Chapter on the Rulings of the Eclipse Prayer

Allah the Exalted says: “He is the One who made the sun a radiant light and the moon a shining lamp, and determined phases for it so that you might know the number of years and calculation of time. Allah has not created all this except in truth; He sets out the signs in detail for a people who have knowledge.”

He also says: “And among His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allah who created them, if it is truly Him you worship.”

The eclipse prayer (ṣalāt al-kusūf) is an emphatically confirmed sunnah, agreed upon by all scholars, its basis being the sound sunnah transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

An eclipse is one of Allah’s signs by which He causes His servants to fear Him, as He says: “We do not send the signs except as a warning.”

When the sun was eclipsed in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he hurried to the mosque in a state of anxiety, dragging his cloak behind him. He led the people in prayer and informed them that an eclipse is one of Allah’s signs through which He instils fear in His slaves and that it may be a prelude to a punishment descending upon them. He then prescribed the means by which it may be lifted: he commanded prayer at the time of the eclipse, along with supplication, seeking forgiveness, giving charity, emancipating slaves, and other righteous deeds, until what afflicts the people is removed.