Accordingly, the sunnah reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is to prolong this pillar—that is, the interval between bowing and prostration—in contrast to those who rush through it, or rather, those who do not remain still in it, as we observe in some worshippers: the moment they rise from bowing, they go down into prostration. Whoever does this—that is, does not remain still after bowing—has an invalid prayer, because he has omitted one of the pillars of the prayer. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw a man praying without remaining still. The man prayed three times, and each time the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” (1)

The deficiency that afflicted the Muslims regarding this pillar—the standing after bowing—and the pillar between the two prostrations, as Shaykh al-Islam stated, came from some of the Umayyad rulers. They would not prolong these two pillars, and people follow the way of their rulers. Thus, people adopted from them shortening these two pillars, until many came to think that this was the sunnah. The sunnah then died out to the extent that reviving it became regarded as something blameworthy, or nearly so. Indeed, if a person prolongs them, one who sees him may think that he has forgotten or made a mistake.

Accordingly, in the eclipse prayer, one prolongs the bowing considerably. Then, when he rises from the second bowing, he likewise prolongs the standing for approximately the length of the bowing. But what should he say?

If he knows what has been reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, for this occasion, he says it. If he does not know, he repeats the words of praise, because this pillar