Fath al-Rabbani

Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: A Jewish woman came to me to ask a question. She said to me: May Allah protect you from the punishment of the grave. When the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived, I said: O Messenger of Allah! Will we be punished in the graves? So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I seek refuge in Allah. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted his ride, and meanwhile, the sun was eclipsed. So I went out and was still among the women between the chambers when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted from his ride and came to the place of prayer and (began the prayer). The people prayed behind him (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) stood for a long time, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he raised his head and stood for a long time, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he raised his head and stood for a long time (in qiyam), then he (peace and blessings be upon him) prostrated and made a long prostration. (Then he stood for the second rak'ah) and the standing was shorter than the first rak'ah, then he bowed, which was shorter than the first bowing, then he stood, which was shorter than the first standing, then he bowed, which was shorter than the first bowing, then he prostrated, which was shorter than the first prostration. In this way (in two rak'ahs) there were four bowings and four prostrations, and meanwhile the sun became clear. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You will be tested in your graves like the trial of Dajjal. After that, I used to hear that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would seek Allah's protection from the punishment of the grave.

Imam Zuhri narrates from Urwah bin Zubair that it is reported from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she says that during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the sun was eclipsed. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out towards the mosque, he stood and began the prayer by saying Allahu Akbar. The people formed rows behind him. Then he said Allahu Akbar, and he recited a long recitation, then he said Allahu Akbar and performed a long bowing (ruku’), then he stood up saying Sami’ Allahu liman hamidah and began standing (qiyam) again and did not prostrate (sajdah). Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited a long recitation, but it was less than the first recitation. Then he said Allahu Akbar and performed a long bowing, which was less than the first bowing. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said Sami’ Allahu liman hamidah, Rabbana lakal hamd, and then prostrated. In the second rak’ah, he did the same. (In these two rak’ahs) the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed four bowings and four prostrations. Before the salutation (salaam) was completed, the sun had cleared. (After finishing the prayer) the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood and praised Allah with those words which He is worthy of, and then said: Indeed, these (the sun and the moon) are two signs among the signs of Allah, they do not lose their light due to anyone’s death or life, so when you see them like this, seek refuge in prayer out of fear.

Sayyidah Asma bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led the prayer of eclipse and stood for a long time, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he stood up again and made a long standing, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he raised his head and made a long standing, then he bowed and made a lengthy bowing, then he raised his head and made a lengthy standing, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he prostrated and made a long prostration, then he raised his head and then made a lengthy prostration, (then completed the second rak‘ah) and finished the prayer. Then he said: Paradise was brought so close to me that if I had dared, I would have brought one of its bunches to you, and the Fire was also brought so close that I said: O my Lord! (Are You going to punish them) while I am among them? Suddenly, there was a woman whom a cat was scratching. I said: What is her matter? I was told that this woman had imprisoned a cat until it died; she neither fed it herself nor let it go so it could eat the insects of the earth.

(Second chain) She says: In the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the sun lost its light, so the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stood up and led the prayer, and he made a long standing, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he raised his head and made a long standing, then he bowed and made a long bowing, then he raised his head and made a long standing, then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed two prostrations, then in the second rak‘ah he did the same. (The rest of the hadith is as previously mentioned.)

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The sun was eclipsed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions began (the prayer) standing, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited a long surah, then performed bowing (ruku‘), then after raising his head from ruku‘, he began recitation again, then performed ruku‘, and did two prostrations (sujood), then stood up (for the second rak‘ah) and recited, then performed ruku‘, then did two prostrations; thus, in these two rak‘ahs there were four bowings and four prostrations.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The sun became eclipsed, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed prayer, and the people were with him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) stood for as long as Surah Al-Baqarah, then made a long bowing (ruku’), then raised his head and stood for a long time, but it was less than the first standing, then made a long bowing, which was less than the first bowing, then prostrated, then stood up and stood for a long time, but it was less than the first bowing. Abdullah bin Ahmad says: My father said: And according to what I recited to Abdur Rahman, he said: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood for a long time, which was less than the first standing, then made a long bowing, which was less than the first bowing, then raised his head, then stood for a long time, but it was less than the first standing. Then made a long bowing, and it was a little less than the first bowing, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) prostrated and completed the prayer. Then Imam Ahmad returned to the hadith of Ishaq and said: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave salam, while the sun had become clear. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Indeed, the sun and the moon are two signs among the signs of Allah, they do not become eclipsed due to the death or life of anyone, so when you see this, remember Allah. The companions said: O Messenger of Allah! We saw you reaching for something and then saw you retreating? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Indeed, I saw Paradise and I wanted to take a bunch from it, and if I had taken it (and brought it to you), you would have eaten from it as long as the world remains. And I saw the Fire, and I have never seen a scene more terrifying than today. I saw that most of its inhabitants were women. The companions asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is the reason for that? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Because of their ingratitude. Someone said: Do they disbelieve in Allah? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: They are ungrateful to their husbands and do not appreciate favors. If you were to do good to one of them for a lifetime, but then she saw something (displeasing) from you, she would say: I have never seen any good from you.

Abu Shurayh Khuza'i says: During the time of Sayyiduna Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), there was a solar eclipse. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was also present in Madinah Munawwarah. Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) came out and led the people in a two-rak'ah prayer, with two bowings (ruku) and two prostrations (sujood) in each rak'ah. When Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) finished the prayer, he entered his house. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was sitting towards the chamber of Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and we also went and sat with him. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to command us to perform prayer at the time of solar and lunar eclipses. When you see that they have been eclipsed, hasten towards prayer. If it is that very thing which you fear, then (because of this prayer) you will not be heedless, and if it is not that, then you will attain good and earn reward.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) says: In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), on a day of intense heat, the sun was eclipsed. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led the companions in prayer, and he stood for so long that people began to fall down. Then he bowed (ruku‘) and prolonged the bowing, then he raised his head and stood for a long time, after that he performed a lengthy bowing, then raised his head and stood for a long time, then performed two prostrations and stood up, and (the second rak‘ah) was performed in the same manner. In this prayer, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) moved forward and then stepped back. This was a (two rak‘ah) prayer with four bowings and four prostrations. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Everything that you have been promised was presented before me. Paradise was shown to me and (it was brought so close that) if I wanted to pluck a bunch from it, I could have plucked it. Or the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I wanted to pluck a bunch from it, but my hand was restrained. The Fire was also shown to me, and I began to move back out of fear that it might cover you. Then I saw in it a tall, black woman from the tribe of Himyar, she was being punished because of a cat which she had tied up; she neither fed it nor gave it water, nor did she let it go so that it could eat the insects of the earth. I also saw Abu Thumamah ‘Amr bin Malik dragging his intestines in the Fire. The sun and the moon are two signs among the signs of Allah; He shows you His signs, so when they are eclipsed, perform prayer until it becomes clear.