Dear Muminin,
Salamun alaykum,
When:
A partial lunar eclipse will occur on Tuesday 16th July, 2019. Some of the regions where the phases of this partial lunar eclipse will be visible include over much of Europe, Much of Asia, Australia, Africa and South /East North America.
What is it:
A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves between the Sun and the full Moon, but the three celestial bodies do not form a straight line in space. When that happens, a small part of the full Moon's visible surface is not seen as it is covered by the darkest, central part of the Earth's shadow.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/partial-lunar-eclipse.html
What time:
The Portsmouth (U.K.) timings for the whole eclipse on Tuesday 16th July, 2019
are as follows:
Time for Moon rise: 21:06.
19:43:51 - Penumbral eclipse begins. The Moon will start to enter the Earth’s area of partial shadow (penumbra) and start to darken
21:01:43 – Partial eclipse begins. The Moon will start to enter the Earth’s area of full shadow (umbra) and will darken considerably.*
22:30:44 - Maximum Eclipse occurs. This is when the Moon is closest to the centre of the Earth’s area of full shadow (umbra)
23:59:39 – Partial eclipse ends. The Moon leaves the Earth’s area of full shadow (umbra), and will have lost its dark colour. One side of the Moon will start to get lighter. Salat al-ayat WAJIB time ends.
Wednesday 17th July, 2019: 01:17:38 - Penumbral eclipse ends.
All times shown in local UK (BST) time.
*Note: In the UK, the moon is below the horizon some of the time, so that part of eclipse will be ongoing and is not visible. As a result, weather permitting, you will be able to see the partial eclipse after the Moon rise from 21:06 (9:06 pm), up to the end of the eclipse. Salat al-ayat becomes WAJIB from this time
For more details and animation on how the Eclipse will look at your locality visit: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2019-july-16
Your obligation:It is Wajib to pray Salat al-Ayat during the eclipse, preferably between 9:06 pm to 11:59 pm on Tuesday 16th July, 2019.
Related rules for Salat al-Ayaat :
The rules and method of Salat al-Ayaat is given in Ayatullah Seestani’s Risala: Islamic Laws, Ruling Nos: 1473 to 1494. (3rd Edition published by WFED.).
- When a phenomenon occurs for which salat al-ayat is obligatory, only the people of the area in which the phenomenon occurred must perform salat al-ayat. It is not obligatory on people in other areas.
- The time for performing salat al-ayat for a solar or a lunar eclipse commences from the moment the eclipse begins, and it continues until the sun or the moon goes back to its normal state (although it is better not to delay the prayer until the eclipse starts to reverse). However, completing salat al-ayat can be delayed until after the eclipse is over.
1478. If a person does not know about occurrence of an eclipse and after the eclipse is over he realizes that there was a total eclipse, he must make up the salat al-ayat. However, if he realizes that it was a partial eclipse, then making it up is not obligatory on him.
- Salat al-ayat consists of two Rak'ahs, and in each rak’ah there are five Rukus. The method of performing the prayer is as follows: After one has made the intention [ofperforming the prayer] he says takbir, recites one Surat al-Hamd and one other complete surah, goes into ruku, and then raises his head from ruku; then he again recites one Surat al-Hamd and one other complete surah, goes into ruku again, and so on until he has done this a total of five times. After getting up from the fifth Ruku, he performs two Sajdahs, stands up, and proceeds to perform the second Rak'ah in the same way as the first; he then says tashahhud and the salam of the prayers.
- A shorter method of performing Salat al-Ayat is as follows:
After one has made the intention [of offering the prayer] he says takbir and recites Surat al-Hamd; then, he can divide the verses of the other Surah into five parts, and recite one verse or more or even less, provided that-based on obligatory precaution- it is a complete sentence. He must start from the beginning of the surah and must not suffice with reciting bismillah [on its own and count that as one verse]. Then, he goes into Ruku, raises his head, and without reciting Surat al-Hamd he recites the second part of the other surah. He then goes into ruku again, and so on until he completes the other sura before he goes into the fifth Ruku. For example, if the other surah is Surat al-Falaq, he first says: Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim Qul a’udhu bi rabbil falaq, and goes into Ruku [for the first time];he then stands up and says: Min sharri ma khalaq, and goes into Ruku again [for the second time];he then stands up and says: Wa min sharri ghaasiqin idha waqab, and goes into Ruku again [for the third time]; he then stands up and says : Wa min sharrin naffathaati fil uqad, and goes into Ruku again [for the fourth time]; he then stands up and says: Wa min sharri haasidin idha hasad, and goes into Ruku for the fifth time. He then stands up, performs two Sajdahs and then proceeds to perform the second Rak'ah, in the same way as the first. And after the second sajdah [of the second rak’ah] he says tashahhud and the salam of the prayer. Furthermore, it is permitted for one to divide a Surah into less than five parts, but whenever he completes the surah, it is necessary that he recites Surat al-Hamd before performing the next Ruku.
- There is no problem if a person recites Surat al-Hamd and the other sura five times in one rak’ah of Salat al-Ayat, and in the other rak’ah he recites one Surat al-Hamd and divides the other Surah into five parts.
- Those things which are obligatory and recommended in the daily prayers are also obligatory and recommended in Salat al-Ayat. However, if Salat al-Ayat is performed in congregation, one can say'As-salaah' three times instead of Adhan and Iqamah with the intention of raja; this does not apply if the prayer is not performed in congregation. The legality for performing Salat al-Ayat in congregation for phenomena other than solar or lunar eclipses is not established [i.e. it must not be performed in congregation for other than these phenomena].
- It is recommended that one says takbir before and after Ruku, but saying takbir after the fifth and tenth Ruku is not recommended; rather it is recommended that one saysSami'allahu liman hamidah.
- It is recommended that one performs qunut before the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth Ruku; and if one performs qunut after only the tenth Ruku, it is sufficient.
Iltimasi dua.
Shukran
With salams and duas,
Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat