The first Eid al-Fitr in Islam

The Prophet ﷺ led the Muslims in the first Eid al-Fitr prayer in the history of Islam, following the first obligatory Ramadan. They had just returned victorious from Badr, so the joy of victory joined the joy of completing the fast.

When the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah he found its people with two days of play from the days of Jahiliyya, so he said: "Allah has replaced them for you with two better days: the day of al-Adha and the day of al-Fitr." When Ramadan was made obligatory in the second year, the first Eid came after it.

It was an Eid the like of which Madinah had not known: it was preceded by the ordaining of fasting, and Zakat al-Fitr was made obligatory in it as a purification for the fasting person and a provision for the poor, and it was preceded by the great victory of Badr. So the Prophet ﷺ went out with the Muslims to the prayer-ground, led them in two rakʿas and then addressed them.

His Sunnah for the Eid took shape: bathing and adorning oneself, eating dates before going out, saying the takbir aloud, taking a different route, and bringing out the women and children to the prayer-ground — a lawful joy combining worship, kinship and delight.