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🔴 LIVE 🔴 📚 Lesson: Sharḥ ar-Risālah al-Mufīdah al-Muhimmah al-Jalīlah (Al-Kalimah Al-‘Ulyā Programme) 🎙 Teacher: Abū ‘Aṭīyah Maḥmūd 📱Live now at: https://masjidmuqbil.co.uk/live

🔴 LIVE 🔴 📚 Lesson: Al-Jāmi‘ li ‘Ibādatillāh Waḥdahu (Al-Kalimah Al-‘Ulyā Programme) 🎙 Teacher: Abū Isḥāq Sa‘d 📱Live now at: https://masjidmuqbil.co.uk/live

🔴 Today In Sha Allah 🔴

🔴 We encourage the students to memorise this for next week's lesson of: Shurūṭ aṣ-Ṣalāh wa Arkānuhā (Al-Kalimah Al-‘Ulyā Programme) 🔴

🔴Today in shā Allāh🔴

🔴Announcement🔴 The lesson on “The Sets of Ten Mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله” will be postponed due to the passing of the mother of our honorable brother, Mahmud As-Somali, and her janāzah. We ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to have mercy upon her, forgive her, raise her rank in Jannah, and make her grave spacious and illuminated. May Allah make this calamity easy upon his family and loved ones, grant them patience and steadfastness, and unite us with him in the highest levels of Paradise.

The fact that major Ḥanbalī jurists preserved this as a recognised possibility, and that some works gave it precedence, shows that it is a serious juristic position and not an anomalous one. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Practical Conclusion Concerning the Latecomer We can therefore distinguish three situations. If the person catches the first rukūʿ, he has caught the rakʿah according to the positions discussed. If he misses the entire rakʿah, including both rukūʿs, he has missed the rakʿah and must complete what he missed. But if he misses the first rukūʿ and catches the second, this is the actual point of scholarly disagreement. One group of scholars says that he has missed the rakʿah and must subsequently perform an entire rakʿah. Another group considers the second rukūʿ sufficient for catching the rakʿah. The latter is the established Mālikī position and also a recognised position within the Ḥanbalī school of jurisprudence. In light of the classical evidence and reasoning discussed above, this is a very strong and well-founded view, in shāʾ Allāh. It should therefore be treated as a legitimate issue of scholarly reasoning and not as a matter in which only one position was known among the scholars. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Returning to the Central Principle All of these issues illustrate the importance of approaching acts of worship through knowledge rather than through personal impressions. The lengthy eclipse prayer is established by the Sunnah. Reciting approximately Sūrat al-Baqarah in its first standing is established by the Sunnah. Lengthening the rukūʿ and sujūd is established by the Sunnah. The fear, humility and urgency with which the Prophet ﷺ approached the eclipse are established by the Sunnah. If the prayer finishes before the eclipse clears, remembrance, supplication and seeking forgiveness continue. If an individual genuinely cannot bear the length or has an important need, the Sunnah provides him with the option, when there is a legitimate excuse, of separating from the imam and completing the prayer individually. And concerning the latecomer, the scholars themselves differed concerning which rukūʿ is the essential rukūʿ by which the rakʿah is caught. This is from the fruits of knowledge: العِلْمُ نُوْرٌ “Knowledge is light.” When a person deals with these matters upon knowledge, the texts and statements of the scholars are gathered together, and each ruling is placed in its proper position. But when knowledge is absent, a person may begin regarding his own preferred way of approaching an act of worship as moderation while regarding an established Sunnah as excess. Likewise, he may regard a legitimate issue of scholarly disagreement as though only one position could possibly be correct. The criterion is not merely what has become easiest for us or what we have become accustomed to. The criterion is the guidance of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, together with a careful understanding of the statements and reasoning of the people of knowledge. والله أعلم وصلى الله وسلم على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين Abū ʿAṭiyah 30 Ṣafar 1448H

“ولو أدركه في الركوع الثاني من إحدى الركعتين فالمذهب الصحيح الذي نص عليه الشافعي في البويطي واتفق الأصحاب على تصحيحه، وقطع به كثيرون منهم أو أكثرهم أنه لا يكون مدركا لشيء من الركعة” “If he catches the imam in the second rukūʿ of either rakʿah, then according to the correct position of the madhhab, which al-Shāfiʿī explicitly stated in al-Buwayṭī and which the scholars of the school agreed to authenticate, he is not considered to have caught any part of that rakʿah.” Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab (5/61). Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله likewise explained: “واعلموا أن الركوع الثاني من كل ركعة ليس بواجب، بل هو سنة، والركوع الأول هو الواجب وهو الركن، ولهذا قلنا إن الركعة لا تدرك إلا بإدراك الركوع الأول؛ لأنه هو الركن، أما الثاني فإنه تطوع” “Know that the second rukūʿ of each rakʿah is not obligatory; rather, it is Sunnah. The first rukūʿ is the obligatory one and is the pillar. This is why we say that the rakʿah is not caught except by catching the first rukūʿ, because it is the pillar, whereas the second is voluntary.” Source: Al-Liqāʾ al-Shahrī (38/17). According to this analysis, the latecomer is not inserting an isolated rukūʿ into an already completed rakʿah. Rather, because the first rukūʿ is regarded as the essential rukūʿ by which the rakʿah is caught, the entire rakʿah is considered missed if that first rukūʿ was missed. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Second Position: The Rakʿah Is Caught by the Second Rukūʿ There is, however, another strong and well-founded position: the rakʿah is caught by catching the second rukūʿ. This is the established position of the Mālikī school, and it was also recognised as a valid position within the Ḥanbalī school. The Mālikī Position Ad-Dusūqī رحمه الله said: “وتدرك الركعة مع الإمام من كل ركعة بالركوع الثاني لأنه الفرض كالفاتحة قبله، وأما الركوع الأول فسنة” “The rakʿah with the imam is caught in each rakʿah by catching the second rukūʿ, because it is the obligatory rukūʿ, just as al-Fātiḥah preceding it is obligatory. As for the first rukūʿ, it is Sunnah.” Ḥāshiyat ad-Dusūqī ʿalā al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr (1/404). He then explicitly states: “فمن أدرك مع الإمام الركوع الثاني من الأولى لم يقض شيئا” “Whoever catches the second rukūʿ of the first rakʿah with the imam does not make anything up.” Ḥāshiyat ad-Dusūqī ʿalā al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr (1/404). This is not merely a later isolated interpretation. It represents the recognised Mālikī understanding of the structure of the eclipse rakʿah. According to their analysis, the second rukūʿ occupies the normal structural position of rukūʿ in a rakʿah: it follows the final recitation and is followed by the movement towards sujūd. The first rukūʿ is the additional rukūʿ particular to Ṣalāt al-Kusūf. Therefore, according to this position, a person who catches the second rukūʿ has caught the essential rukūʿ and consequently has caught the rakʿah. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ This Position Is Also Recognised Among the Ḥanbalīs The significance of this view becomes greater when we see that it is not restricted to the Mālikī school. Ibn Mufliḥ رحمه الله said: “والركوع الثاني سنة، وتدرك به الركعة في أحد الوجهين” “The second rukūʿ is Sunnah, and according to one of the two positions the rakʿah is caught by it.” Al-Furūʿ (2/140–141). He then records that the two positions were left open in al-Mughnī and ash-Sharḥ, and that the view that the rakʿah is caught by the second rukūʿ was given precedence in al-Riʿāyatayn. This is important. It means that the position was not merely tolerated as an external Mālikī opinion. It existed as one of the recognised positions within the Ḥanbalī school itself. Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله also mentioned the possibility that the second rukūʿ is sufficient for the latecomer, reasoning that Ṣalāt al-Kusūf may validly be performed with one rukūʿ, and therefore the rukūʿ caught by the latecomer may suffice him. Al-Mughnī, discussion concerning the latecomer in Ṣalāt al-Kusūf.

Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله said: “وإن أحرم مأموما، ثم نوى مفارقة الإمام، وإتمامها منفردا لعذر، جاز” “If he begins the prayer as a follower and then intends to separate from the imam and complete it individually due to an excuse, that is permissible.” He then explicitly includes among the legitimate excuses: “المشقة بتطويل الإمام، أو المرض، أو خشية غلبة النعاس، أو شيء يفسد صلاته، أو خوف فوات مال أو تلفه، أو فوت رفقته، وأشباه هذا” “Hardship caused by the imam lengthening the prayer, illness, fear of being overcome by sleep, something that may spoil his prayer, fear of losing property or its destruction, fear of missing his travelling companions, and similar matters.” Al-Mughnī (2/34). Shaykh ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz رحمه الله was asked whether separation from the imam is permissible due to a genuine need. He replied: “يجوز إذا طول الإمام، يكون يشق على بعض المأمومين، يكون له حاجة أو عنده ضعف؛ لأن الرسول ﷺ ما أنكر عليه، بل أنكر على معاذ” “It is permissible when the imam lengthens the prayer and this becomes difficult for some of the followers, or the person has a need, or he has weakness; because the Messenger ﷺ did not condemn him. Rather, he condemned Muʿādh.” Source: https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/24166/%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%89-%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%B2-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%88%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85 Therefore, there is no contradiction between saying that the Sunnah is for the imam to lengthen the eclipse prayer and recognising that a particular individual may have a genuine excuse. The imam establishes the Sunnah, while the person who genuinely cannot continue has a legislated concession. This illustrates the benefit of approaching these matters upon knowledge: when matters are approached upon knowledge, apparent difficulties are resolved through the guidance of the Sharīʿah itself. Otherwise, a person may attempt to “correct” an established Sunnah while being unaware that the Sunnah itself has already provided the appropriate solution. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Established Description of the Eclipse Prayer The strongest and most widespread description transmitted concerning the eclipse prayer is: Two rakʿahs, with two rukūʿs in each rakʿah. The narration of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها describes the Prophet ﷺ performing two standings and two rukūʿs (bowings) in the first rakʿah, followed by the corresponding manner in the second. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1046; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 901. Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله describes the same form in detail in Al-Mughnī (2/143). Thus, the well-established description contains four rukūʿs altogether. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If a Latecomer Misses an Entire Rakʿah If the latecomer completely misses the first rakʿah and catches the second from its beginning, the matter is straightforward. He follows the imam and, after the imam gives salām, performs the rakʿah which he missed according to the description of the eclipse prayer. An-Nawawī رحمه الله said: “وإن أدركه في الركوع الأول من الركعة الثانية فقد أدرك الركعة، فإذا سلم الإمام قام فصلى ركعة أخرى بركوعين وقيامين كما يأتي بها الإمام، وهذا لا خلاف فيه” “If he catches the imam in the first rukūʿ of the second rakʿah, he has caught that rakʿah. When the imam gives salām, he stands and performs another rakʿah with two rukūʿs and two standings in the manner performed by the imam, and there is no disagreement concerning this.” Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab (5/61). The more difficult question is: What if he joins the imam after the first rukūʿ but catches the second rukūʿ of the same rakʿah? Here there is a genuine disagreement among the scholars. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The First Position: The Rakʿah Is Only Caught by Catching the First Rukūʿ This is the well-known position among the Shāfiʿīs and one of the recognised positions among the Ḥanbalīs, and it was preferred by a number of later scholars. An-Nawawī رحمه الله said:

The narration combines two important matters: the Prophet ﷺ was alarmed by what he witnessed, and his response was an exceptionally lengthy prayer. He ﷺ said: “فإذا رأيتم شيئا من ذلك فافزعوا إلى ذكره ودعائه واستغفاره” “When you see anything of that, then hasten in alarm to His remembrance, supplication and seeking His forgiveness.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1059; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 912. The eclipse prayer is therefore a prayer of fear, humility, repentance, remembrance and turning to Allāh. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Objective Is to Remain Engaged in Worship Until the Eclipse Clears Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله said: “والمقصود أن تكون الصلاة وقت الكسوف إلى أن يتجلى، فإن فرغ من الصلاة قبل التجلي ذكر الله ودعاه إلى أن يتجلى” “The objective is that the prayer should take place during the eclipse until it clears. If he finishes the prayer before it clears, he remembers Allāh and supplicates to Him until it clears.” Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (24/260). This gives an important benefit concerning the reason for lengthening the prayer. If the congregation finishes the prayer while the eclipse remains, they do not begin another eclipse prayer. Rather, they occupy themselves with remembrance of Allāh, duʿāʾ, seeking forgiveness, charity and the other acts commanded by the Prophet ﷺ. Shaykh ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz رحمه الله likewise stated that if the eclipse remains after the prayer, the people occupy themselves with dhikr, duʿāʾ and charity. Source: https://binbaz.org.sa/audios/3285/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%81 Thus, the considerable length of the Prophetic prayer is entirely consistent with the objective of remaining occupied with worship during this tremendous sign of Allāh. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ What About Astronomical Predictions of the Duration? Astronomical calculations concerning when an eclipse is expected to begin and how long it is expected to last do not in themselves contradict the Sharīʿah. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله stated: “الخسوف والكسوف لهما أوقات مقدرة” “Lunar and solar eclipses have determined times.” Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (24/258–260). He also said: “والكسوف يطول زمانه تارة ويقصر أخرى بحسب ما يكسف منها” “The eclipse sometimes lasts for a long time and at other times is shorter, according to how much of it is eclipsed.” Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (24/260). The issue, therefore, is not whether astronomical calculations can accurately predict an eclipse. The question is whether those calculations should replace the Sunnah as the criterion according to which the worship itself is performed. They should not. Knowing beforehand that an eclipse is expected to last a particular length of time may be useful information, but it does not transform a prayer which the Sunnah characterises by considerable length into an ordinary short prayer merely because a timetable has been produced. The calculations may inform the worshipper, but the Sunnah determines the nature of the worship. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If Someone Finds the Length of the Prayer Difficult Suppose the imam establishes the Sunnah and lengthens the eclipse prayer, but a particular worshipper genuinely finds himself unable to continue because of weakness, illness, considerable hardship, or an important matter which he must attend to. The Sharīʿah itself provides a solution. The worshipper may intend to cease following the imam and complete his prayer individually. The foundation for this is the well-known incident of Muʿādh ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه. Muʿādh رضي الله عنه would pray ʿIshāʾ with the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and then return and lead his people. On one occasion he began reciting Sūrat al-Baqarah. One of the men separated and completed his prayer individually. When the matter reached the Prophet ﷺ, he did not condemn the man. Rather, he said to Muʿādh: “يا معاذ أفتان أنت؟” “O Muʿādh! Are you one who puts people to trial?” Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 465. See also Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, nos. 705 and 6106. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ What the Scholars Derived from This

﷽ Further Issues Concerning the Eclipse Prayer Following on from what was previously written concerning the eclipse prayer, there are several further matters that are worth clarifying due to some questions and observations that have arisen. Among them are the Sunnah of lengthening the eclipse prayer, the purpose behind this lengthening, what should be done by someone who genuinely finds its length difficult, the relevance of astronomical predictions concerning its duration, and the ruling concerning the latecomer who misses part of the prayer. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Sunnah Is to Lengthen the Eclipse Prayer There should be no ambiguity concerning the basic Sunnah in this matter: the eclipse prayer is legislated as a lengthy prayer. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما described the prayer of the Prophet ﷺ during the eclipse, saying: “فقام قياما طويلا نحوا من سورة البقرة” “He stood for a lengthy standing, approximately the length of Sūrat al-Baqarah.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1052; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 907. The narration is explicit concerning the considerable length of the first standing. Likewise, ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها narrated: “فقام فأطال القيام، ثم ركع فأطال الركوع، ثم قام فأطال القيام وهو دون القيام الأول، ثم ركع فأطال الركوع وهو دون الركوع الأول” “He stood and prolonged the standing, then bowed and prolonged the bowing. He then stood and prolonged the standing, although it was shorter than the first standing. He then bowed and prolonged the bowing, although it was shorter than the first bowing.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1046; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 901. Thus, lengthening was not confined merely to the recitation. The standing was lengthy, the rukūʿ was lengthy, and the authentic narrations also establish lengthening the prostration. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The Scholars Explicitly Mentioned Reciting Sūrat al-Baqarah The scholars did not regard the lengthy recitation reported from the Prophet ﷺ as something exceptional which was subsequently to be abandoned. Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله said when describing the recommended manner of Ṣalāt al-Kusūf: “وجملته أن المستحب في صلاة الكسوف أن يصلي ركعتين، يحرم بالأولى، ويستفتح، ويستعيذ، ويقرأ الفاتحة وسورة البقرة، أو قدرها في الطول” “In summary, what is recommended in the eclipse prayer is that he prays two rakʿahs. He begins the first, recites the opening supplication and seeks refuge in Allāh, then recites al-Fātiḥah and Sūrat al-Baqarah, or something equivalent to it in length.” Al-Mughnī (2/143). An-Nawawī رحمه الله likewise states: “والسنة أن يقرأ في القيام الأول بعد الفاتحة سورة البقرة أو قدرها” “The Sunnah is that in the first standing, after al-Fātiḥah, he recites Sūrat al-Baqarah or its equivalent.” Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab (5/52–56). Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله said: “فإذا عظم الكسوف طول الصلاة حتى يقرأ بالبقرة ونحوها في أول ركعة” “When the eclipse is great, he lengthens the prayer, to the extent that he recites al-Baqarah or something similar to it in the first rakʿah.” Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (24/260). Therefore, reciting approximately Sūrat al-Baqarah in the first standing cannot properly be described as extremism or religious excess. It is a practice established by the authentic Sunnah and expressly mentioned by the scholars when describing the complete manner of the eclipse prayer. The fact that people may have become accustomed to considerably shorter prayers does not alter the Prophetic description of this particular prayer. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ The State of the Prophet ﷺ When the Eclipse Occurred The manner in which the Prophet ﷺ responded to the eclipse also explains why the prayer was performed with such seriousness and length. Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه narrated: “خسفت الشمس فقام النبي ﷺ فزعا يخشى أن تكون الساعة، فأتى المسجد فصلى بأطول قيام وركوع وسجود رأيته قط يفعله” “The sun was eclipsed, so the Prophet ﷺ arose in alarm, fearing that it might be the Hour. He came to the mosque and prayed with the longest standing, bowing and prostration that I had ever seen him perform.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1059; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 912.

“However, if the reports of the astronomers agree upon it, they are hardly mistaken. Despite this, no Sharʿī ruling follows merely from their report, for the eclipse prayer for the sun and moon is not performed unless we observe it.” Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (24/258). He goes on to explain that if a person considers the astronomical report likely to be correct and consequently prepares himself at that time to observe the eclipse, this is commendable as a form of hastening to obedience to Allah. Thus, the calculation can be used to know when to look, while the prayer itself remains attached to observation. Shaykh ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz رحمه الله likewise explained: “فعلق ﷺ الأمر بالصلاة والدعاء والذكر والاستغفار برؤية الكسوف، لا بخبر الحاسبين” “He ﷺ therefore attached the command to pray, supplicate, remember Allah and seek forgiveness to the observation of the eclipse, not to the reports of the astronomers.” He further said: “ويعلم أيضا أنه لا يشرع لأهل بلد لم يقع عندهم الكسوف أن يصلوا؛ لأن الرسول ﷺ علق الأمر بالصلاة وما ذكر معها برؤية الكسوف، لا بالخبر من أهل الحساب بأنه سيقع، ولا بوقوعه في بلد آخر” “It is also known that it is not legislated for the people of a land in which the eclipse has not occurred to pray, because the Messenger ﷺ attached the command to pray, and the other acts mentioned with it, to observing the eclipse — not to the astronomers reporting that it will occur, nor to its occurrence in another land.” Majmūʿ Fatāwā wa-Maqālāt Mutanawwiʿah (15/133). Accordingly, astronomical calculations may be used to alert people to the possibility and timing of an eclipse so that they can look for it. However, the prayer itself is connected to observing the eclipse. Thus, if an eclipse is predicted astronomically but is not actually observed in the locality, the eclipse prayer is not commenced merely on the basis of the calculation. This also applies where cloud cover or similar conditions completely prevent the eclipse from being observed. The astronomical prediction may establish that an eclipse is taking place above the clouds, but the Prophetic instruction concerning the prayer was attached to its observation: “فإذا رأيتموهما…” “When you see them…” ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In conclusion, the Prophetic command is to hasten to the eclipse prayer when the eclipse is observed. Where there is sufficient time to perform both the eclipse prayer and the obligatory prayer within its prescribed time, there is a recognised basis for beginning with the eclipse prayer, since its cause may disappear. If, however, there is a genuine fear that the obligatory prayer will be missed, the obligatory prayer takes precedence. If the eclipse prayer has already begun, it should be shortened where necessary to preserve sufficient time for the obligatory prayer. Finally, the eclipse prayer is connected to actual observation of the eclipse, not merely its astronomical prediction. Thus, the guiding principles are to hasten to the eclipse prayer when it is observed, while at the same time safeguarding the obligatory prayers and ensuring that they are performed within their prescribed times. Abū ʿAṭiyah 29 Ṣafar 1448H

Thus, once both prayers become liable to being missed, the obligatory prayer is the more emphatically prescribed of the two. Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab (5/61). Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله states this explicitly: “فإن خيف فوتهما بدأ بالصلاة الواجبة” “If it is feared that both will be missed, he begins with the obligatory prayer.” Al-Mughnī (2/146). The principle is therefore straightforward: when the eclipse prayer alone is liable to be missed, there is a recognised basis for giving it precedence. However, when the obligatory prayer itself becomes liable to being missed, the obligatory prayer takes precedence. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 3. The eclipse prayer has begun, but prolonging it could cause the obligatory prayer to be missed A further situation is where the eclipse prayer has already begun while there is apparently sufficient time, but its continuation at length would threaten the remaining time of the obligatory prayer. In this situation, the eclipse prayer should be shortened and completed, leaving sufficient time for the obligatory prayer to be performed within its prescribed time. Shaykh ʿAbdul-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz رحمه الله discussed the case of a lunar eclipse occurring before Fajr and said: “ويخفف حتى يصلي الفجر بعد ذلك في وقتها… وإن صلى فليخفف، يبدأ بصلاة الخسوف قبل الفجر، ثم يصلي صلاة الفجر في وقتها قبل الشمس” “He should shorten it so that he can perform Fajr after that within its time… If he performs it, then he should shorten it: he begins the eclipse prayer before Fajr, then performs the Fajr prayer within its time before sunrise.” Source: https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/13046/هل-تصلى-الخسوف-والكسوف-في-اوقات-النهي⁠ Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaimīn رحمه الله addressed essentially the same situation. Speaking about an eclipse prayer that had begun before Fajr, he said: “فإذا صلوا وطلع الفجر وخافوا أن تطلع الشمس قبل أن ينتهوا من صلاة الفجر فماذا يصنع؟ يخفف الصلاة -أي: صلاة الكسوف- من أجل صلاة الفجر” “If they are praying and Fajr enters, and they fear that the sun will rise before they finish the Fajr prayer, what should they do? They shorten the prayer — meaning the eclipse prayer — for the sake of the Fajr prayer.” Sharḥ Bāb Ṣalāt al-Kusūf, lesson 853. He also stated concerning the length of the eclipse prayer: “المشهور عند أهل العلم أن صلاة الكسوف لا تكرر، ولكن ينبغي للإمام أن يلاحظ مدة الكسوف فيجعل الصلاة مناسبة، فإن كانت قصيرة قصر الصلاة” “The well-known position among the people of knowledge is that the eclipse prayer is not repeated. However, the imam should take into consideration the duration of the eclipse and make the prayer proportionate to it. If it is short, he shortens the prayer.” Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā wa-l-Rasāʾil (16/322). These statements establish an important practical principle: the Sunnah of prolonging the eclipse prayer should not be implemented in a manner that jeopardises an obligatory prayer. Accordingly, if there is ample time, the eclipse prayer may be performed with the prescribed length. However, as the end of the obligatory prayer’s time approaches, the imam should shorten the remaining recitation, bowing and prostration, complete the eclipse prayer, and leave sufficient time for the obligatory prayer. There is therefore no need to plan to abandon the eclipse prayer midway. Rather, its length should be managed so that it can be completed while preserving sufficient time for the farḍ. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 4. The eclipse prayer is dependent upon observing the eclipse A final important principle is that the eclipse prayer is connected to the eclipse actually being observed, rather than merely to astronomical calculations indicating that an eclipse is taking place. The Prophet ﷺ attached the ruling to sight, saying: “فإذا رأيتموهما فافزعوا إلى الصلاة” “When you see them, hasten to the prayer.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (1046); Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (901). Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taimiyyah رحمه الله said: “ولكن إذا تواطأ خبر أهل الحساب على ذلك فلا يكادون يخطئون، ومع هذا فلا يترتب على خبرهم علم شرعي؛ فإن صلاة الكسوف والخسوف لا تصلى إلا إذا شاهدنا ذلك”