In the holy Qur’an, Allah the Almighty says: “The sun and the moon follow courses exactly computed.” (Qur’an 55:05).
In a few hours, skygazers will get a treat with the arrival of the last solar eclipse in 2022 which will be observed across most of Europe, as well as parts of northeast Africa, the Middle East and western Asia.
In preparation, mosques in different countries have announced plans to host special prayers during the eclipse.
In Netherlands, NL Times reported that a special prayer will be offered in different mosques during the eclipse, including mosque As-Soennah in The Hague.
Mosques across Dubai will also host special prayers as a partial solar eclipse casts the moon’s shadow on Earth.
The Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department (IACAD) – Dubai posted on social media that the prayers will be held right after the Asr (evening) prayer on October 25, Khaleej Times reported.
The second, and final eclipse in 2022, begins at 4:58 am EDT (0858 GMT) when the moon first begins to cross the sun as seen from the northern Atlantic Ocean.
It will move east over the next four hours, ending at 9:01 a.m. EDT (1301 GMT) just south of India.
Solar Eclipse in Islam
Solar eclipse is the partial or total cutting off of the sun’s light when the moon comes between it and the earth.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes within Earth’s umbra (shadow). The shadow turns the moon’s color to dark red-brown (typically – the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions).
The moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering (the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish) and the refraction of that light by Earth’s atmosphere into its umbra.
Before Islam, people used to associate this unusual phenomenon with some superstitious reasons. It happened that the sun eclipsed on the day Ibrahim, son of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) in Madinah, so some people attributed that to his death.
Hence, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took the opportunity to correct the people’s mistaken belief about the solar eclipse saying,
“The sun and the moon are two signs of Allah; they are not eclipsed on account of anyone’s death or on account of anyone’s birth. So when you see them, glorify and supplicate Allah, observe the Prayer, give alms.”