Lunar Eclipse in Madīnah and Ṣalāt-e-Khusūf

In the very same year, during the month of Jamādiyul-Ākhir, a lunar eclipse occurred in Madīnah.1 The Holy Prophet(sa) instructed the Companions to congregate for Ṣalāt. As such, the Holy Prophet(sa) remained occupied in Ṣalāt along with a community until the eclipse had ended. From then onwards, a formal Ṣalāt for the lunar eclipse was instituted in Islām. On the one hand, while the Muslims were engaged in Ṣalāt, the Jews were beating their vessels on the other, etc., under the notion that someone had cast a spell upon the moon, which in their own surmise, would be dispelled by their noise.2

At this instance, it would not be out of place to mention that a great distinction of Islām is that it has not only erased unnecessary superstition, but has also instituted a form of worship for every such occasion where the door to superstition may be opened, and as a result, this immediately directs the attention of a person towards God and uproots pagan notions. Therefore, a grand wisdom in enjoining a form of worship on the occasion of an eclipse, etc., is to remind the Muslims that irrespective of the apparent instrument by which a person receives light and luminosity in the life of this world, in actuality, it is God the Exalted who is the actual source. For this reason, if an obstruction occurs in the way of this light, even though such a hindrance may be due to the general laws of nature, on this occasion, one should turn towards God. In actuality, Islām has attached divine remembrance to a person’s every movement and to every change in environment, so that a person is never neglectful of his Lord. However, this is a separate religious discussion, which a historian cannot engage himself in.