Assalamu Alaikum,
For those who follow the Hanbali school (or are interested in knowing its verified position) please note the following rulings regarding Eid prayer at home during lockdown.
- The Eid prayer is a communal obligation (Fard Kifayah), if a group of individuals (minimum 40 sane adult males) in a community undertake the prayer with its conditions then the obligation is lifted.
- The Eid prayer has similar criteria to the Jumah prayer in terms of the minimum number of attendees, in this case 40 sane male adults upon whom the prayer is obligatory. This is stated in the main reference works of the madhab such as Kashaf al-Qina and Dalil al-Talib.
- Based on the point above those praying at home with less than this quorum of attendees will not be offering a valid Eid prayer according to the Hanbali school.
- The only scenario in which an Eid prayer at home is valid without 40 sane male adults in attendance is when the main Eid prayer has already been performed in a town and person happens to miss it. In this case they can offer Eid at home without the strict criteria, because technically the Fard obligation (see point 1 above) has been lifted.
- In the current scenario we are faced with there is no option for point 1 and thus no leeway for prayer at home as in point 4 above.
The above rulings have also been stated by Shaykh Salih al-Asmari, a Hanbali scholar from Saudi Arabia.