Chapter on the Eclipse Prayer

His statement, “Chapter on the Eclipse Prayer”: scholars use the terms “book,” “chapter,” and “section,” each with its own technical usage.

When the discussion concerns a single broad category, they call it a “book.” When it concerns a type within a broader category, they call it a “chapter.” And when it consists of several issues within a single chapter, they call it a “section.”

Thus, when the subject is purification, prayer, and so on, it is called “The Book of Purification,” “The Book of Prayer,” “The Book of Zakah,” “The Book of Fasting,” and “The Book of Hajj,” because each of these is a broad category.

But when the subject is the chapter on ablution, bathing, dry ablution, menstruation, or the removal of impurity, it is called a “chapter,” because the broader category is one—namely, purification—while the types differ: this is ablution, this is bathing, this is menstruation, and this is impurity.

If the subject is one type but its issues differ, it is termed a “section.” For example, bathing includes various issues, so it is said: “Section: Matters That Make Bathing Obligatory”; then: “Section: The Manner of Bathing”; “Section: Recommended Baths”; and so on. This is the well-known usage of the scholars.

Here he said, “Chapter on the Eclipse Prayer,” and did not say, “The Book of the Eclipse Prayer,” because this is a type of prayer.