Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Prayer at an Eclipse

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar (R.A) : Rasul Allah (Sal Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam ) said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of someone's death or wife (i.e. birth), but they are two signs amongst the Signs of Allah. So, if you see them (i.e. eclipse) offer the Prayer (of eclipse)." [Sahih Bukhari]

Prayer at an Eclipse
(Salatu-l Kusouf wa-l Khusouf)

Guide to what the Shari'ah says when an Eclipse happens:

When an Eclipse happened, Rasoulu-Llah salla-Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, went out to the mosque and ordered someone who was walking near him to call out "As Salaatu jaami'ah". When the men and women had come to the mosque, he performed the Eclipse Prayer. This Prayer is considered wajibby certain 'ulama, such as Abu 'Awanah and Abu Hanifah.
Al Mughirah ibn Shu'bah said:
"The sun was eclipsed on the day Ibrahim the son of the Prophet, salla-Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam, died. So the people said, 'The sun has been eclipsed because of the death of Ibrahim'. So then the Messenger of Allah said, 'The sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allah. Allah may alarm His servants by the pair of them; neither is eclipsed for the death of one them or for for his life. So if you witness an event then pray and supplicate until what is with you has been eclipsed (until it has moved away)." (Bukhari and Muslim; 'Umdatu-l Ahkam, 2:137)
[inkasafati-sh shamsu yawma maata Ibraaheemu-bnu-n Nabiyyi salla-Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam. fa qaala-n naasu 'inkasafati-shamsu li mawti Ibraaheema'. fa qaala Rasoulu-Llahi 'Inna-sh shamsa wa-l qamara aayataani min aayaati-Llahi yukhawwifu-Llahu bihima 'ibaadihi la yankasifaani li mawti ahadin aw li hayaatihi. fa idha ra'aytum shay'an fa sallou wa-d'ou hatta yankasifa ma bikum.' (hatta yanjaliya).]
It is related by A'ishah, who said,
"The sun was eclipsed during the Messenger's mission, so the Messenger of Allah went out to the mosque; then he stood and made takbir, and the people arranged themselves in rows behind him. And the Messenger of Allah recited a long passage, then he made takbir and made a long rukou', and then he raised his head and said 'Sami'a-Llahu liman hamidah. Rabbana laka-l Hamd'. Then he stood and recited a long passage which was nearly as long as the first recitation. Then he made takbir and made a long rukou', which was nearly as long as the first rukou'. Then he said, 'Sami'a-Llahu liman hamidah. Rabbana wa laka-l Hamd', and then he prostrated and lengthened the sujoud; then he did much as he'd done in the first rak'ah, until he'd completed four rukou's and four sujouds. The sun moved on before he'd turned [his head in salam, i.e. at the end of the prayer - DR-O]. Then he addressed the people, giving praise to Allah and commending Him, then he said, 'The sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allah. They are not eclipsed for the death of anyone nor for his life. So if you witness that, then supplicate Allah, make takbirs, pray, and give sadaqah. By Allah, if you knew what I know, you would laugh little and cry a lot'." (Bukhari and Muslim; 'Umdatu-l Ahkam, 2:138)
[inna-sh shamsa khusifat 'ala 'ahdi Rasouli-Llahi fa kharaja Rasoulu-Llahi ila-l masjidi fa qaama wa kabbara wa saffa-n naasu wara'ahu fa-qtaraa'a Rasoulu-Llahi qiraa'atan taweelatan. thumma kabbara fa raka'a rukou'an taweelan. thumma rafa'a ra'sahu fa qaala 'Sami'a-Llahu liman hamidahu Rabbana laka-l hamdu'. thumma qaama fa-qtara'a qira'atan taweelatan hiya adna mina-l qira'ati-l oula. thumma kabbara fa raka'a rukou'an taweelan huwa adna mina-r rukou'i-l oula. thumma qaala 'Sami'a-Llahu liman hamidahu Rabbana wa laka-l hamdu'. thumma sajada fa ataala-s sujouda. thumma fa'ala bi-r rak'ati-l ukhra mithla dhalika hatta-stakmala arba'a raka'aatin wa arba'a sajadaatin wa-njalati-sh shamsu qabla an yansarifa fa khataba-n naasa fa hamida-Llaha wa athna 'alayhi. thumma qaala 'Inna-sh shamsa wa-l qamara aayataani min aayaati-Llahi la yukhsafaani li mawti ahadin wa la li hayaatihi. fa idha ra'aytum dhalika fa-d'ou-Llaha wa kabbirou wa sallou wa tasaddaqou. wa-Llahi law ta'lamouna ma a'lamu la dahiktum qaleelan wa la bakiytum katheera'.]
It is related by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari that the Messenger of Allah said:
"These signs which were sent by Allah are not for the death of anyone or for his life, but Allah may He be Exalted and Glorified sends them to alarm His servants with them. So if you witness one of these events, flee to Remembrance of Allah (dhikru-Llah), and supplicate Him (du'a) and crave His Forgiveness (istighfar)." (Bukhari and Muslim; Al-Nail, 4:25)
[inna haadhihi-l aayaati-llatee yursiluha-Llahu laa takounu li mawti ahadin aw li hayaatihi walaakinna-Llahu 'azza wa jalla yursiluha yukhawwifu biha 'ibaadahu fa idha ra'aytum minha shay'an fa-fza'ou ila dhikri-Llahi wa du'aa'ihi wa-stighfaarihi.]
It is narrated by Al Hasan al-Basri, who said:
"The moon was eclipsed and Ibn 'Abbas was Amir over Basrah, so he went out and prayed two rak'ahs. In each rak'ah he did two rukou's, then he mounted up and said, 'I have only prayed as I saw the Prophet pray'." (Al-Nail, 4:23)
[khusifa-l qamaru wa-bnu 'Abbaasin ameerun 'ala-l Basrati fa kharaja fa salla bina rak'atayni fi kulli rak'atin rukou'aani thumma rakiba wa qaala 'Innama sallaytu kama ra'aytu-n Nabiyya yusalliy'.]
From the above ahadith, we can deduce that whenever a solar or a lunar eclipse takes place, we are required to hurry to the mosque and make salatu-l kusouf (for a solar eclipse) or salatu-l khusouf (for a lunar eclipse), make dhikr, make supplications and give sadaqah. Both types of prayer (solar and lunar eclipse prayers) are done with two rak'ahs, totalling four rukou's and four sujouds.

The Manner of Performing Salatu-l Kusouf wa-l Khusouf:

We can identify the manner of prayer salatu-l kusouf and salatu-l khusouf by collecting together the various ahadith that explain how Rasoulu-Llah salla-Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam himself performed this prayer. By this means we find that there are a number of possible ways of doing it:
  • Two rak'ahs with four rukou's and four sujouds (each rak'ah two rukou's)
  • Two rak'ahs with five rukou's and four sujouds (three rukou's in the first rak'ah, two in the second)
  • Two rak'ahs with six rukou's and four sujouds
  • Two rak'ahs with eight rukou's and four sujouds.
Because of the plurality of methods for this prayer, we may opt for any of these. Nevertheless, the preferential method is to do two rak'ahs with four rukou's as this is the one that appears in the transmission from Bukhari and Muslim.

Which Method for the Eclipse Prayer is Best?:

Ahadith which tell how to offer the Eclipse Prayer are many, and several of them differ from one another. And the majority of them are sahih to boot. The 'ulama have two positions on this matter. The first is to allow all the ahadith, as indicating that eclipses happened at several different times during the time of Rasoulu-Llah salla-Llahu 'alayhi wa sallam. This is the position of Ishaq [ibn Rahawayh], and has been supported by Ibn Hazm, and by Ibn Rushd (in Bidayatu-l Mujtahid, 1:167).
The second is to weigh critically these ahadith, seeing which are stronger and which less likely. Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (in Fat'hu-l Bari, 2:362) adopts this position.
It is summarised by the editor of Al-Hadiyyah that al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and al-Bukhari determined that the ahadith which seem to specify more than two rukou's in one rak'ah are erroneous through a fault of the transmitter. They are unwilling to say that eclipses happened frequently during the time of the Messenger. The eclipse during which the Messenger prayed was the one that occurred at the time of the death of Ibrahim, his son. Because an eclipse only happened once, then it is necessary to use a sound transmission: that is the report from A'ishah, which stipulates two rukou's in one rak'ah (A'ishah participated in the prayer).
In short:
According to Ishaq, all the methods are valid: according to al-Hafiz, only the method explicated by A'ishah is valid.
According to Ibnu-l Qayyim (in Zadu-l Ma'ad, 1:178), 'The Messenger of Allah only prayed the Eclipse Prayer once, that is on the day of Ibrahim's death. Before then it had not been sanctioned'.

The Way to offer Salatu-l Kusouf wa-l Khusouf:

  • The imam must go out of the mosque and require someone to call the people with the command "As salaatu jaami'ah".
  • As soon as the people have gathered, the imam must offer the Eclipse Prayer using one of the above methods.
  • His first standing in the first rak'ah must be longer than his second standing in that rak'ah, and his recitation must be aloud. The same must happen with his rukou' (that is, the first one in the first rak'ah must be longer).
  • His first standing in the second rak'ah must be shorter than his second standing in the first rak'ah. Similarly with his rukou'.
  • He must lengthen his sujoud; that is, approximating it to something between the length of his standing and of his 'sitting between two sujouds'.
According to Imam al-Nawawi (in Al-Majmou'), the length of the first standing is as long as Al Baqarah. The length of the second standing is as long as the length of Aal 'Imran. The length of the third standing is as long as 150 ayat, and the length of the fourth standing is as long as 100 ayat. But it can nevertheless be fulfilled by reciting one Fatihah in the first standing. The length of the first rukou' is 100 ayat from Suratu-l Baqarah. The length of the second rukou' is 80 ayat. The length of the third is 70 ayat and the length of the fourth is 50 ayat from Suratu-l Baqarah.
wa-Llahu a'lamu bi-s sawabi wa-t tawfeequ mina-Llahi wa-l hidayah

http://members.tripod.com/british_muslims_assn/eclipse_prayer.html

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I got a confession to make. I am food addict, over-indulgent! I crave for anything especially sweets, chocolates, cakes, ice cream, strawberries, halo-halo, leche flan, banana Q, breads, pasta, Nasi Goreng....tell me what you got in your fridge ;-D. Thank heavens for I got my mum's genes, I can gain and lose pounds that easy and quick. I am here to share with you my food recipe collection (almost forgotten in a corner of my room) and search for new, exciting recipes, meet good people, and discover more about the world of baking. I am no professional baker or chef (just a wanna-be for now) but we'll get there in time. In sha Allah. Afterall, DREAMS just got to start somewhere, and it starts right here, right now! Meantime enjoy this food journey with me among other stuff....amigos to the kitchen! [Thank you for visiting my blog,you're always welcome to come by! Feel free to dig deep into the posts, much treasures there. And leave your comments, I'd appreciate your words....] [P.S. Borrowed articles/photos can be deleted anytime, please advise.Thank you.]

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