Ahkam al-Eidayn lil-Firyabi
- Author died
- 301 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-‘Ulūm wa-al-Ḥikam
Ahkam al-Eidayn (Rulings of the Two Eids) is a hadith collection compiled by the hadith master and judge Abu Bakr al-Firyabi (207–301 AH / 822–914 CE), dedicated to the legal rulings, prophetic traditions, and early scholarly practices concerning the two Islamic festivals: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
Content and Structure
The work is organized topically into thematic chapters containing a total of 184 prophetic traditions (marfu') and companion/successor reports (athar), transmitted with their full chains of narration (isnad). It addresses key practices and jurisprudence related to the two celebrations, including:
- The naming of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as the designated festivals of Islam.
- Ritual bathing (ghusl) and using perfume before departing for the prayer ground.
- Eating before leaving for prayer on Eid al-Fitr, contrasted with abstaining until the sacrificial slaughter on Eid al-Adha.
- Walking to the prayer ground (musalla) and the timing of departure for the congregation and the imam.
- Chanting the takbir aloud on the way to the prayer ground and while waiting for the imam.
- Performing the Eid prayer before delivering the sermon (khutbah).
- The ruling on offering voluntary prayers before or after the Eid prayer at the musalla.
- The concession allowing worshippers from outlying areas who attend the Eid prayer to omit attending Friday prayer when both coincide on the same day.
Among early independent monographs compiling hadiths specifically on the two Eids—such as those by Ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 281 AH), al-Mahamili (d. 330 AH), and Abd ibn Ahmad al-Sam'ak al-Harawi (d. 434 AH)—al-Firyabi's work is regarded as the most comprehensive and rich in material.
Transmission and Editions
The surviving transmission of the text was read to al-Firyabi in Ramadan and subsequently passed down through Baghdad scholars, including Abu Hafs Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Zayyat, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Jawhari, and Abu al-Ghana'im Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Maymun al-Narsi, who recited it at the Jami' al-Qasr mosque in 506 and 507 AH.
The text was edited and its narrations cross-referenced and evaluated by Musa'id ibn Sulayman ibn Rashid, published in Beirut by Mu'assasat al-Risala in 1406 AH (1986 CE). It was also published alongside the editor's hadith commentary Sawati' al-Qamarayn fi Takhrij Ahadith Ahkam al-Eidayn by Maktabat al-Ulum wa-l-Hikam in Medina (1406 AH).
Answer updated