatory prayers. Their analogy to Jumu'ah is not valid because it is a prayer that acts as a substitute for Dhuhr subject to conditions, one of which is the time; therefore, if one of those conditions is missed, it reverts to the original [prayer].
Section: As for the individual, if he misses it until the sun passes its zenith and he wishes to make it up, he may make it up
(8) Recorded without the phrase "and your Arafah is the day you perform Arafah" by both: Abu Dawud, in: The chapter on if a people make a mistake regarding the crescent moon, from the Book of Fasting. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/543. Al-Tirmidhi, in: The chapter on what has been narrated regarding fasting the day you fast... etc., from the Chapters on Fasting. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 3/216. And Ibn Majah, in: The chapter on what has been narrated regarding the two Eid months, from the Book of Fasting. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/531. (9) In: The chapter on if the Imam does not go out for Eid on its day, he goes out on the following day, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/264. It was also recorded by al-Nasa'i, in: The chapter on going out for the two Eids on the following day, from the Book of the Two Eids. al-Mujtaba 3/146, 147. And Ibn Majah, in: The chapter on what has been narrated regarding testimony of sighting the crescent moon, from the Book of Fasting. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/529. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 5/57, 58. (10) In Ma'alim al-Sunan 1/252.
