The issue is not the venue, whether the salat is done at home, or in an open field, or in a Masjid. It is about the requirement of congregation or a large communal gathering. If a congregation is not possible, what are the options?
Sometimes a sense of sadness about missing something of significance is more precious than marginalizing it by finding trivial substitutes for false satisfaction. Such a creative thinking diminishes the magnitude of that special thing in life forever. There are landmarks that have no substitutes, because they all are unique within their own categories. Salat-ul Eid is a signature of two most majestic days in the Islamic calendar, and each has its own unique character to glorify Allah swt across the globe.
Salat-ul-Juma is a congregational prayer and it overrides salat-ul-Zuhr on Friday. If Friday congregation is not possible, salat-ul-Juma is reverted to salt-ul-Zuhr and is offered individually wherever convenient. If someone is unable to fast, he must pay fidya (compensation) if he can afford. Should his condition return to normalcy, he must make up for the days missed, despite already having paid the fidya. Just as there is no alternative to standing in Arafah, salat-ul-Eid is not a substitute for anything, nor does anything substitute for it. It is a class by itself. That underlines its uniqueness. It is not about two rakah of salat; it is about a community assembled together in one spot in the presence of the Supreme to glorifying Him as a unified whole. The only thing that comes close to it is the sadness if you miss it for reasons beyond you.
Imam Hanafi is the first jurist and the pioneer of the science of fiqh in Islam. His school of fiqh requires congregation for salat-ul Eid. If his opinion is questionable, what makes others’ relaxed views authentic in the absence of any textual or anecdotal evidence?
An isolated act of a companion of the Prophet saw cannot be the basis for a ruling, unless:
- That act was brought to the knowledge of the Prophet saw and he either approved that or, at least, remained silent about it, or
- It was an act of one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, or
- It was endorsed by the majority of companions of Prophet saw, or
- The companion himself provided some precedent or rationale.
Anas ibn Malik, who had missed salat-ul Eid and offered it at home, never provided any basis for his action that we could hang our hats on. In fact, he was so full of sorrow for missing the congregation that he immediately freed his slaves and prayed with them at home to make up, as a token, for what he had missed due to his own personal reason. On the contrary, if there is no such congregation in the first place to join due to, for instance, unsafe conditions across the area, it is altogether a different scenario. There is no correlation. Praying alone or with some people anywhere anytime is always an option. That does not necessarily make it salat-ul Eid. If we cannot free our slaves, we can at least free ourselves from our desires of seeking convenience or retailoring the rules to rationalize our inclinations.
The current pandemic lockdown, that blocked the Eid congregation, is an unprecedented condition of human history. This is where Ijtihad is so relevant and the fiqh provides room for deliberation to explore solution within the general Islamic framework to an unusual episode, where there is no clear guidance. The Islamic scholarship should have risen to the occasion by engaging in a rigorous brainstorming and should have provided a coherent direction to respond to this challenge that turned into a fiasco instead of being dealt with as a formidable dilemma. What is being compromised here is the integrity of the Islamic standards and their timeless veracity. It is a disappointment and an alarming deficiency in the collective Islamic research and edification and, of course, an appalling vacuum of central leadership in the Muslim world.
Islamic Point of View 