“There was no adhān on the day of ‘Īd al-Fiṭr, nor on the day of ‘Īd al-Aḍḥā.”
Then I asked him about this later, and he informed me, saying: “Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh al-Anṣārī reported to me that there is no adhān for the prayer on the day of ‘Īd when the imām goes out, nor afterward; neither iqāmah nor call (for prayer)—nothing. There is no call (for prayer) that day, nor iqāmah.”
Narrated by al-Bukhārī (No. 960) and Muslim (No. 886), with the wording being his, from the ḥadīth of Ibn ‘Abbās and Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh, may Allah be pleased with them.
In another narration in Muslim (No. 887), from the ḥadīth of Jābir ibn Samrah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: “I prayed with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, on the two ‘Īds—not once or twice (but many times)—without adhān or iqāmah.”
Brief Explanation of the Hadith
The Prophetic Sunnah has clarified the manner and rulings of the two ‘Īd prayers. Among this is what was narrated by the two companions, Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh and Jābir ibn Samrah, may Allah be pleased with them both, that the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, would pray the two ‘Īds without adhān or iqāmah. This is the Sunnah for the ‘Īd prayer: when the imām arrives at the musallā, he begins the prayer immediately. The reason the adhān and iqāmah were not legislated for it is that its time is known, and the people gather for it, which suffices in place of the adhān and iqāmah. Similarly, the adhān is specifically prescribed for the obligatory prayers to distinguish them from the voluntary prayers and to manifest their honor. Were the call legislated for it, it would entail its obligation, which does not correspond with its non-obligatory status.
Whatever may be said regarding the reasoning for this, the Sunnah takes precedence in being followed, as was the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after him, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.
His statement: “nor call, nor anything” indicates that nothing is legislated before the ‘Īd prayer—neither adhān, nor iqāmah, nor the phrase “as-ṣalātu jāmi‘ah”—unlike the prayer of eclipse, for which the call “as-ṣalātu jāmi‘ah” is prescribed, as established in the Sunnah. This is because the eclipse prayer occurs suddenly, necessitating a proclamation to alert the people to it.