EID GREETINGS!
When Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wasallam) emigrated from Makkah Mukarramah to Madinah Munawwarah, he learnt of the two days of festivity which the people had inherited from the time of Jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic era). These two days of festivals were days of sport and amusement associated with evil and immoral customs. Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wasallam) then announced to the Muslims, “Allah Ta’ala has most certainly substituted these two days for you with two better ones, Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adha.” [Sunan Nasai] Both these days have been reserved as days of festivity and celebration; such festivity and celebration that would be within the limits prescribed for joy by the Shariah. It is for this reason that the Úlama state that, expressing one’s delight and joy on these days is not only meritorious but in fact forms part of the salient features of Islam. [Fathul Bari]
Greeting and congratulating one another with special wordings is another aspect which enhances the joy of this day. This has been the practice of the honorable Sahabah 9radi allahu anhum0, Tabieen as well as those coming thereafter. There are several narrations which support this practice of theirs. A few of these are quoted below:
Sayyiduna Jubayr Ibn Nufayr (radi allahu anhum) states, “When the Sahabah radi allahu anhum of Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wasallam) met one another on the day of Eid, they would say to each other, ‘May Allah accept (the worship) from us and from you!”
A closer glance at the meaning of the dua will reveal the intense well wishing it contains for one’s fellow Muslim brothers. So instead of us opting for the words ‘Eid Mubarak’ only (which is correct), let us combine it with the very same words which the Sahabah radi allahu anhum as well as those who came thereafter used when they verbally greeted and congratulated one another on these two days, that is, the under mentioned dua:
Taqab-balal-lahu minnaa wa minkum
May Allah accept (the worship) from us and from you!
Mahd-ul-Huda