Questions regarding the Eidgaah:
1. Does the community have to own the land that is to be used as the site for an eidgah?
2. If the land is not purchasable, and owned by a non Muslim, can this land be used fro the eid gah?
3. At what distance from the locality should the land be, to be classified as been on the outskirts of the locality?
4. What is the significance and rewards for going to an eidgah as opposed to reading the ed salaah, at various masaajid within their community?
5. If their are various masaajid in the area, what are the rulings pertaining to closing those masaajid for the eid salaahh?
Answer:
(1) It is not incumbent for the Muslim community to own land for it to be used as an Eidgah. Nor is it necessary for the land to be Waqf. A valid Eidgah is any vacant land at the end of the built-up area. It could be privately-owned or land belonging to no one. If it is privately-owned, the permission of the owner is necessary.
(2) Even if the land is owned by a non-Muslim, it may be used as an Eidgah with the permission of the owner.
(3) There is no specific distance. The only requirement is that it should be at the end of the built-up area of the town.
(4) The only significance we are aware of is that performing the Eid Salaat in a valid Eidgah is Sunnatul Muakkadah.
(5) It is necessary to close all the Musaajid to ensure that the people attend the Eidgah. This will be the ruling where it is practical for the people to attend. This ruling will not apply to a large city such as Johannesburg or Durban for example where the suburbs are many miles apart and where it is not possible to have an Eidgah to contain the entire Muslim population. In such places, each suburb should have its own Eidgah or attend the closest Eidgah.
It is also valid to have one Musjid for Eid Salaat for the old and infirm, if this is needed. This was the Sunnat of Hadhrat Ali (radhiyallahu anhu). It depends of circumstances.