Al-Radd ʿalā al-Manṭiqiyyīn - Ibn Taimiya - (271)

Al-Radd ʿalā al-ManṭiqiyyīnIbn Taimiya

The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—prescribed, at the moment of an eclipse, that people engage in prayer, remembrance, supplication, almsgiving, the freeing of slaves, and seeking forgiveness; the same applies to every other sign by which Allah causes His servants to fear.

His statement, “The sun and the moon do not eclipse for the death of anyone, nor for his life,” was intended to rebut what some had imagined: that the solar eclipse occurred because of the death of Ibrāhīm, the Prophet’s son. Ibrāhīm had died at the very hour the sun eclipsed, and some of the uninformed among the Muslims supposed the eclipse took place on that account. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—clarified that an eclipse is not brought about by the death of any person on earth, thereby negating that it could be an effect of such an event. They had thought it akin to the Throne’s shaking at the death of Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, which is authentically reported, but the Prophet ﷺ rejected this and explained that an eclipse is one of Allah’s signs by which He frightens His servants.

Frightening is only effected through something that can be a cause of harm. The Exalted says:

“We do not send the signs except as a warning.” (Qur’an 17:59)

If the presence of an eclipse were, with respect to events, no different from its absence, it would not constitute a cause of harm—and that would contradict the Prophet’s explicit wording.

Moreover, it is related in the Sīrah that the Prophet ﷺ looked at the moon and said to ʿĀʾishah, “O ʿĀʾishah, seek refuge in Allah from the evil of this, for this is al-ghāsiq when it darkens.” One seeks refuge only from that whose occurrence brings harm.

Accordingly, whenever the causes of harm converge, the Prophet ﷺ instructed that their consequences be repelled—by Allah’s will and power—through prayer, supplication, remembrance, seeking forgiveness, repentance, and acts of benevolence such as charity and the emancipation of slaves. For these righteous deeds counteract the evil whose cause has already been set in motion, as the hadith states

وأمر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عند الكسوف بالصلاة والذكر والدعاء والصدقة والعتاقة والاستغفار وكذلك عند سائر الآيات التي يخوف الله بها عباده. وقوله: "لا تنكسفان لموت احد ولا لحياته" رد لما كان قد توهمه بعض الناس من أن كسوف الشمس كان لأجل موت إبراهيم ابن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وكان قد مات وكسفت الشمس فتوهم بعض الجهال من المسلمين أن الكسوف كان لأجل هذا فبين لهم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن الكسوف لا يكون سببه موت احد من أهل الأرض ونفى بذلك أن يكون الكسوف معلولا عن ذلك وظنوا أن هذا من جنس اهتزاز العرش لموت سعد بن معاذ كما ثبت ذلك في الصحيح فنفى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ذلك وبين أن ذلك من آيات الله التي يخوف بها عباده. والتخويف إنما يكون بما يكون سببا للشر قال تعالى: {وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِالآياتِ إِلاَّ تَخْوِيفاً} فلو كان الكسوف وجوده كعدمه بالنسبة إلى الحوادث لم يكن سببا لشر وهو خلاف نص الرسول. وأيضا في السير أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نظر إلى القمر وقال لعائشة: " يا عائشة تعوذي بالله من شر هذا فان هذا هو الغاسق إذا وقب" والاستعاذة إنما تكون مما يحدث عنه شر. وأمر صلى الله عليه وسلم عند انعقاد أسباب الشر بما يدفع موجبها بمشيئتة الله تعالى وقدرته من الصلاة والدعاء والذكر والاستغفار والتوبة والإحسان بالصدقة والعتاقة فان هذه الأعمال الصالحة تعارض الشر الذي انعقد سببه كما في الحديث