and its disk becomes fully round and fully illuminated because it is opposite the sun. It then begins to draw nearer to the sun, and its light continues to diminish until it catches up with the sun and comes into alignment with it, according to the order established by the Creator of night and day—there is no deity but Him. When Allah, Mighty and Majestic, decrees, in accordance with the order He has established for it and the stations He has appointed along its course, that the moon should stand opposite the sun by day, between our eyes and the sun, its body conceals all the sun’s light from us if it is directly aligned with it, or part of its light if it is off-centre. This is a solar eclipse, one of the signs of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, by which He strikes fear into His servants, as He, Mighty and Majestic, says:
“We send signs only as a warning.” [al-Isrā’: 59]
For this reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded supplication at such times and instituted the eclipse prayer. Knowing when an eclipse will occur through the study of the heavenly bodies and calculation, as described above, is therefore neither a claim to knowledge of the unseen nor misguidance or disbelief in any respect. Nevertheless, occupying oneself with it is disliked, because it is of no concern to a person. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Part of the excellence of a person’s Islam is leaving what does not concern him.”
Announcing an eclipse before it occurs harms people’s religion, because an ignorant person who hears this may think that it is knowledge of the unseen and that astrologers can attain such knowledge by studying the stars. Anyone who makes such an announcement must therefore be restrained and disciplined for it, as Mālik stated in the report transmitted from him by Ibn al-Qāsim in the Book of Governance in al-‘Utbiyya, for this is one of Satan’s snares.
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As for matters of the unseen, no one can discover any of them by studying the stars. Scholars have differed concerning an astrologer who makes pronouncements based on his astrology, claiming to know when a particular person will arrive, when rain will fall, what is in the wombs, information people keep hidden, the trials and terrors that will arise, and similar matters of the unseen. One view is that this constitutes disbelief warranting execution without first being invited to repent, on account of the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
“We have certainly distributed it among them so that they might take heed, yet most people refuse anything but ingratitude.” [al-Furqān: 50]