ibn Mu‘ādh.” As for an eclipse or another such phenomenon possibly causing an event on earth, such as a punishment that brings death or something else, the hadith itself affirms this.

What the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated does not conflict with eclipses occurring at fixed times: a solar eclipse occurs only at the end of the month, on the night when the moon is hidden, while a lunar eclipse occurs only in the middle of the month, during the nights of the full moon.

Anyone among those studying jurisprudence or among ordinary people who claims otherwise does so because he lacks knowledge of astronomical calculation. Hence, past and future eclipses can be determined, just as past and future new moons can be determined, since all of this follows a precise reckoning. As Allah Most High says:

“He made the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for reckoning.”

And He says:

“The sun and the moon move by precise calculation.”

And He says:

“It is He who made the sun a radiance and the moon a light, and determined phases for it, so that you may know the number of years and the reckoning.”

And He says:

“They ask you about the new moons. Say, ‘They are markers of time for people and for Hajj.’”

This is why some ordinary people, upon seeing an astrologer correctly predict a future eclipse, suppose that his predictions about other events are of the same kind. This is ignorance, for the first prediction is comparable to his saying that the new crescent will appear either on the thirtieth night or on the thirty-first night. This follows a regular course established by Allah that never fails. It is also comparable to his saying that the sun will set at the end of the day, and similar statements. Whoever knows the positions of the sun and moon and their courses knows this, although such knowledge is of little benefit.