Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 956
sahih

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to proceed to the Musalla on the days of Id-ul-Fitr and Id-ul-Adha; the first thing to begin with was the prayer and after that he would stand in front of the people and the people would keep sitting in their rows. Then he would preach to them, advise them and give them orders, (i.e. Khutba). And after that if he wished to send an army for an expedition, he would do so; or if he wanted to give and order, he would do so, and then depart. The people followed this tradition till I went out with Marwan, the Governor of Medina, for the prayer of Id-ul-Adha or Id-ul-Fitr. When we reached the Musalla, there was a pulpit made by Kathir bin As-Salt. Marwan wanted to get up on that pulpit before the prayer. I got hold of his clothes but he pulled them and ascended the pulpit and delivered the Khutba before the prayer. I said to him, "By Allah, you have changed (the Prophet's tradition)." He replied, "O Abu Sa`id! Gone is that which you know." I said, "By Allah! What I know is better than what I do not know." Marwan said, "People do not sit to listen to our Khutba after the prayer, so I delivered the Khutba before the prayer."

حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي زَيْدٌ، عَنْ عِيَاضِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي سَرْحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَخْرُجُ يَوْمَ الْفِطْرِ وَالأَضْحَى إِلَى الْمُصَلَّى، فَأَوَّلُ شَىْءٍ يَبْدَأُ بِهِ الصَّلاَةُ ثُمَّ يَنْصَرِفُ، فَيَقُومُ مُقَابِلَ النَّاسِ، وَالنَّاسُ جُلُوسٌ عَلَى صُفُوفِهِمْ، فَيَعِظُهُمْ وَيُوصِيهِمْ وَيَأْمُرُهُمْ، فَإِنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَقْطَعَ بَعْثًا قَطَعَهُ، أَوْ يَأْمُرَ بِشَىْءٍ أَمَرَ بِهِ، ثُمَّ يَنْصَرِفُ‏.‏ قَالَ أَبُو سَعِيدٍ فَلَمْ يَزَلِ النَّاسُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ حَتَّى خَرَجْتُ مَعَ مَرْوَانَ وَهْوَ أَمِيرُ الْمَدِينَةِ فِي أَضْحًى أَوْ فِطْرٍ، فَلَمَّا أَتَيْنَا الْمُصَلَّى إِذَا مِنْبَرٌ بَنَاهُ كَثِيرُ بْنُ الصَّلْتِ، فَإِذَا مَرْوَانُ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَرْتَقِيَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ، فَجَبَذْتُ بِثَوْبِهِ فَجَبَذَنِي فَارْتَفَعَ، فَخَطَبَ قَبْلَ الصَّلاَةِ، فَقُلْتُ لَهُ غَيَّرْتُمْ وَاللَّهِ‏.‏ فَقَالَ أَبَا سَعِيدٍ، قَدْ ذَهَبَ مَا تَعْلَمُ‏.‏ فَقُلْتُ مَا أَعْلَمُ وَاللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِمَّا لاَ أَعْلَمُ‏.‏ فَقَالَ إِنَّ النَّاسَ لَمْ يَكُونُوا يَجْلِسُونَ لَنَا بَعْدَ الصَّلاَةِ فَجَعَلْتُهَا قَبْلَ الصَّلاَةِ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 13, Hadith 8
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 2, Book 15, Hadith 76 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ would enjoin the good and forbid the wrongdoing and reprehensible. They were firm and upheld the truth without making any compromise, spoke the truth without fearing the blame of the blamers. In this hadeeth, Abu Saʿeed al-Khudree(may Allah be pleased with him) clarifies the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ with regards to the prayer of the two ‘Eids, explaining the order of events. He states that on the ‘Eids of al-Fiṭr and Al-Aḍhaa, he ﷺ used to set out towards the Musallaa, which is a wide and spacious place، and a well-known locality in al-Madeenah which is about 1000 cubits (The Arabic word dhirāʿ is a unit of measurement which is pretty close to that of a cubit. The average cubit is 0.5 meters. This means the approximate distance here is close to 450 - 500 meters) from the entrance of the masjid. The first thing that he ﷺ began with was the offering the ‘Eid prayer, then he ﷺ would stand up facing the people to deliver the sermon all the while the people would [remain] seated in their places. During the ‘Eid sermon he ﷺ would admonish, advise, and give the people orders. If he ﷺ wanted to dispatch an army or a troop to a region of the outlying areas [for a mission], he ﷺ would dispatch them accordingly. Then, Abu Saʿeed mentioned that the people persisted in that manner until Muʿaawiyah(may Allah be pleased with him) appointed Marwaan ibn al-Hakam as a governor over al-Madeenah. When the ‘Eid of Al-Aḍhaa or al-Fiṭr came, Abu Saʿeed(may Allah be pleased with him) set out with Marwaan to the Musallaa. Then, he saw a pulpit that was built by the famous taabiʿee, Katheer ibn al-Salt al-Kindĩ. Thereafter, Marwaan intended to ascend the pulpit so that he could deliver the ‘Eid sermon before the performance of the prayer. Abu Saʿeed did no more than pull upon the garment of Marwaan forcibly, attempting to prevent him from doing as such. However, Marwaan did not respond to him, and proceeded towards delivering the sermon before the performance of the ‘Eid prayer. Then, Abu Saʿeed(may Allah be pleased with him) spoke harshly towards him because his actions changed the sunnah [the practice that had been established by the Prophet ﷺ and the people thereafter.] Subsequently, he (may Allah be pleased with him) swore that which he knows is good, because it is the way of the Prophet ﷺ. So, how can it be other than good, [if] it is from him ﷺ?! Afterwards, Marwaan claimed that his actions were good because the conditions had changed - and that the people did not sit to listen to his Eid sermon after the conclusion of the Eid prayer. For that reason, he delivered the sermon before the prayer so that he could obligate them to listen to it. This gives us the impression that Marwaan did that as he believed it is a matter that is open to ijtihaad (i.e., exercising an independent judgement), and that he changed the action[s] of the Prophet ﷺ - with beginning with the performance of the prayer, and then the deliverance of the sermon - to his own on the basis of precedence. He advanced a reason for leaving the foregoing in [exchange] to what he mentioned earlier regarding the change in the people’s condition. He discerned that the adherence to the basis of the sunnah - which [when applied here refers to] listening to the sermon - is more important than the observance of a position that is not a condition [for its validity]. However, Abu Saʿeed (ay Allah be pleased with him) understood the actions of the Prophet ﷺ and their sequence as being fixed and not subject to change. Nonetheless, he neither left off the prayer nor refrained from listening to the sermon. From the benefits that we can conclude from this hadeeth is that the ‘Eid prayer should be performed outdoor, and not in a masjid, except out of necessity. It teaches us that the Prophet delivered the sermon at the Musallaa on the two ‘Eids while standing. It shows us that we should constantly enjoin the good and forbid the prohibited - even if the one to condemn is a person of authority or a ruler. This hadeeth shows us that it is prescribed to use the pulpit for the purpose of delivering the sermon of ‘Eid and explains that the person delivering the sermon should stand facing the people. Lastly, it indicates the permissibility of a person’s oath toward the truth in what they convey. .