yes it is a hadith: as found here and here. --- however, in our madh'hab - eid prayer is wajib and jumu'ah is farD; and upon those whom jumu'ah is not fard, neither is eid prayer wajib. even if one does not pray jumu'ah on eid day - DHuhr of that day is farD upon him nevertheless (in case of a musafir etc or one who is delayed for a sharayi reason...) --- in hidayah here. in raddu'l muhtar here. relevant excerpt: ibn abd al-Barr said: "exemption of jumu'ah due to eyd is a disregarded opinion" and ali said that it is for the bedouins of the desert and those upon whom jumu'ah is not mandatory. --- Allah ta'ala knows best.
I found the following email circulating in the mail-group at work. I strongly suspect this mail was initiated by a salafi-minded convert. ----- Our understanding is that Salatul Jumu’ah is not mandatory for those who have attended the Eid prayer (if Eid falls on a Friday). And Allah (SWT) knows best: Zayd ibn Arqam (RA) that Mu`awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan (RA) asked him: "Did you witness with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) two `Eids (festival days) that happened to be on the same day?" Zayd said: "Yes" Mu`awiyah asked: "What did he do?" Zayd said: "He offered the `Eid Prayer and gave a choice in offering Jumu`ah Prayer and said: 'Who wills to perform (i.e. Jumu`ah Prayer) can perform it.'" Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Al-Nasa'y, Ibn Majah, Al-Darimy and Al-Hakim in his book Al-Mustadrak and ranked its Isnaad (chain of narration) as Sahih (authentic) ---- Is this hadith authentic? I suspect given the origin of the email that it may not be authentic. Time and again I have heard various Sunni Imams emphasise attendance in Jumu’ah congregation whenever Eid occurs on Jumu’ah. If the above hadith is indeed authentic, is it applicable only for village dwellers (who’d travel to nearest city for Eid & Jumu’ah) or is it universally applicable (also to city dwellers)?
