As for what is known through calculation, it is like knowing the times of the seasons, such as the beginning of spring, summer, autumn and winter, when the sun aligns with the beginnings of the zodiacal signs. When they say, “The sun has entered such-and-such a sign,” they mean that it has come into alignment with it. Any jurist who says that a solar eclipse can occur outside the period when the moon is hidden from view has erred and spoken without knowledge.

The statement reported from al-Wāqidī—that Ibrāhīm, the son of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died on the tenth day of the month, and that this was the day on which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, performed the eclipse prayer—is mistaken. Al-Wāqidī’s reports cannot be relied upon as evidence even when he supplies chains of transmission, let alone when he relates something without a chain tracing it to anyone. This applies even to reports not known to be erroneous; this particular report, however, is known to be erroneous. Whoever considers this possible has pursued something of which he has no knowledge, and whoever argues about it has argued about something of which he has no knowledge.

As for the coincidence of the Eid prayer and the eclipse prayer mentioned by some jurists, they mentioned this within their discussion of cases in which the eclipse prayer coincides with other prayers. They considered its coincidence with the witr prayer and the noon prayer, and included the Eid prayer without considering whether such a coincidence could occur in the ordinary course of events. Their hypothetical treatment of this case therefore does not establish that it actually occurs. Rather, the knowledge gained concerns its ruling on the assumption that it occurs—just as they posit cases known never to occur in order to formulate principles precisely and train minds to grasp them accurately.