We must know what an eclipse is. In reality, an eclipse is the disappearance of the light of the sun or the moon, not the erasure of the light of the sun or the moon, but it disappears.

The reader: Amr ibn 'Unayn narrated to us.

The Shaykh : We must know what an eclipse is. In reality, an eclipse is the disappearance of the light of the sun or the moon, not the erasure of the light of the sun or the moon, but it disappears.
As for the sun, its light disappears by the moon when the moon comes between it and the earth.
As for the moon, its light disappears by the earth when the earth comes between it and the sun.
For this reason, a lunar eclipse cannot occur except on the nights of the waxing moon, because it is in the east and it is in the west, and the earth comes between them. For this reason, the Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) criticized the statement of some jurists that if an eclipse occurs on the Day of 'Arafah, one prays and then departs. He said: This is impossible, because this night coincides with the tenth night, and an eclipse cannot occur on this night. However, one may excuse the jurists who said that, because the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) posit issues that may not occur, but to train the student. Likewise, a solar eclipse cannot occur except on the nights of the waning moon, meaning the end of the month, because that is when the two discs, the disc of the sun and the disc of the moon, can come close together.
So if someone were to ask: Is it possible for the sun to be eclipsed in the middle of the month?
The answer is: It is not possible. It is not impossible by the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has established the custom that an eclipse does not occur on such a day. Just as if someone were to ask: Is it possible for the sun to rise in the middle of the night? We say: According to custom, it is not possible, but by the command of Allah, it is possible.
This eclipse has a known physical cause that people are aware of, which is the interposition of the earth between the sun and the moon in what? In a lunar eclipse, and the interposition of the moon between the sun and the earth in a solar eclipse. This is a known physical cause that is understood by calculation. But is it desirable to explain this to people so that they prepare for it at its time, or is it better not to explain it? We see that it is better not to explain it. First: because if people are told, for example, that it is at ten o'clock at night, you will find people waiting for the eclipse at that hour, even though the eclipse is a warning from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) of a punishment whose causes have been established. So people wait for this eclipse as its time approaches, as if they are waiting for the crescent of Ramadan or the crescent of the festival. This undoubtedly removes awe and eliminates fear from people. For this reason, in a past era, when an eclipse occurred, you would find great awe among people and intense weeping, and they would go out to the mosques humble and submissive. Now they treat it as an ordinary matter because of the dissemination of news about it before it occurs.
As for my statement that they should prepare, we say: Every event has its own story. If an event occurs, people prepare. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order us to prepare before it occurs, but he said . Therefore, we see that it is an error to publish in calendars or other sources when the eclipse will occur. Leave people alone. And the eclipse may be a conventional eclipse and not a religious eclipse, meaning that the eclipse is only a shadow, so the light in the sun or moon decreases, but the light remains. It is an eclipse according to astronomers, but it is not a religious eclipse because it does not affect the light of the moon or the light of the sun.
As for the prayer of the eclipse, it is a strange prayer, because it is for a strange event, so the Shari'ah and the divine decree align. The divine decree by the eclipse is a strange matter, not like the setting of the sun or the dawn breaking, but it is something strange. For this reason, it was part of the great wisdom of the Shari'ah that the prayer is also strange, with no counterpart in the prayers. The eclipse did not occur after the migration except once only, and it was a solar eclipse after the sun had risen to the height of a spear. It was a total eclipse until it became like a piece of copper, and the people made a commotion for it, because a total eclipse entails great awe; you see the stars in the daytime and you see the sky is not as usual, blue or gray or the like; you find it as if it is green, and there is very intense awe in it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was greatly alarmed until he caught up with his cloak and put it on one of his shoulders and dragged it due to the intensity of his alarm (peace and blessings be upon him). And Allah the Exalted showed him in that prayer of signs what he had not seen before. So it is a great event that we must magnify. And what makes us know that perhaps the punishment is near? What makes us know that there will be earthquakes or corruption on earth or the like? Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: .
The reader: Amr ibn 'Unayn narrated to us, Khalid narrated to us, from Yunus, from al-Hasan from Abu Bakrah, who said: .

The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest. He said this: And it coincided that Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), died, and may Allah be pleased with his son, and the sun was eclipsed on that day. So they said: The sun was eclipsed for the death of Ibrahim. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to erase this belief from the hearts of people and to clarify that the sun and the moon are not affected by what happens on earth, but they are two signs.
And his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): means eclipsed, so the second object is omitted. The meaning is not "when you see the sun and the moon," no, when you see them what? Eclipsed, then pray and call upon Allah until it is cleared from you.