By chance, on the day that Hazrat Ibrahim (ra) passed away, a solar eclipse took place. In those days people held the superstition that a solar or lunar eclipse took place when a very important person died. Due to this wrong belief, some Muslims of Madinah began to say that the solar eclipse happened because of the death of Hazrat Ibrahim (ra). The Holy Prophet (sas) did not like this idea because it went against his conviction that Allah the Almighty causes such events in accordance with the divine laws of nature. He gathered all these people together and said to them:
“The solar and lunar eclipses do not happen because of the death of a person, instead they are two of the many signs of the existence of Allah the Almighty. When you see them, pray and prostrate before Allah the Almighty.”1
That is why all Muslims are told to gather in a mosque or an open field and offer two rak‘at of prayer whenever a lunar or a solar eclipse takes place. The speciality of this prayer is that in each rak‘at there are two ruku‘. It is called the Prayer of Kusuf (for solar eclipse) and the Prayer of Khusuf (for lunar eclipse).
In this way Hazrat Mariyah Qibtiyyah (ra) received an additional honour, as the demise of her beloved son became the cause for removing this false superstition.
1 Azwaj-e-Mutahharat (ra) wa Sahabiyat (ra) Encyclopaedia, By Dr. Dhul-Fiqar Kazim, p. 239 Published by Baitul-‘Ulum, Anarkali, Lahore