“The Messenger of Allah — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — would recite on the two ʿĪds and on Fridays: {Exalt the Name of your Lord, the Most High} (al-Aʿlā 87:1) and {Has there reached you the report of al-Ghāshiyah?} (al-Ghāshiyah 88:1). He said: ‘And if ʿĪd and Jumuʿah coincide on the same day, he would recite them in both prayers.’”
Narrated by Muslim (No. 878), from the ḥadīth of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, may Allah be pleased with him.
Brief Explanation of the Hadith
The Companions — may Allah be pleased with them — were keen to transmit the Sunnah of the Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — and to explain his guidance regarding the ʿĪd and Friday prayers. Among this, al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that the Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — would recite after al-Fātiḥah in the first rakʿah: “Exalt the Name of your Lord, the Most High” (al-Aʿlā 87), and in the second rakʿah: “Has there reached you the report of al-Ghāshiyah?” (al-Ghāshiyah 88:1). If ʿĪd and Jumuʿah coincided on the same day, he would recite these two surahs in both prayers as well.
This indicates the recommendation to recite these two surahs on ʿĪd and Friday prayers, for they contain reminders of the Hereafter, resurrection, and recompense, making them appropriate for the gathering of people in these two prayers.
It has also been established that the Prophet — may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him — recited other surahs as well: on the two ʿĪds he sometimes recited Qāf (50) and {The Hour has drawn near} (al-Qamar 54), and on Fridays he sometimes recited al-Jumuʿah (62) and al-Munāfiqūn (63). This indicates the permissibility of varying the recitation between these surahs, although most often he recited {Exalt the Name of your Lord, the Most High} (al-Aʿlā 87) and {Has there reached you the report of al-Ghāshiyah?} (al-Ghāshiyah 88:1).
If one recites other than what is transmitted in the Sunnah, there is no harm, so that it is not assumed that reciting these particular surahs is obligatory.