If the moon is eclipsed after the dawn has appeared, which of the two prayers takes precedence?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, by the command of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), the moon was eclipsed last Friday after the call to the dawn prayer. People differed on whether they should pray or not; some prayed and some did not.
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : And if the moon is rising in the daytime, in the morning or in the evening, and is eclipsed, do the people pray or not? Please inform us, may Allah guide you.
The Shaykh : It is the moon, as you kindly mentioned, that was eclipsed after the dawn had appeared. So, the one who holds that voluntary prayers with a cause are not performed in the times of prohibition, and who holds that the prohibition begins from the appearance of the dawn, says: It is forbidden to pray, because this is a time of prohibition. This is the well-known position in the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him).
And the one who holds that voluntary prayers with a cause are performed in the times of prohibition says: One should pray, even after the dawn has appeared, and even after the dawn prayer, but on the condition that the light of the day does not obscure the light of the moon. As for when the day spreads out and the presence or absence of the moon becomes the same, then one does not pray, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Isra 17:12] And the verse of the night is the moon, as Mujahid and others interpreted it. It is not possible for it to have an effect unless the atmosphere is what? Dark. But if the light of the day rises, then it is not prayed. This opinion is the strongest and most just of the opinions. Some scholars say that the eclipse prayer is a collective obligation, and this is the established position: it is not permissible for Muslims to leave it. It is better that it be prayed in the congregational mosques as well. Therefore, its prayer is done with loud recitation, even if it is in the daytime when the sun is eclipsed, because it is a prayer of gathering, and all prayers of gathering are that the people gather in one place. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, Shaykh, regarding...
The Shaykh : I understood the stronger opinion, or did I not understand it? Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : And if the moon is rising in the daytime, in the morning or in the evening, and is eclipsed, do the people pray or not? Please inform us, may Allah guide you.
The Shaykh : It is the moon, as you kindly mentioned, that was eclipsed after the dawn had appeared. So, the one who holds that voluntary prayers with a cause are not performed in the times of prohibition, and who holds that the prohibition begins from the appearance of the dawn, says: It is forbidden to pray, because this is a time of prohibition. This is the well-known position in the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him).
And the one who holds that voluntary prayers with a cause are performed in the times of prohibition says: One should pray, even after the dawn has appeared, and even after the dawn prayer, but on the condition that the light of the day does not obscure the light of the moon. As for when the day spreads out and the presence or absence of the moon becomes the same, then one does not pray, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And We have made the night and day two signs, and We erased the sign of the night and made the sign of the day visible
وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ آيَتَيْنِ فَمَحَوْنَا آيَةَ اللَّيْلِ وَجَعَلْنَا آيَةَ النَّهَارِ مُبْصِرَةًThe questioner : May Allah reward you, Shaykh, regarding...
The Shaykh : I understood the stronger opinion, or did I not understand it? Yes.