Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that during the blessed era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the sun was eclipsed on a very hot day. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led his companions in prayer, and he stood for such a long time that the companions began to fall down. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) bowed (for ruku‘) and made a long ruku‘. After raising his head from ruku‘, he stood for a long time, then he performed two prostrations. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and did (a long standing) as before. In this way, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed four ruku‘ and four prostrations. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed, everything that you have been promised was shown to me.” Then he narrated the complete hadith and said: “Indeed, the Arabs used to say that the sun and the moon are eclipsed due to the death of a great and important person, and indeed these are two signs among the signs of Allah which He shows you. Therefore, when either of them is eclipsed, perform prayer until it becomes clear and bright.”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), he says that during the blessed time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), on a day of intense heat, there was a solar eclipse. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led his noble companions in the prayer of Kusuf (eclipse prayer). He (peace and blessings be upon him) stood for such a long time that the companions began to fall down, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) bowed (ruku‘) and prolonged it as well. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and did as he had done in the first rak‘ah. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) began to move forward and backward. In this way, he performed four bowings (ruku‘) and four prostrations (sujood), then said: "Everything that you have been promised was shown to me. Paradise was presented to me until I wanted to take a bunch of its grapes. And if I had wished, I would have taken it. Then I wanted to take a bunch from it but my hand could not reach it. Then Hell was shown to me, so I began to move back out of fear that it might engulf you. And I saw a tall, black-skinned woman from the tribe of Himyar being punished because of a cat. She had tied up the cat, neither giving it anything to eat nor setting it free so that it could eat the insects of the earth (thus it died hungry and thirsty). And I saw Abu Thumamah ‘Amr bin Malik in Hell dragging his intestines, and people used to say that indeed the eclipse of the sun and the moon only occurs due to the death of a great leader. And indeed, these are two signs among the signs of Allah, which Allah shows you, so when an eclipse occurs, pray until the sun becomes bright again." Janab Bundar did not narrate the word "al-Qamar" to us. Janab ‘Ata narrates from his chain from Sayyidah ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed two bowings (ruku‘) in each rak‘ah.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that indeed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed six bowings (ruku) and four prostrations (sujood) in the eclipse prayer.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that during the blessed time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), there was a solar eclipse, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led the (eclipse) prayer and made the companions stand for a very long time. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made the companions stand, then performed bowing (ruku‘), then made them stand again, then performed bowing again; in this way, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed two rak‘ahs, with three bowings in each rak‘ah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the third bowing, then prostrated, until, due to the long standing that day, some companions fainted and buckets of water were poured over them. Whenever the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said the takbir, he would say « اللهُ أَكْبَرُ », and when he raised his head from bowing, he would say « سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ », so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not finish the prayer until the sun became bright. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood and praised and glorified Allah, and said: “Indeed, the sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life of any person, but these two are among the signs of Allah with which Allah frightens His servants. So when you see them eclipsed, hasten to the remembrance of Allah until they become bright and clear.”

In the narration reported by 'Ata from 'Abdul Malik from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), it is mentioned that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed six bowings (ruku') and four prostrations (sajdah).

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he (peace be upon him) led the prayer of eclipse; he (peace be upon him) recited (Qur'an), then bowed (ruku'), then he (peace be upon him) recited again, then bowed, then he (peace be upon him) recited again, then bowed, then recited Qur'an, then bowed, then he (peace be upon him) performed prostrations (sujood), and the second rak'ah was also performed in the same manner. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I have mentioned the chains of these narrations in Kitab al-Kabir. Therefore, it is permissible for a person to perform as many bowings (ruku') in the eclipse prayer as he wishes, according to the method of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him). If he wishes to perform two bowings in each rak'ah, he may do so. And if he wishes, he may perform three bowings in each rak'ah. And if he prefers, he may perform four bowings in each rak'ah. Because all these narrations are authentically proven from the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him). And these narrations are evidence that the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) performed the eclipse prayer not just once, but several times.