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Thursday, June 16, 2011

If an eclipse is a natural phenomenon, then why should we feel scared and pray?

Question
It is now known that eclipse is nothing but a normal process that occurs after a regular interval (that can be known) of the moon coming between the sun & the earth. Then why was it that Holy Prophet(pbuh) used to pray at that time, though it didn't cause any danger!?

Answer

Praise be to Allaah.
When the sun was eclipsed at the time of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), he commanded someone to call out “al-salaatu jaami’ah (prayer is about to begin)”, and he led the people in prayer. Then he addressed them and explained to them the reason for the eclipse, and declared their jaahili beliefs to be null and void. He explained to them what they should do, such as praying and making du’aa’ and giving in charity. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allaah; they do not become eclipsed for the death or life of anyone. If you see that then call upon Allaah and magnify Him, and pray, and give in charity.” The Muslims did not know when an eclipse would happen, but when it did happen, they would hasten to do what Allaah had prescribed, such as praying etc.
 When an eclipse happened, they would be afraid that is was a warning of impending disaster, so they would turn to Allaah and pray to Him to ward off that which they feared. When astronomy and the calculations of the movements of the sun and moon became well known in later times, and it became known that the experts could know when an eclipse was likely to happen, the scholars (‘ulamaa’) pointed out that this did not change the ruling, and that the Muslims still had to do what they were commanded to do at the time of an eclipse, even if they knew about it in advance.  But it is not prescribed to concern ourselves with the matter of predicting eclipses, because that is not what Allaah and His Messenger commanded us to do. The scholars also explained that an eclipse may be a sign or a cause of something bad happening to people. When the questioner says that eclipses do not cause hrm, she is speaking without knowledge and objecting to the sharee’ah of Allaah. People do not necessarily know of the events which Allaah causes to happen at the time of an eclipse, and some people may know about that whilst others do not. It could be that because of the Muslims’ prayers, Allaah wards off bad things which are known only to Him. The Muslim must submit to the ruling of Allaah and act in accordance with His sharee’ah, and have faith in His wisdom, because He is the All-Knowing, All-Wise, may He be glorified and exalted.
 (Written by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Barraak).
 Solar and lunar eclipses are two of the signs of Allaah with which He scares His slaves and reminds them of some of the things which will happen on the Day of Resurrection, when the sun will be wound round and will lose its light and be overthrown and the stars will fall (cf. al-Takweer 81:1), and the sight will be dazed, the moon will be eclipsed and the sun and moon will be joined together (by going into one another, or folded up, or deprived of their light) (al-Qiyaamah 75:8-9). This is why Muslims should be alarmed by eclipses. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to fear Allaah very much, and one day he came out in an agitated state, thinking that the Hour had begun, when the sun was eclipsed during his lifetime… This is indicative of the great extent to which he kept the Hour in mind and feared it. We, on the other hand, have become negligent and most people no longer think of eclipses as anything other than a natural phenomenon which they go out to watch with special glasses, carrying cameras. They limit themselves to the worldly scientific explanation without understanding the reminder of the Hereafter which it brings. This is one of the signs of hard-heartedness and a lack of concern about the matters of the Hereafter. It reflects a lack of fear of the onset of the Hour, and ignorance of the aims of sharee’ah and the reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to feel fear when these eclipses happened. The Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) used to stand to pray the eclipse prayer, because they believed that if indeed the Hour had come, they would not then be counted negligent of their prayer, and if this eclipse was nothing to do with the Hour, then they would not lose anything by praying, for they would have earned a great reward. We ask Allaah to make us among those who fear Him and who are afraid of the Hour. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

9 comments:

  1. is there any specific method for the eclipse prayer?

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  2. in that day we have to pray or not?

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  3. subhanallah 1st of am rely thanxful 2 ALLAH almighty for allowing me 2 know such a great fact in either sum way which is very important for every muslim...as a muslim i rely never knows about dis fact before and 2day it opened my eyes...everytime i neglected it but now by the grace of ALLAH i can obey the orders which i we and every1 shud hav 2 follow...thanxs for the coloumn may ALLAH bless all muslims of dis world

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  4. how is the eclipse prayer prayed?

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  5. Praise be to Allaah.

    Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
    “It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and the moon as a light and measured out for it stages that you might know the number of years and the reckoning. Allaah did not create this but in truth. He explains the Ayaat in detail for people who have knowledge.” [Yoonus 10:5]

    “And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate yourselves not to the sun” nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allaah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him” (Fussilat 41:37)

    Salaat al-Kusoof is Sunnah mu’akkadah (a confirmed Sunnah) according to the consensus of the scholars. The daleel (evidence) for this is the Sunnah reported from the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
    Eclipses are signs from Allaah by means of which Allaah makes His slaves afraid. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And We sent not the signs except to warn, and to make them afraid (of destruction)” [al-Israa’ 17:39]

    When the sun was eclipsed at the time of the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), he went out rushing nervously to the mosque, dragging his cloak behind him, and led the people in prayer. He told them that the eclipse was one of the signs of Allaah, with which Allaah makes His slaves afraid, and that it may be the cause of punishment coming upon the people. He commanded them to do that which could prevent the punishment, so he commanded them to pray when an eclipse happens, and to make du’aa’, seek His forgiveness, give charity, free slaves and do other righteous deeds so that the punishment would go away and not befall the people. So the eclipse is a reminder to people, making them afraid so that they will turn back to Allaah and pay attention to Him.

    During the Jaahiliyyah, people used to believe that eclipses happened to mark the birth or death of a great person, but the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) declared this belief to be false and explained the divine wisdom behind the occurrence of eclipses:

    Imaam al-Bukhaari and Muslim narrated that Ibn Mas’ood al-Ansaari said: “the sun was eclipsed the day Ibraaheem the son of the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died, and the people said, ‘The sun is eclipsed because of the death of Ibraaheem.’ The Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The sun and the moon are two signs from Allaah, and they do not become eclipsed for the death or the birth of anyone. If you see that, hasten to remember Allaah and to pray.’”

    According to another hadeeth in al-Saheehayn: “Call on Allaah and pray until [the eclipse] is over.”

    It is reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaari that Abu Moosa said: “These signs that Allaah sends are not for the death or life of anyone, but Allaah makes His slaves afraid through them, so if you see anything of that [eclipses], then hasten to remember Allaah and call on Him and seek His forgiveness.”

    Allaah causes eclipses to happen to these two mighty signs, the sun and the moon, to teach His slaves and show them that these things are created and are subject to imperfections and changes just like any other created entities. Thus He shows them His perfect ability and that He alone is deserving of worship, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And from among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate yourselves not to the sun” nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allaah Who created them, if you (really) worship Him” (Fussilat 41:37)

    The time for Salaat al-Kusoof lasts from the beginning of the eclipse until it is over, because the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When you see that, then pray.” (Agreed upon). According to another hadeeth, “If you see anything of that, then pray until it is over.” (Reported by Muslim).

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  6. Salaat al-Kusoof should not be done once the eclipse is over, because the time has gone. If an eclipse ends before one knows about it, one does not have to pray, because the reason for this prayer is no longer there.

    The way in which Salaat al-Kusoof is done is to pray two Rak’ahs in which Qur’aan is recited aloud, according to the correct one out of the two scholarly opinions. In the first Rak’ah, one should recite al-Faatihah and a long soorah such as Soorat al-Baqarah or the equivalent, then do a long rukoo’, then raise one's head and say, “Sami’a Allaahu liman hamidah, Rabbanaa wa laka’l-hamd (Allaah listens to the one who praises Him; our Lord to You be praise)” after standing upright, as in other prayers. Then one should then recite al-Faatihah and another long soorah, shorter than in the first recitation, equivalent in length to Soorat Aal ‘Imraan. Then one should do another long rukoo’ shorter than the first, and when raising one's head, say, “Sami’a Allaahu liman hamidah, Rabbanaa wa laka’l-hamd hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubaarakan fih, mal’ al-samawaati wa mal’ al-ard wa mal’ ma shi’ta min shay’in ba’d (Allaah listens to the one who praises Him; our Lord to You be praise, much good and blessed praise, filling heaven and earth and whatever You will besides that).” Then he should do two lengthy sujoods, without making the sitting between them too long. Then one should pray the second rak’ah like the first, with two long rukoo’s and two long sujoods, as he did in the first rak’ah. Then he should recite the Tashahhud and say the salaam.

    This is the description of Salaat al-Kusoof as prayed by the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as was reported with a number of isnaads. Some of these reports are in al-Saheehayn, including the hadeeth narrated by ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her): “The sun was eclipsed at the time of the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out, stood up and said Takbeer (‘Allaahu akbar’), and the people formed rows behind him. The Messenger of Allaah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recited a lengthy recitation and did a lengthy rukoo’, then he raised his head and said, ‘Sami’a Allaahu liman hamidah, Rabbanaa wa laka’l-hamd.’ Then he stood upright and recited another lengthy recitation, shorter than the first. Then he said ‘Allaahu akbar’ and did another lengthy rukoo’, shorter than the first. Then he said, ‘Sami’a Allaahu liman hamidah, Rabbanaa wa laka’l-hamd.’ Then he did sujood. Then in the second rak’ah he did likewise, until he had completed four rukoo’s and four sujoods, and the eclipse was over before he had finished.” (Agreed upon).

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  7. It is sunnah to pray Salaat al-Kusoof in jamaa’ah (congregation), because this is what the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did, but it is permissible to pray it individually, as with all other naafil prayers. However, praying it in congregation is better.

    It is sunnah for the imaam to address the people after the prayer, and to warn them against negligence and being led astray, and to tell them to make lots of du’aa’ and ask for forgiveness. In al-Saheeh it is narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) finished his prayer then addressed the people and started by praising Allaah then he said, “The sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allaah, and they do not become eclipsed for the death or the birth of anyone. If you see that, then call on Allaah, perform salaah, give charity…”

    If the prayer ends before the eclipse does, then remember Allaah (dhikr) and call on Him (du’aa’) until the eclipse ends. The prayer should not be repeated. If the eclipse ends before the prayer, then the prayer should be completed quickly, but it should not be stopped or cut off abruptly, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and render not vain your deeds” [Muhammad 47:33]. The prayer should be at the time of the eclipse, because the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “… until it (the eclipse) is over…” and he also said, “… until what you are going through is over …”

    Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: “Sometimes eclipses last for a long time, and sometimes for a short time, depending on how much of the sun or moon is eclipsed. The entire sun or moon may be eclipsed, or only half of it, or one-third. If it is a total eclipse, then the prayer should last long enough for all of al-Baqarah or something of similar length to be recited in the first rak’ah, and in the next rak’ah a shorter recitation is made. There are saheeh ahaadeeth narrated from the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as we have mentioned, and it is prescribed to shorten the prayer if the reason for it [i.e., the eclipse] is no longer there. So if it is known that the eclipse will not last for long, or if it started to get less, one should still pray, but the prayer should be shortened. This is the opinion of the majority of scholars, because this prayer is prescribed for a specific reason, and if the reason is no longer there and the eclipse is over, one should not pray.”


    Islam Q&A
    Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

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  8. We should pray and scared FOR the event of eclips as our prophet SAW scared and prayed himself along
    with the sahaba R.A. Secondly, it is a sign for hereafter.Most of the disbeliever have no chance to understand what goes with the event of eclipse other than the phenomenon only. ALLAH j,s activated his Warner for mankind of different era and ages.So the astronomer and calculators of ages considered it as a phenomenon only.And actually we should consider it as sign of inevitability in the hereafter, so ALLAH j.s made it phenomena.

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  9. thanx to only and great ALLAH for allowing me to know such a great fact.

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