Eid prayers, also referred to as Salat al-Eid (Arabic: صلاة العيد), are holy holiday prayers in the Islamic tradition. The literal translation of the word "Eid" in Arabic is "festival" or "feast" and is a time when Muslims congregate with family and the larger Muslim community to celebrate.
There are generally two central Eids that take place in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar (hence the additional name Ṣalāt al-’Īdayn (Arabic: صلاة العيدين "Prayer of the Two Eids"):
A musalla (Arabic: مصلى, romanized: muṣallā) is a space that is not a mosque, mainly used for prayer in Islam. The word is derived from the verb صلى (ṣallā), meaning "to pray". One use is for the twice-yearly Eid prayers (ʿĪd al-Fiṭr and ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā) and sometimes for funeral prayers as per the Sunnah.
“Musalla” may also refer to a room, structure, or place for performing salah (canonical prayers), and this is also translated as a “prayer hall” when smaller than a mosque. It is often used for conducting the five mandatory daily prayers, or other prayers in (or without) a small congregation, but not for large congregational worship such as the Friday Prayers or the Eid Prayers (the latter is done in congregational mosques if there is no available musalla, in the original sense of an open space). Such musallas are usually present in airports, malls, universities, and other public places in Muslim-majority countries, as well as in some non-Muslim countries for the use of Muslims. A musalla will usually not contain a minbar.
Salah (Arabic: ٱلصَّلَاةُ, romanized: aṣ-Ṣalāh, also spelled Salat), also known as Namaz (Persian: نماز, romanized: namāz), is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'ah, include a specific set of physical postures, recitation from the Quran, and prayers from the Sunnah, and are performed while facing the direction towards the Kaaba in Mecca (qibla). The number of rak'ah varies depending on the specific prayer. Variations in practice are observed among adherents of different madhahib (schools of Islamic jurisprudence). The term salah may denote worship in general or specifically refer to the obligatory prayers performed by Muslims five times daily, or, in some traditions, three times daily.
The obligatory prayers play an integral role in the Islamic faith, and are regarded as the second and most important, after shahadah, of the Five Pillars of Islam for Sunnis, and one of the Ancillaries of the Faith for Shiites. In addition, supererogatory salah, such as Sunnah prayer and Nafl prayer, may be performed at any time, subject to certain restrictions. Wudu, an act of ritual purification, is required prior to performing salah. Prayers may be conducted individually or in congregation, with certain prayers, such as the Friday and Eid prayers, requiring a collective setting and a khutbah (sermon). Some concessions are made for Muslims who are physically unable to perform the salah in its original form, or are travelling.
There are two main holidays in Islam that are celebrated by Muslims worldwide: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The timing of both holidays are set by the lunar Islamic calendar, which is based upon the cycle of the moon, and so is different from the more common, European, solar-based Gregorian calendar. Every year, the Gregorian dates of the Islamic holidays change.
Both Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha follow a period of 10 holy days or nights: the last 10 nights of Ramadan for Eid al-Fitr, and the first 10 days of Dhu al-Hijjah for Eid al-Adha. The Night of Power (Arabic: لیلة القدر, romanized: Laylat al-Qadr), one of the last 10 nights of Ramadan, is the holiest night of the year. Conversely, the Day of Arafah, the day before Eid al-Adha, is the holiest day of the Islamic year.
A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (Arabic: مَسْجِد جَامِع, romanized: masjid jāmi‘, or simply جَامِع, jāmi‘; Turkish: Cami), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (جامع كبير, jāmi‘ kabir; Ulu Cami), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as jumu'ah. It can also host the Eid prayers in situations when there is no musalla or eidgah available nearby to host the prayers. In early Islamic history, the number of congregational mosques in one city was strictly limited. As cities and populations grew over time, it became more common for many mosques to host Friday prayers in the same area. In early centuries, the congregational mosque was also a center of social and public life, hosting various other activities in addition to prayers, such as judicial and educational functions.