['Aalim Network QR] Salaatul Ayaat for an Eclipse

["Akil M. Karim" <amk@io.org>]

________________________________________________________________________
|                          w           w     w                          |\
|                           ||          ||   | ||                       |\
|                    o_,_7 _||  . _o_7 _|| 4_|_||  o_w_,                |\
|                   ( :   /    (_)    /           (   .                 |\
|                                                                       |\
|           ||  ||         |  ||   |T              |     | ||    |      |\
|   . _, _8 |_D_|| . _,_,_,_D_|| 4_|| q ]_o_7_o   _|_c 4_|_||   _|,_p q |\
|  (_): /         (_): . :            /        (_S           (_S      / |\
|                                                                       |\
|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
|_______________________________________________________________________|\

Salamun `Alaykum

The following question was kindly answered by Dr. Takim.


Fee Amaanillah,

Akil Karim
Moderator - 'Aalim Network

---------- Forwarded message ----------

QUESTION:

Two weeks ago we had partial eclipse of the Sun in London. I was able to
witness this, and it was beautiful! It was predicted long time ago that it
would happen on that day at a certain time. Why is it then considered as a
fateful event (grouped with earthquake, floods etc) that requires Namaz
Ayat to be performed?


ANSWER:

I have heard it reported there is a very remote possibility of a
disruption in our solar system due to an eclipse. This could be one reason
for the imposition of salat al-ayat in the event of an eclipse. 

Another reason is that the eclipse is a wonderful event, indicating God's
splendor and majesty. So when we pray, we appreciate God's majesty. In a
hadith from Imam al-Ridha (AS), the Imam states we do not know whether an
eclipse is due to God's mercy or a possible impending punishment, and
therefore the true followers of the Imams will pray when an eclipse sets
in. In another tradition, Imams al-Baqir and al-Sadiq (AS) have both said
that when Allah wants to remind His slaves of His presence (so as to
prevent them from sins), He makes an eclipse occur. (See Wasa'il Shi'a
volume 4). 

Thus rather than necessarily being a negative event, an eclipse can serve
to remind us of Allah's greatest power. All the traditions state that it
is wajib to pray at the time of an eclipse. 


Jazaka Allah

Liyakatali