Question:
Assalaamu Alaikum
Can you enlightened me of the eid salah should be open air or in a mosque.
Thank you
Answer:
Wa Alaikumus Salam
It is Sunnah to perform the Eid Salaah in ‘open-air’ rather than in a mosque. It is narrated in authentic traditions that it was the Sunnah of the Prophet (S.A) to leave his mosque for the Eid Salaah and perform it in the Musallah (open prayer place) which was at the outer gate of Madinah. All the Imams of Fiqh have also stated that it is Sunnah to observe the Eid Salaah in ‘open-air’. Open-air refers to an open field or area where everyone can gather for the Eid Salaah. In the absence of the availability of such a place, and for good reasons, the Eid Salaah will be performed in the mosque.
With respect to having Eid Salaah in ‘open-air’, those who are in charge of establishing and overlooking this, must ensure that proper facilities are made to avoid the intermingling and mixing of males and females. A proper purdah/barrier system must be placed to ensure that women achieve the privacy that they require, and that the laws of the Sacred Shariah are adopted in this regard.
If proper barriers/screens etc are not placed, and women and men are allowed to mix freely, the Scholars/Jurists have written that women must not attend such ‘open-air’ for Eid Salaah.
And Allah Knows Best
Mufti Waseem Khan
15/6/2017