nation performed prayer before that prayer, nor after it—meaning the Eid prayer. He said: "No Badr-veteran prayed before the Eid." Abu Mas'ud al-Badri forbade it. It has been narrated that Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, saw a group of people praying before the Eid, and he said: "This was not done during the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him" (3). Ahmad said: "The people of Medina do not perform supererogatory prayers before or after it, the people of Basra perform supererogatory prayers before and after it, and the people of Kufa do not perform supererogatory prayers before it, but they do perform them after it." This is the view of Alqamah, al-Aswad, Mujahid, Ibn Abi Layla, al-Nakha'i, al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, and the jurists (Ashab al-Ra'y). Malik said: "One should not perform supererogatory prayers in the musalla before or after it." Regarding the mosque, he has two narrations: one of them is that one may perform supererogatory prayers, due to the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: "When one of you enters the mosque, let him not sit until he has prayed two rak'ahs" (4). Al-Shafi'i said: "Supererogatory prayer is disliked for the Imam but not for the follower, because it is not recommended for the Imam to occupy himself with anything other than the prayer, while it was not disliked for the follower, as it is a time in which one is not forbidden from prayer, resembling the time after the sun has passed its zenith (zawāl)." Our evidence is what Ibn Abbas narrated: that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, went out on the day of Fitr, prayed two rak'ahs, and did not pray before or after them. It is agreed upon (5). Ibn Umar narrated the same (6). This is because it is
(3) Recorded by Abd al-Razzaq in: 'The chapter on prayer before the exit of the Imam and after the khutbah', from the Book of the Two Eids, Al-Musannaf 3/276, 277. (4) Its verification has previously been cited in: 2/119. (5) Recorded by al-Bukhari in: 'The chapter on the khutbah after the Eid', and 'The chapter on prayer before and after the Eid', from the Book of the Two Eids; and in: 'The chapter on encouraging charity and intercession', from the Book of Zakah, Sahih al-Bukhari 2/23, 30, 140. Also by Muslim in: 'The chapter on not praying before or after the Eid in the musalla', from the Book of the Two Eids, Sahih Muslim 2/606. It was also recorded by Abu Dawud in: 'The chapter on prayer after the Eid prayer', from the Book of Prayer, Sunan Abi Dawud 1/264; al-Tirmidhi in: 'The chapter on what has been narrated that there is no prayer before or after the Eid', from the Chapters on the Two Eids, Aridat al-Ahwadhi 3/8; al-Nasa'i in: 'The chapter on prayer before and after the two Eids', from the Book of the Two Eids, Al-Mujtaba 3/157; Ibn Majah in: 'The chapter on what has been narrated regarding prayer before and after the Eid prayer', from the Book of Establishing the Prayer, Sunan Ibn Majah 1/410; al-Darimi in: 'The chapter on no prayer before or after the Eid', from the Book of Prayer, Sunan al-Darimi 1/376; and Imam Ahmad in: Al-Musnad 1/340, 355. (6) Recorded by al-Tirmidhi in: 'The chapter on what has been narrated that there is no prayer before or after the Eid', from the Chapters on the Two Eids, Aridat al-Ahwadhi 3/9; and Imam Ahmad in: Al-Musnad 2/57.
