12. The Eclipse Prayer

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from hisfather that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, said, "There was an eclipse of the sun in the time ofthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, andthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ledthe people in prayer. He stood, and did so for a long time. Then hewent into ruku, and made the ruku long. Then he stood again, and didso for a long time, though not as long as the first time. Then he wentinto ruku, and made the ruku long, though not as long as thefirsttime. Then he rose, and went down into sajda. He then did the same inthe second raka, and by the time he had finished the sun had appeared.He then gave a khutba to the people, in which he praised Allah andthen said, 'The sun and the moon are two of Allah's signs. They do noteclipse for anyone's death nor for anyone's life. When you see aneclipse, call on Allah and say, "Allah is greater" and give sadaqa.'Then he said, 'O community of Muhammad! ByAllah, there is no-one morejealous than Allah of a male or female slave of his who commitsadultery. O community of Muhammad! By Allah, if you knew what I knew,you would laugh little and weep much'." Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar that Abdullah ibn Abbas said, "There was an eclipse of the sunand the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,prayed, and the people prayed with him. He stood for a long time,nearly as long as (it takes to recite) Surat al-Baqara (Sura 2), andthen went into ruku for a long time. Then he rose and stood for a longtime, though less than the first time.Then he went into ruku for along time, though less than the first time. Then he went down intosajda. Then he stood for a long time, though less than the first time.Then he went into ruku for a long time, though less than the firsttime. Then he rose and stood for a long time, though less than thefirsttime. Then he went into ruku for a long time, though less thanthe first time. Then he went down into sajda, and by the time he hadfinished the sun had appeared. Then he said, 'The sun and the moon aretwo of Allah's signs. They do not eclipse for anyone's death nor foranyone's life. When you see an eclipse, remember Allah.' They said,'Messenger of Allah, we saw you reach out for something while you werestanding here and then we saw you withdraw.' He said, 'I saw theGarden and I reached out for a bunch of grapes from it, and if I hadtaken it you would have been able to eat from it for as long as thisworld lasted. Then I saw the Fire - and I have never seen anythingmore hideous than what I saw today - and I saw that most of itspeople were women.' They said, 'Why, Messenger of Allah?' He said,'Because of their ungratefulness (kufr).' Someone said, 'Are theyungrateful toAllah?' He said, 'They are ungrateful to their husbandsand they are ungrateful for good behaviour (towards them) . Even ifyou were to behave well towards one of them for a whole lifetime andthen she were to see you do something (that she did not like) shewould say that she had never seen anything good from you.' " Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from 'Amrabint Abd ar-Rahman from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, that a jewish woman came to beg fromher and said, "May Allah give you refuge from the punishment of thegrave." So A'isha asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, "Are people punished in their graves?", and theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, tookrefuge in Allah from that. Then one morning the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out on a journey andthere was an eclipse of the sun, and he returned in the late morningand passed through his apartments. Then he stood and prayed, and thepeople stood behind him. He stood for a long time, and then went intoruku for a long time. Then he rose and stood for a long time, thoughless than the first time, and then went into ruku for a long time,though less than the first time. Then he rose, and went down intosajda. Then he stood for a long time, though less than the timebefore, and then went into ruku for a long time, though less than thetime before. Then he rose and stood for a long time, though less thanthe time before, and then went into ruku for a long time, though lessthan the time before. Then he rose, and went down into sajda. When hehad finished he said what Allah willed him to say, and then he toldthem to seek protection for themselves from the punishment of thegrave." Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from Fatimabint al Mundhir that Asma bint Abi Bakr as-Siddiq said, "I went toA'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, during an eclipse of the sun, and everybody was standing inprayer, and she too was standing praying. I said, 'What is everybodydoing?' She pointed towards the sky with her hand and said, 'Glory beto Allah.' I said, 'A sign?' She nodded 'Yes' with her head." She continued, "I stood until I had almost fainted, and I began topour water over my head. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, praised Allah and spoke well of Him, and thensaid, 'There is nothing which I had previously not seen beforehandthat I have not now seen while standing - even the Garden and theFire. It has been revealed to me that you will be tried in your graveswith a trial, like, or near to, the trial of the Dajjal (I do not knowwhich one Asma said). Every one of you will have someone who comes tohim and asks him, 'What do you know about this man?' A mumin, or onewho has certainty (muqin) (I do not know which one Asma said), willsay, 'He is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, who came to us with clear proofs and guidance, and weanswered and believed and followed.' He will then be told, 'Sleep in agood state. We know now that you were a mumin.' A hypocrite, however,or one who has doubts (l do not know which one Asma said), will say,'I do not know, I heard everybody saying something and I said it.' "