The Book of Friday Prayer, the Two Festivals, the Prayer for Rain, the Eclipse Prayer, and Funerals-05a

The Reciter: And Qutaybah ibn Sa'id narrated to us, from Malik ibn Anas, from Hisham ibn 'Urwah, from his father, from A'ishah. And Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us, and the wording is his, he said: 'Abdullah ibn Numayr narrated to us, Hisham narrated, from his father, from A'ishah, she said: . And in the narration of Malik: .

The Shaykh : The Chapter on the Prayer of Eclipse:
This is from the chapter of attributing a thing to its cause, meaning: the chapter on the prayer whose cause is the eclipse. The eclipse: it is also called khusuf by interchange, and it is said: the moon is khusuf (eclipsed), and the sun is kasf (eclipsed), and the matter in this is broad. But what is it? It is the obscuring of the light of the sun or the moon, partially or totally. The jurists expressed this by saying: the disappearance of the light of the sun or the moon, totally or partially. And in reality, it is not a disappearance, because of what is known of the sensory cause of the eclipse. The scholars say: the people of jurisprudence, and the people of astronomy, that the cause of the solar eclipse is that the moon comes between it and the earth. For this reason, it is not possible for the eclipse to occur except at the end of the month. That is to say, if someone told you: the sun was eclipsed on the fifteenth day of the month, this is impossible. Is it impossible by the power of Allah or by custom? By custom, without doubt, for if Allah willed, He would eclipse it, but by custom it is not possible. And so, if someone said: the moon is eclipsed on the night of the tenth, for example, is it possible or not possible? It is not possible, because the cause of the lunar eclipse is that the earth comes between it and the sun, since the light of the moon is derived from the sun. So when the earth comes between it and the sun, it is eclipsed, either totally or partially.
And based on that, we say: the statement of some jurists: if the eclipse occurs on the night of the Day of Sacrifice, and he is standing at 'Arafah, he prays and then departs. The Shaykh al-Islam says: this is not possible, because the night of the festival is the night of the tenth, and it is not possible for the moon to be eclipsed. Then they said, may Allah have mercy on them, when they mentioned this ruling, they gave the reason, and they said: and Allah is Able to do all things. We say: the matter is not about the power of Allah, Allah is Able to do all things, without doubt. But Allah has established the custom that the lunar eclipse does not occur except on the nights of the waxing moon.
So we say: it is possible for the sun to come out in the middle of the night, this is with regard to the power of Allah, is it not so? But if a person said the sun rose at twelve o'clock at night, would it be believed? It is not possible for it to be believed. So the important point: A, the eclipse - I mean the eclipse of the moon - has a cause, and it is that the earth comes between it and the sun. The solar eclipse has a cause, and it is that the moon comes between it and the earth. This is a natural cause, and Allah the Exalted and Majestic decrees things by their causes. But there is a religious cause greater than this, and it is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated, which is , frightening the servants, frightening the servants from a punishment whose causes have been established. And the eclipse itself or the khusuf is not a punishment, but it is a warning of a punishment whose causes have been established. So for this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was alarmed, and he went out quickly, until he was caught up with his cloak and he was dragging it. Because the sun was not eclipsed in his time except this one time. When it rose and went up the length of a spear, it was eclipsed totally. And you know that the eclipse does not come all at once, but it comes bit by bit. And it was eclipsed totally, and the people were alarmed. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered, and it was announced: "The prayer has gathered." And the men and the women gathered. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed this prayer which is a sign among the prayers, just as this event is a sign among the events. Meaning: a religious sign for a cosmic sign. A prayer he did not pray like it, neither in its form nor in its length. He prayed four rak'ahs in two rak'ahs, and four prostrations. So the bowing equaled the prostration. All this is from the chapter of magnifying Allah the Exalted and Majestic. Because the bending of a person in bowing is magnification for the one for whom he bows, as is the custom now, the elder is magnified by bending to him. And this is not permissible, but this is a reality among some people. So for this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made it four rak'ahs, four bowings in two rak'ahs and four prostrations. A great length. Some of the Muslims, with their strength and vitality, would fall unconscious from the length of the standing. And they had sticks with them to lean on. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing for Allah the Exalted and Majestic. And he would stand in the night until his feet would swell. He had become accustomed to this, and it was not strange for him, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him.
A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: The sun was eclipsed in his time and it was not eclipsed except once. For this reason, every hadith that adds to two bowings in every rak'ah is considered anomalous, even if it is in Muslim or other than Muslim. Why? Because we know that the eclipse did not occur except once, and that all the narrations are agreed upon in al-Bukhari, Muslim and others on two bowings in every rak'ah. So if Muslim, for example, narrated the hadith in three bowings, we say that this narration is anomalous, and it is not acted upon definitely, because it is not possible for the narrators: al-Bukhari, Muslim, and other than them of the imams to agree on two bowings in every rak'ah, and then an anomalous narration of three bowings comes.
He says: So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up to pray, and he prolonged the standing greatly: meaning a real length. And "greatly": is a noun for a deleted operator, estimated as: I found it greatly. And it is an allusion to the length of the thing, and the reality of the thing. Then he bowed to the last of what I mentioned. And it was not mentioned in this narration how he prostrated, meaning did he prolong it or not? But it came in the other narration that he prolonged the prostration, and prolonged the sitting between the two prostrations. And this is clear from his custom, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, that he makes his prayer close together. Al-Bara' ibn 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: .
So the prayer of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was close together, meaning it is not possible that he would prolong the standing greatly and shorten the bowing and prostration, or the opposite. So we understand from this that he prostrated two long prostrations with a long sitting between them.
She says: If the sun had been eclipsed totally, the custom is that it remains for three or four hours. She says that he finished and it had become clear. If we take "became clear" in its literal sense, the intended meaning of "became clear" here is the complete clearing, with the possibility that it means it began to clear. But this is contrary to the apparent meaning. "Became clear" means that for all this duration, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying. So he addressed the people, so he praised Allah and extolled Him: this sermon, is it an occasional sermon or a regular sermon? The scholars have two statements in it:
The first opinion is that it is a regular sermon, and that the imam should, when he prays the prayer of the solar or lunar eclipse, deliver a sermon, remind the people, and admonish them, because the occasion is a great one. The eclipse did not occur a second time for us to see whether the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would omit the sermon the second time or not. The apparent view is that held by the Shafi'is (may Allah have mercy on them) regarding this sermon, that it is a prescribed, regular sermon. This is why it is reported in some narrations that he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up to deliver this great sermon; the fact that he stood and delivered it indicates that it is a regular recommended practice (sunnah) and not a custom.
Then he said: , and in the following narration of Malik: "Two signs among the signs of Allah." The word "sign" (ayah) means a marker. A marker of what? A marker of many things attributed to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such as His great power. This massive body, whose magnitude only Allah (Mighty and Majestic) can measure—I mean the sun—who is able to create it? Then, this heat that has reached us for hundreds of years, reaching the earth, until in the days of heat the asphalt melts and flows from its intensity! Is this not among the greatest of signs? If the world were to kindle the greatest fire on earth, it would not reach one hundred degrees, or less than that. And these vast distances, although they pass through cold atmospheres—the air between us and the sky is very cold. A month or so ago, the pilot said that the temperature was 25 degrees below zero, while on the ground it was 30 or 40 degrees above zero. So the point is that this heat pierces through that cold and reaches the earth with this immense heat.
Also, it is a sign of the signs of Allah in their being made subservient for the benefit of creation, and in their being set in motion so that you may learn the number of years and the reckoning. If we were to enumerate the aspects in which their existence is a sign of Allah, our speech would be long.
He says: and in a wording which indicates that the meanings of "eclipse" (khusuf) and "dimming" (kusuf) are the same, especially when they are not paired.
He says: He began with death, because among the beliefs of the Arabs of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) was that when the sun or moon is eclipsed, they say: "A great man died today." And glory to Allah the Great! The solar eclipse coincided with the day Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with him) died. But "nor for his life": Is this for the purpose of generalization? Or is there a belief held by the people of the pre-Islamic age that the sun may be eclipsed because of the life of a wicked person in whom there is evil and calamity? The reality is that this allows for two possibilities: either the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said "nor for his life" with the intention of generalization, or the Arabs had a belief that it may be eclipsed because of the life of a wicked person in whom there is no good.
Then he (peace be upon him) said: This condition must have a state (hal) implied in it for the meaning to be coherent.
What is the state? "Eclipsing." If you see them eclipsing, then say Allahu Akbar, call upon Allah, pray, and give charity. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us with four things: we say Allahu Akbar. When a person sees it, he says: Allahu Akbar. But does he continue in the takbir, or is it sufficient to say it once to glorify Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? And "call upon Allah and pray" means the prayer of the eclipse. And "give charity," because charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire.