Whoever among the jurists has claimed that the sun can be eclipsed at a time other than conjunction has erred and spoken without knowledge. An eclipse occurs at fixed, predetermined intervals, just as the rising of the new crescent occurs at a fixed, predetermined time.

As for the view of some jurists who imagined the Eid prayer coinciding with a solar eclipse, that is like positing hypothetical cases that are known never to occur; they mentioned them merely to refine legal principles and to train minds in their application.

4 – Muslim (901) records, on the authority of ʿĀʾishah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The sun and the moon are not eclipsed because of anyone’s death or life; rather, they are two of Allah’s signs by which He frightens His servants.” The Exalted also says, “We do not send the signs except as a warning” (17:59).

This, then, is the unseen legal reason—made known only through the Messenger ﷺ—for the occurrence of a solar or lunar eclipse.

The observable, physical cause is learned through astronomical calculation: the heavenly bodies are situated at different distances from us, and one body may pass in front of another that is farther away, so the nearer body screens the more distant one from our planet. If the moon comes between us and the sun, a solar eclipse results; and if the earth comes between the sun and the moon, a lunar eclipse occurs.

Because an eclipse is not part of the ordinary course of the celestial bodies but rather something out of the norm, its prescribed prayer is a prayer of awe and fear, and its form differs from the regular daily prayers. In this way the legal command corresponds to the cosmic decree.

5 – A pre-Islamic custom held that the sun or the moon is eclipsed only for the death or the birth of a great person.

His statement, “Indeed, the sun and the moon are two of Allah’s signs; they are not eclipsed because of anyone’s death…”