Kusūf is the solar eclipse. Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is sunnah. It is two rakā’āt with no adhān, no iqāmah, and no khuṭbah. This ṣalāh is a silent prayer prayed in jamā’ah. It should be prayed in the jāmi’ mosque. The imām should do a du’ā` after the ṣalāh.
Is ṣalāt al-Kusūf wājib or sunnah?
Imām Muḥammad indicates that Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is a nafl. He says the only two nawāfil which are prayed in jamā’ah are; the qiyām of Ramaḍān and ṣalāt al-Kusūf. Furthermore, they point to the choice given when praying ṣalāt al-kusūf. Ḥasan b. Ziyād narrates on the authority of Abū Ḥanīfah that if one wishes they should pray two units, or four, and if they wish they can pray more than that. They argue that as there is a choice given here, and choice is only found in nawāfil not in wājibāt.
The riwāyah of Ḥasan b. Ziyād does not negate wujūb as it is possible to have a choice in matters which are wājib. For example:
لَا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ اللَّهُ بِاللَّغْوِ فِي أَيْمَانِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا عَقَّدتُّمُ الْأَيْمَانَ ۖ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ إِطْعَامُ عَشَرَةِ مَسَاكِينَ مِنْ أَوْسَطِ مَا تُطْعِمُونَ أَهْلِيكُمْ أَوْ كِسْوَتُهُمْ أَوْ تَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ
Allah will not impose blame upon you for what is meaningless in your oaths, but He will impose blame upon you for [breaking] what you intended of oaths. So, its expiation is the feeding of ten needy people from the average of that which you feed your [own] families or clothing them or the freeing of a slave.[1]
When one has made an oath, it becomes wājib for them to fulfil that oath, if they cannot fulfil it, they must pay kaffārah as expiation. As indicated in the āyah above one has a choice of either feeding ten people, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. Therefore, you can have a choice in matters of wājibāt.
On the other hand, some have said that ṣalāt al-Kusūf is wājib because of the ḥadīth;
حَدَّثَنَا شِهَابُ بْنُ عَبَّادٍ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، عَنْ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، عَنْ قَيْسٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا مَسْعُودٍ، يَقُولُ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ إِنَّ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ لاَ يَنْكَسِفَانِ لِمَوْتِ أَحَدٍ مِنَ النَّاسِ، وَلَكِنَّهُمَا آيَتَانِ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ، فَإِذَا رَأَيْتُمُوهُمَا فَقُومُوا فَصَلُّوا”.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death of someone from the people but they are two signs amongst the signs of Allah. When you see them stand up and pray.”[2]
This, in addition to other narrations (such as that of Abū Mas’ūd al-Anṣāri), is a direct command to pray from the Prophet ﷺ, and therefore (according to Ḥanafi usūl) indicates that the action is wājib.
A’llāmah Kāsāni, the author of Badā`i’ al-Ṣanā`i’, reconciles between the two views, putting it down to a difference in wording. The word nafl means extra, and anything other than the farḍ are extra. Therefore, Imām Muḥammad coining Ṣalāt al-Kusūf as nafl, does not really indicate a difference in ruling. It is like the example when he terms the qiyām of Ramaḍān (tarāwīh) as nafl, in actual fact it is a sunnah muakkadah, which is in meaning considered to be wājib.
A’llāmah b. Ḥumām states in Fatḥ al-Qadīr that Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is sunnah without ikhtilāf between jamhūr, whilst some have said it is wājib (as mentioned above).
How to pray ṣalāt al-Kusūf according to the Aḥnāf
Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is similar to the ṣalāh of ‘Id, and Istisqā (seeking water) in that there is no adhān, no iqāmah, and no khuṭbah. Ṣalāt al-Kusūf should be prayed like a normal ṣalāh, with one rukū’’ per rakā’ah.
Number of rakā’ah in Ṣalāt al-Kusūf according to Aḥnāf
The Aḥnāf hold that Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is similar to normal ṣalāh, in that every rakā’ah comprises of one rukū’’ and two sajdah.
They bring the ḥadīth of Abī Bakra:
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مَعْمَرٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَارِثِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يُونُسُ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ، قَالَ خَسَفَتِ الشَّمْسُ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلىالله عليه وسلم فَخَرَجَ يَجُرُّ رِدَاءَهُ حَتَّى انْتَهَى إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ، وَثَابَ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِ فَصَلَّى بِهِمْ رَكْعَتَيْنِ، فَانْجَلَتِ الشَّمْسُ فَقَالَ “ إِنَّ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ آيَتَانِ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ، وَإِنَّهُمَا لاَ يَخْسِفَانِ لِمَوْتِ أَحَدٍ، وَإِذَا كَانَ ذَاكَ فَصَلُّوا وَادْعُوا حَتَّى يُكْشَفَ مَا بِكُمْ ”. وَذَاكَ أَنَّ ابْنًا لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مَاتَ، يُقَالُ لَهُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ، فَقَالَ النَّاسُ فِي ذَاكَ
In the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) the sun eclipsed and he went out dragging his clothes until he reached the Mosque. The people gathered around him and he led them and offered two rak`at. When the sun (eclipse) cleared, he said, “The sun and the moon are two signs amongst the signs of Allah; they do not eclipse because of the death of someone, and so when an eclipse occurs, pray and invoke Allah till the eclipse is over.” It happened that the son of the Prophet ﷺ called Ibrahim died on that day and the people were talking about that (saying that the eclipse was caused by his death).[3]
The different narrations by ‘Abdullāh b. ‘Umar, Nu’man b. Bashīr, Abū Bakra[4], and Samurah b. Jundub show that the Prophet ﷺ prayed two rakā’ah like normal ṣalāh for Ṣalāt al-Kusūf.[5]
Number of Rakat in Ṣalāt al-Kusūf according to Shawāfi”
According to the Shawāfi” Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is two rakā’ah, however they opine that each rakā’ah comprises of two rukū’, two standings (qawmah) and two sajdah.
Therefore, according to the Shawāfi’ there are four rukū’ in Ṣalāt al-Kusūf. They bring aḥādīth narrated by ‘Ā`isha[6] and ‘Abdullāh b. ‘‘Abbās[7] as evidence[8].
Many of the narrations, which the Shawāfi’ bring as evidence, are similar to the one below;
انْخَسَفَتِ الشَّمْسُ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَصَلَّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، فَقَامَ قِيَامًا طَوِيلاً نَحْوًا مِنْ قِرَاءَةِ سُورَةِ الْبَقَرَةِ، ثُمَّ رَكَعَ رُكُوعًا طَوِيلاً، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ فَقَامَ قِيَامًا طَوِيلاً، وَهْوَ دُونَ الْقِيَامِ الأَوَّلِ، ثُمَّ رَكَعَ رُكُوعًا طَوِيلاً، وَهْوَ دُونَ الرُّكُوعِ الأَوَّلِ، ثُمَّ سَجَدَ، ثُمَّ قَامَ قِيَامًا طَوِيلاً وَهْوَ دُونَ الْقِيَامِ الأَوَّلِ، ثُمَّ رَكَعَ رُكُوعًا طَوِيلاً، وَهْوَ دُونَ الرُّكُوعِ الأَوَّلِ، ثُمَّ رَفَعَ فَقَامَ قِيَامًا طَوِيلاً، وَهْوَ دُونَ الْقِيَامِ الأَوَّلِ، ثُمَّ رَكَعَ رُكُوعًا طَوِيلاً، وَهْوَ دُونَ الرُّكُوعِ الأَوَّلِ، ثُمَّ سَجَدَ، ثُمَّ انْصَرَفَ وَقَدْ تَجَلَّتِ الشَّمْسُ
The sun eclipsed in the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) offered the eclipse prayer and stood for a long period equal to the period in which one could recite Surat-al-Baqara. Then he bowed for a long time and then stood up for a long period which was shorter than that of the first standing, then bowed again for a long time but for a shorter period than the first; then he prostrated twice and then stood up for a long period which was shorter than that of the first standing; then he bowed for a long time which was shorter than the previous one, and then he raised his head and stood up for a long period which was shorter than the first standing, then he bowed for a long time which was shorter than the first bowing, and then prostrated (twice) and finished the prayer. By then, the sun (eclipse) had cleared.[9]
How do the Aḥnāf reconcile between the differing narrations?
It is important to note that many of the ḥadīth differ in the number of rakā’ah. These are some of the differing narrations mentioned in Muslim.
According to the Ḥanābila one should pray two rukū for every rakā’ah. They permit three, or four (or five) rukū for every rakā’ah.[13]
As there are differing narrations with regards to the number of rukū’, even between that of ‘Ā`isha and Ibn ‘‘Abbās, the Aḥnāf hold that it is better to resort to the default i.e., how we normally pray ṣalāh that is two rakā’ah, with two rukū’ and two sajdah.
Furthermore, we know that the Prophet ﷺ prolonged this prayer, much more than normal ṣalāh. Therefore, it is possible that when the Prophet ﷺ was in prostration, the people of the first row may have thought that the Prophet ﷺ had raised his head, and therefore they raised their heads to check. When they realised that this was not the case, they returned to their rukū. Then when the Prophet ﷺ rose from rukū, the people in the first row also rose from rukū. Therefore, those in the first row knew that the Prophet ﷺ has done one rukū, however to those in the rows behind it may have seemed liked those in the front row did two rukū’ (or more).
Furthermore, the narrations of differing numbers of raka’at mainly come from narrations through ‘Ā`isha and Ibn ‘Abbās. Therefore ‘Ā`isha would have been standing in the row of ladies at the back, and Ibn ‘Abbās at that time was a child and would therefore have been in the row of children behind the men. Thus, it is possible they narrated the incident as it occurred to them, although as explained above this may not have been the reality.
Ṣalāt al-Kusūf is to be prayed silently according to the Aḥnāf
As for Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, he holds that the prayer should be read silently for ṣalāt al-Kusūf. Imām Abū Yūsuf holds that it should be read aloud. According to most narrations, Imām Muḥammad’s view is the same as Imām Abū Ḥanīfah.
Those who are of the opinion that Ṣalāt al-Kusūf should be prayed loudly bring the ḥadīth of ‘Ā`isha;
عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ جَهَرَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي صَلاَةِ الْخُسُوفِ بِقِرَاءَتِهِ
The Prophet (p.b.u.h) recited (the Quran) aloud during the eclipse prayer.[14]
Those who are of the opinion that Ṣalāt al-Kusūf should be prayed silently bring the ḥadīth of Samurah b. Jundub[15], that the Prophet ﷺ prayed silently;
أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الأَسْوَدِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّادٍ، – رَجُلٌ مِنْ بَنِي عَبْدِ الْقَيْسِ – عَنْ سَمُرَةَ، . أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم صَلَّى بِهِمْ فِي كُسُوفِ الشَّمْسِ لاَ نَسْمَعُ لَهُ صَوْتًا
The Prophet ﷺ led them in prayer during an eclipse of the sun, and we did not hear him say anything.[16]
Furthermore, it is also narrated by Ibn ‘Abbās that he did not hear the Prophet ﷺ. As there are differing narrations, we may resort to the default, which is that prayers of the day are to be prayed silently. It is possible that some parts of the ṣalāh may have been recited loudly, as the Prophet ﷺwould sometimes recite one or two verses loudly even during day prayers.
There is no iqama for ṣalāt al-Kusūf
There is no Adhān or Iqāmah for ṣalāt al-Kusūf (nor for Khusūf), as these are only specified for the ordained ṣalāh. Rather it should be called out “al-Ṣalāta jāmi’athan”[17].
No khutbah according to the Aḥnāf
According to the Aḥnāf there is no khuṭbah for ṣalāt al-Kusūf (nor for Khusūf).
According to the Shawāfi” there are two khuṭbah for ṣalāt al-Kusūf[18]. They support this with the ḥadīth of ‘Ā`isha as found in Bukhāri under the heading of chapter 4 in kitāb al-Kusūf, entitled “A Khuṭbah (delivered) by the Imām on the eclipse”, as well as the narration of Asmā also found in Bukhāri, Kitāb al-Kusūf, chapter 16 entitled “The saying of ‘Ammā ba’du during the Khuṭbah of the eclipse”.
The Aḥnāf say that this was not a khuṭbah as such, rather it was only a few words necessary to reject the statement of people, that the eclipse happened due to the death of his son, Ibrāhīm.
Du’ā`
After completing the ṣalāh the imām has a choice to do the du’ā` facing the qibla either standing or sitting, or he may face the people and do du’ā`, and Ḥulwāni says this is best. The people should say āmīn to the du’ā`until the sun has completed its eclipse.
Ṣalāt al-Kusūf should be prayed in Jamā’ah
There is consensus that the ṣalāh of Kusūf should be prayed in jamā’ah as the Prophet ﷺ done so. It should be prayed in the masjid jāmi’ (where jumu’ah is held) or where Eid prayers take place. The ṣalāh should be led by the normal imām for salatul Jumu’ah.
When to pray ṣalāt al-Kusūf
Ṣalāt al-Kusūf should be prayed during the times in which ṣalāh are normally prayed. Ṣalāt al-Kusūf (or Khusūf) should not be prayed during
[1] Quran 5:89
[2] Sahih al-Bukhari 1041
[3] Sahih al-Bukhari 1063
[4] Sahih al-Bukhari 1040
[5] Cf. Badā`i’ al-Ṣanā`i’
[6] Bukhari; 1044, 1046, 1047, 1049, 1050, 1055, 1056, 1058, 1064, 1065, 1066. Muslim; 901a, 901c, 901d, 901e, 902a
[7] Muslim 907a
[8] As well as others.
[9] Sahih al-Bukhari 1052
[10] Muslim 901f
[11] Muslim 901g, 904c
[12] Muslim 908
[13] Zaad al-Mustaqni
[14] Sahih al-Bukhari 1065, 1066
[15] Sunan Abi Dawud 1184 and others
[16] Sunan an-Nasa’i 1495
[17] Nūr al-Īḍāh
[18] Umdat al-Saalik
