An explanation of what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) saw of Paradise and Hellfire during the eclipse prayer.

The Shaykh: And in other hadiths, there is a description of what the Messenger (peace be upon him) saw in his eclipse prayer. It is reported in "Sahih Muslim" and others: "When the sun was eclipsed during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he went out to the mosque and gathered the people after ordering one of them to call for the congregational prayer. The people gathered, and he prayed with them two long rak'ahs," very long indeed, because he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited in the first rak'ah approximately the length of Surat al-Baqarah. And it was not just that; rather, and it was not just that, but , and it was not just that, but he returned and bowed a second time, contrary to all known prayers. This is a specific feature of the eclipse prayer. In each of the two rak'ahs, there are two bowings, just as in every rak'ah of all known prayers, there are two prostrations. In the eclipse prayer, in each rak'ah, there are two bowings and in each rak'ah, two prostrations. In the first standing, he recited approximately the length of Surat al-Baqarah. In the bowing, approximately the length of Surat al-Baqarah, meaning close to his standing. His standing after the bowing was close to his bowing. His second bowing was close to his standing before the bowing. His standing after the second bowing was close to his second bowing. Imagine that. The two prostrations in each rak'ah, after this sequence, the first prostration in the first rak'ah was when the sun was rising, close to his final standing, i.e., after the second bowing. In any case, he prayed this long, strange, and wondrous prayer, which only a few exceptional individuals among people can endure. The reason is that the Shari'ah ordered the Muslims to pray for this great sign. He (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon on this occasion and said: , and in another narration: . If the eclipse is total, the prayer can last for hours. It appears that this eclipse which occurred during his time (peace and blessings be upon him) and never repeated during his time was a total eclipse or close to total. That is why he prolonged the prayer in this wondrous manner until it cleared during this blessed prayer. A revelation was made to the Messenger (peace be upon him), and wondrous signs appeared to him. While he was praying, his companions saw him advancing as if he wanted to reserve something, and conversely, they saw him retreating backward until the rows behind him became disordered and shaken. That is, when he would come behind a person, that person who would retreat, and the one behind him would have to retreat, so the order of the rows was disturbed. There is no doubt that this matter was sudden and very strange. Therefore, after the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed this ... long, wondrous prayer, they said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, we saw you advance in the prayer and extend your hand, and then retreat." He said: He intended to do so but did not, because Paradise is forbidden to the people of this world except after they enter it. He said: What is I forgot his name in the pre-Islamic age, Ibn Lahi or something like that. He used to pretend to be a pilgrim walking with the pilgrims. And of course, modern means of transport did not exist at that time, so the pilgrims of that era were either on foot or riding camels. This man was a cunning fraud. He would perform Hajj with the pilgrims and place a hook on his shoulder, i.e., a stick with a bent head, similar to the sticks of some Sufi sheikhs, if you have seen one in the hand of one of them. He would place it on his shoulder like this and walk along the road, trying to feel for either a careless walker or a rider. He would hook onto a garment or cloak with this hook. If the owner noticed, he would say, "Excuse me." But if he did not notice, and that was what he wanted, he would take the belongings and run away. He used to steal the belongings of pilgrims by this method. The Messenger (peace be upon him) saw him being tortured in the Fire. He also saw an old man, very old in the Arabs, Ibn Lahi, Abdullah ibn Lahi, yes, he was the first to introduce the worship of idols in the Arabian Peninsula. "He saw him - also - being tortured in the Fire. And he saw a woman who had confined a cat and did not release it to eat from the insects of the earth, nor did she feed it. The Messenger (peace be upon him) saw her in the Fire, running, and the cat biting her from behind." And it is hardly ...