Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah: There was an eclipse of the sun in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had died. The people began to to say that there was an eclipse on account of the death of Ibrahim. The Prophet ﷺ stood up and led the people in prayer performing six bowings and four prostrations. he said: Allah is most great, and then recited from the Quran and prolonged the recitation. He then bowed nearly as long as he stood. He then raised his head and recited from the Quran but it was less than the first (recitation). He then bowed nearly as long as he stood. He then raised his head and then recited from the Quran for the third time, but it was less than the second recitation. He then bowed nearly as long as he stood. he then raised his head and then recited from the Quran for the third time, but it was less than the second recitation. he then bowed nearly as long as he stood. Then he raised his head and went down for prostration. he made two prostrations. He then stood and made three bowings before prostrating himself, the preceding bowing being more lengthy than the following, but he bowed nearly as long as he stood. He then stepped back during the prayer and the rows (of the people) too stepped back along with him. Then he stepped forward and stood in his place, and the rows too stepped forward. he then finished the prayer and the sun had become bright. He said: O people, the sun and the moon are two of Allah's signs; they are not eclipsed on account of a man's death. So when you see anything of that nature, offer prayer until the sun becomes bright. The narrator then narrated the rest of the tradition.
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
1178. Commentary:
➊ The connection of this hadith to the chapter is not clear, except that in the eclipse prayer (salat al-kusuf), each first standing (qiyam) and bowing (ruku) should be long, and the second should be shorter than the first.
➋ The reason the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) moved forward from his prayer mat was due to witnessing Paradise, and his stepping back was because Hell was shown to him.
➌ According to Shaykh al-Albani (rahimahullah), the wording mentioning six bowings (ruku) in this narration is anomalous (shadh). The preserved wording is of four bowings, as is mentioned in the next hadith.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 1178
Hafiz Muhammad Ameen
1479. Commentary: For benefits, see narration: 1473.
Source: Sunan Nasa'i: Translation and Benefits by Shaykh Hafiz Muhammad Amin Hafizullah, Page: 1479
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
(1)
"Iddat al-shams":
The sun returned to its previous state.
(2)
"Lafh":
Wrap up,
or heat and scorching.
(3)
"Mahjan":
A staff bent on one side.
Benefits and Issues:
From this narration of Anas radi Allahu anhu, it is established that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam performed three bowings (ruku‘) in each unit (rak‘ah) of the prayer for the solar eclipse on the day of the death of Ibrahim alayhis salam. This event occurred on Monday, 29th Shawwal, 10 AH, corresponding to 27th January 632 CE. And since after the conquest of Makkah people were entering Islam in large numbers, here too the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam repeated the same matters that he had mentioned earlier, and here as well he was shown the scenes of Paradise and Hell in almost the same manner. However, in the previous hadith, the incident of the owner of the crooked staff (sahib mahjan) is not mentioned.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 2102