Discover the meaning of the term Al-ʿyd (عيد) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readIt derives from 'awd (returning) when pluralized. In "Al-Ishraf": according to the philologists, it was named 'id because people grow accustomed to it every time ('itiyad) and return to it (mu'awada); its plural is a'yad. By analogy it should be a'wad, for the ya is a transformed waw, and the plural restores things to their roots, like the diminutive; but it is pluralized with ya in order to distinguish it from the plural of 'ud (wood), which is a'wad; and it was said: so that the ya remains in the singular.
There are two 'Ids: 'Id al-Fitr and 'Id ad-Duha (the Eid of sacrifice). As for 'Id al-Fitr, it is the first day of Shawwal; as for 'Id ad-Duha, it is the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijja. The word is then borrowed for any day on which gladness and joy occur.
It is recommended (mustahabb) on the day of 'Id al-Fitr, for men: the ghusl (full ablution) and the siwak; wearing one's finest clothes; wearing a ring and using perfume; the early haste (sar'a al-abkar), that is, hastening to the prayer place; breaking the fast with something sweet before the prayer; eating dates, an odd number being preferable; paying zakat al-fitr before the prayer; and going out to the prayer place on foot, and returning by another way.
Its root is from the return ('awd) of joy and its renewal; its ya is a transformed waw; its plural: a'yad; it is pluralized with ya although its root is the waw, so that the ya remains in the singular; and it was said: to distinguish it from a'wad (pieces of wood). Al-'id: the name of the recurring season which people celebrate every year: they visit one another, exchange gifts and commemorate a happy event. Allah the Most High said: (Quran 5:114: "Our Lord, send down to us a table from the sky, to be a festival for the first of us and the last of us and a sign from You").