The Ruling on Missing the Eclipse Prayer
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What is your opinion regarding a person who heard the imam reciting in the night during the eclipse prayer, but he finished his sleep and did not go out for the eclipse prayer? Does he commit a sin in that?
If a man hears the eclipse prayer while he is in his bed, it is better for him to get up from his bed and pray with the Muslims. If he does not do so, he has deprived himself of much good, and he has committed a sin according to those among the scholars who hold that the eclipse prayer is an individual obligation. The correct view is that it is a collective obligation; if a sufficient number of people perform it, the obligation falls off the rest, and it becomes a recommended practice for the others, not an obligation.
If a man hears the eclipse prayer while he is in his bed, it is better for him to get up from his bed and pray with the Muslims. If he does not do so, he has deprived himself of much good, and he has committed a sin according to those among the scholars who hold that the eclipse prayer is an individual obligation. The correct view is that it is a collective obligation; if a sufficient number of people perform it, the obligation falls off the rest, and it becomes a recommended practice for the others, not an obligation.