The answer: We follow their statements, because experience has established that their calculations are precise.

The second issue: If one does not learn of the eclipse until after it has ended, it is not made up, because we have mentioned a useful principle: every act of worship connected to a particular cause ceases to be legislated when that cause has ceased. Thus, when the sun becomes fully visible again, or the moon becomes fully visible again, the eclipse prayer is not repeated, because it is prescribed for a reason that has now passed.

The jurists express this principle by saying: “A sunnah whose proper time has passed.”

The third issue: If one begins the eclipse prayer before the time for the obligatory prayer enters, and then the time for the obligatory prayer begins, what should he do?

The answer: If the time for the obligatory prayer is becoming limited, he must shorten the eclipse prayer so that he may perform the obligatory prayer within its time. If there is ample time, however, he should continue the eclipse prayer.

And if the sun sets while eclipsed, …

His statement, “And if the sun sets while eclipsed”: if the sun sets while eclipsed, no prayer is performed, because once it has set, its authority has gone. Whether it was eclipsed or not when it set makes no difference to us. Once its authority has ceased, the requirement to perform the prayer for its eclipse falls away.

Issues:

The first: If it is eclipsed at the end of the day, the eclipse prayer is not performed, based on the view that it is a sunnah prayer and that prayers connected to particular causes are not performed during a prohibited time. This is the established position of the madhhab.

However, the correct view in this matter is that the eclipse prayer should be performed after the afternoon prayer. That is, if the sun is eclipsed after the afternoon prayer, we pray, due to the generality of