The Guiding Strategy in the Sermon of Eid al-Fitr in the Great Mosque of Mecca for the Year 1441 AH

Human communication is a requirement of life, and it manifests in a variety of forms according to means and purposes, including religious sermons among Muslims, which are a means of guidance and reminder. Religious sermons include the Eid sermon, when mosques are crowded with Muslims, and such sermon always express joy of Eid as well as recalling the teachings of the true religion. However, shortly after the middle of 1441 AH, the unexpected happened, as the pandemic came and prevented people from meetings, and consequently religious, medical, psychological, social and economic precautions were spread in various parts of the world.
 
When Eid al-Fitr arrived, the pandemic was still in control, so the sermon delivered that Eid was exceptional; the number of worshipers in all mosques, the two Holy Mosques included, was limited. In the great Mosque of Mecca, Sheikh Dr. Salih Ibn Hamid adapted the Eid sermon to the new current situation precautions. Therefore, I decided to study this speech to analyze aspects of its rhetorical structure for the purpose to highlight the nature of the discourse in the time of the pandemic.
 
The study consists of an introduction and three sections. The first section deals with of the context of the Eid sermon, and the second section is devoted to the explicit directives, while the third section exhibits the implicit directives. The conclusion includes a series of results; most important is that the preacher implemented the strategy of constructing his sermon on guiding, namely explicit directive acts. Exceptionally, the imperative and the vocative cases appear on the onset of the sermon. Equally important is the preacher’s focus on implicit directions accompanied by cautions at times and reference to possible repercussions other instances. Hence, the sermon appeased the feelings of fear and boredom that leaked to the people’s hearts due to the rampant epidemic.