The day of Eid has been given to Ummat-e-Muslimah by Allah.
Sunan Abu-Dawud Book 3, Number 1130: Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Al-Madinah, the people of Madinah used to have two festivals. On those two days they had carnivals and festivity. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the Ansar (the Muslims of Madinah) about it. They replied that before Islam they used to have carnivals on those two joyous days. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) told them: “Instead of those two days, Allah has appointed two other days which are better, the days of `Eid Al-Fitr and `Eid Al-Adha.”
Allah sent Last Prophet -Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Last Book -Holy Quran and made Kaaba the Qibla (direction) for Last Ummat -Ummat-e-Muslimah; all these made Muslims a separate and unique nation. Muslims were thus given separate and unique ways/laws (shariat) to govern their life which are free of any kind of shirk and ignorance.
After being given the true deen which is unique and distinct from other nations, if any person, who declares himself / herself as a Muslim, follows / imitates ways of other nations, the person becomes one of the people of a nation he/she imitates.
Holy Quran 4:115- Anyone who is hostile to the Rasool after guidance has been plainly conveyed to him and follows a path other than that of the believers, We shall leave him in the path he has chosen and cast him into Hell; which is an evil refuge.
Abu Dawoud 4/314 Hadith # 4031: At-Tabarani and Abu Dawud narrated that Ibn Umar and Hudhayfah reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people, he is one of them.”
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith Hadith 194: Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah ………………. Whereupon Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, even if Moses were to appear before you and you were to follow him, leaving me aside, you would certainly stray into error; for if (Moses) were alive (now), and he found my prophetical ministry, he would have definitely followed me. Transmitted by Darimi.
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 72, Hadith # 780- Narrated Nafi’ Ibn Umar said, The Prophet said, “Do the opposite of what the pagans do. Keep the beards and cut the moustaches short.”
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 56, Hadith # 668- Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “The Jews and the Christians do not dye (their grey hair), so you shall do the opposite of what they do (i.e. dye your grey hair and beards).”
Muslims are Muwahhid i.e. believers of Tawheed which is Oneness of Allah. Tawheed is reflected in every aspect of Islam. The way Islam teaches us to celebrate days of Eid is to worship Allah on this day. On Eid Muslims are required to pray Eid Salat, give Sadaqa, meet Muslims with smiling face, wear new or washed clothes, all these are forms of worship which we do for Allah. Thus Eid a day of celebration also becomes for Muslims special day of worship of Allah.
This is in complete contrast to the festivals of kafirs / non-muslims like diwali, christmas, etc. The festival days of kafirs become day of sinning for them. On festival days they indulge in shirk, alcohol, gambling, adultery, nakedness, mixed partying, music, lavish spending and other immoral activities to celebrate their festival.
But Islam is pure and it gave us days to celebrate which are also pure of shirk and other immoral activities and these days become for Muslims special days of worship of Allah, our creator and sustainer.
But as Islam and Quran is slipping from the lives of Muslims and as we are getting influenced by corrupt ways of other nations we can see that their evil ways of celebration are creeping into our celebration of Eids. Be it use of Fire-Crackers like Hindu use them on Diwali, or the mixed gatherings of Women and Men like on Holi, or the Bidat of Compulsory Gifts/Money, indulging in Music, wearing Fancy Clothes, Nakedness and many other evils.
For example hindus use fire-crackers on the eve of diwali which they call festival of light so they light diya, use fire-crackers etc, now unfortunately we Muslims have also started copying this hindu ritual/tradition and are now using fire-crackers on Eid i.e. we are adopting way of pagan festival to celebrate festival of Tawheed thus mixing the two; similarly we have imitated other evil things from different pagan festivals like Christmas, holi, etc.
If we really are Muslims then we must celebrate the Eid as per the sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him) and leave the evil ways of kuffar which we have adopted otherwise if we fail to do so and if we keep on trailing / following ways of kuffar we will eventually find ourselves with kuffar in Hereafter.
Holy Quran Sura Al-Baqara (2:120) The Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you, until you follow their faith. O Muhammad, tell them: “Allah’s guidance is the only guidance;” and if after all the knowledge you have received, you yield to their desires, there shall be none to protect you or help you from the wrath of Allah.
We must leave the bidets we have created and revive the Sunnah.
Sahih Bukhari Volume 9, Book 92, Number 422: Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri: The Prophet said, “You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a mastigure (lizard), you would follow them.” We said, “O Allah’s Apostle! (Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said, “Whom else?”
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith Hadith 168: Narrated by Bilal ibn Harith al-Muzani Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: He who revived a Sunnah out of my Sunan, which has died after me, for him is the reward like the reward of those who acted upon it, without any decrease in that reward. He who introduced some evil innovation which Allah and His Messenger did not approve has (a burden of sin upon him) like the sins of one who acted according to it, without their sins being mitigated thereby in the least.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith Hadith 170: Narrated by Amr ibn Awf Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Verily ad-Din will recede to Hijaz as the serpent crawls back to its hole, and ad-Din will find its abode in Hijaz as the mountain goat seeks refuge on the peak of the mountain. Verily the Din was initiated amongst the strangers, and would revert to them as it started. Let there be glad tidings for the strangers: they are those people who set right what the people have corrupted of my Sunnah.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith Hadith 175: Narrated by Anas ibn Malik Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said to me: My son, if you are in a position to pass your morning and evening keeping your heart free from malice against anyone, then act according to it (this high ideal). He then said: My son, and that is my Sunnah and he who loves my Sunnah, in fact loves me and he who loves me, will be with me in Paradise.
So, O those who claim to be Followers of Prophet (peace be upon him) stop imitating kuffar by indulging in activities like fire-cracking, compulsory gifts/money, music, wearing fancy clothes, nakedness, mixed gender gatherings and other immoral activities of pagan festivals like diwali, holi, christmas, etc. and revive the sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him). If we fail to revive the sunnah then, Allah forbid, humiliation is our fate at the hands of very kuffar whom we are imitating. And by following ways of kuffar it is quite natural that destination of kuffar, which is hell, will be ours too. But, Sunnah will lead us to company of Prophet (peace be upon him) which is in Paradise.
Etiquette of `Eid
- Ghusl (taking a bath): One of the good manners of `Eid is to take bath before going out to the Prayer. It was reported that Sa`id ibn Jubayr said: “Three things are Sunnah on `Eid: to walk (to the prayer-place), to take a bath, and to eat before coming out (if it’s `Eid Al-Fitr).”
- Eating before coming out: One should not come out to the prayer-place on `Eid Al-Fitr before eating some dates, because of the hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari from Anas ibn Malik who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not go out in the morning of `Eid Al-Fitr until he had eaten some dates… and he would eat an odd number.” On `Eid Al-Adha, on the other hand, it is Mustahab (recommended) not to eat until after the Prayer, when one should eat from the meat of one’s sacrifice.
- Takbir on the day of `Eid: This is one of the greatest Sunnahs of this day. Al-Daraqutni and others reported that when Ibn `Umar came out on `Eid Al-Fitr and `Eid Al-Adha, he would strive hard in making Takbir until he reached the prayer-place, then he would continue making Takbir until the Imam came.
- Congratulating one another: People may exchange congratulations and good greetings on `Eid, no matter what form the words take. For example they may say to one another, “Taqabbal Allahu minnaa wa minkum (may Allah accept from us and from you our good deeds!)”. Jubayr ibn Nufayr said: “At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when people met one another on the day of `Eid, they would say, ‘Taqabbal Allahu minnaa wa minka.'” (Ibn Hajar)
- Wearing one’s best clothes for `Eid: Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had a Jubbah (cloak) that he would wear on `Eid and on Fridays.” Al-Bayhaqi reported that Ibn `Umar used to wear his best clothes on `Eid, so men should wear the best clothes they have when they go out for `Eid.
- Changing route on returning from Prayer-place: Jabir ibn `Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to change his routes on the day of `Eid. (Al-Bukhari)
As-Sirat 