Chapter: The Eclipse Prayer

It is an emphatically recommended sunnah performed without a sermon; its time spans from the very onset of the eclipse until it ends, and it is not made up if missed.

It consists of two rakʿahs (units of prayer). He recites in2 the first rakʿah al-Fatiha aloud, followed by a long surah, then makes a prolonged bowing, rises saying, “Allah hears the one who praises Him,” and praises Him. He does not prostrate at this point; rather, he again recites al-Fatiha and another lengthy surah, bows, rises, and then performs two lengthy prostrations. He offers the second rakʿah exactly like the first, sits for the tashahhud, and ends with the salām.

If he performs three3 bowings in each rakʿah, or four, or even five, there is no objection.

Everything after the first bowing is sunnah, and joining the prayer at that point does not count as having caught the rakʿah.

It is also permissible to offer the eclipse prayer in the regular manner of a voluntary (nafl) prayer.