Sun & Moon Eclipses

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Solar/Lunar Eclipses in 2010 & 2011

Eclipse Click Here Type Max. @ Region of Eclipse Visibility
Solar 2010 Jan 15 Annular 7:06 UT e Africa, Middle East, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia
Lunar 2010 Jun 26 Penumbral 11:38 UT Americas, Pacific, Middle East, India, China, Japan, and Australia,
Solar 2010 Jul 11 Total 19:33 UT South Pacific and Chile
Lunar 2010 Dec 21 Total 8:17 UT Americas, Europe, w. Africa, Far East, Australia
Solar 2011 Jan 4 Partial 8:50 UT Middle East, Northern Africa
Solar 2011 Jun 1 Partial 21:16 UT Northern Canada, Northern Russia
Lunar 2011 Jun 15 Total 20:14 UT Every continent except Central and North America
Solar 2011 Jul 1 Partial 8:38 UT Indian Ocean near Antarctica
Solar 2011 Nov 25 Partial 6:20 UT Southern regions of Pacific, Atlantic & Indian Oceans near Antarctica
Lunar 2011 Dec 10 Total 14:33 UT Middle East, Europe, Central and North America

Lunar & Solar Eclipses in Ramadan

For Ahmadiyyah Claim of 2 Eclipses in Ramadan, Click Here
Type of Eclipse Click Here Type Max. @ Region of Eclipse Visibility
Lunar in Mid Ramadan 1423 2002 Nov 20 Penumbral 1:02 UT Americas, Europe & Africa
Solar at End Ramadan 1423 2002 Dec 4 Total 7:31 UT Australia, Indonesia, S. Africa
Lunar in Mid Ramadan 1424 2003 Nov 9 Total 0:57 UT Atlantic ocean
Solar at End Ramadan 1424 2003 Nov 23 Total 22:50 UT W.Australia, Tip of South America
Lunar in Mid Ramadan 1445 2024 Mar 25 Penumbral 7:13 UT N. & S. America only
Solar at End Ramadan 1445 2024 Apr 8 Total 18:17 UT North America & Hawaii
Lunar in Mid Ramadan 1446 2025 Mar 14 Total 6:59 UT Americas, Europe, Africa
Solar at End Ramadan 1446 2025 Mar 29 Partial 10:47 UT West Europe, N.W.Africa

Qur'an & Hadith on Eclipses

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Sun & Moon Eclipses

Qur'an does not mention eclipses. However, numerous Ahadith mentioned eclipses, e.g.,

Narrated Al Mughira bin Shuba (Sahih Al-Bokhari)

The sun eclipsed in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle on the day when (his son) Ibrahim died. So the people said
that the sun had eclipsed because of the death of Ibrahim. Allah's Apostle said, "The sun and the moon do
not eclipse because of the death or life (i.e. birth) of someone. When you see the eclipse pray and invoke Allah."

Narrated Abu Masud, also Ibn Umar (Sahih Al-Bokhari)

The Prophet 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."

Some people, basically Qadianis (Ahmadiyya), mention another Hadith: "Amr bin Shimr narrates from Jabir
who told him that Muhammad bin Ali said that for our Mehdi, two signs are given which never occurred in the
past from the creation of the heavens and the earth. One is that a lunar eclipse will occur on the first night
of Ramadan and the second sign is that a solar eclipse will occur in the middle of Ramadan and these signs
had never happened from the creation of the heavens and the earth (Dar Qutni)."

ATTENTION:
1. The 3rd narration mentioned above is definitely not the saying of the Messenger (SAW), as the narrator
clearly assigns it as the saying of Imam Muhammad Baqir bin Ali which was written in the book of Dar
Qutni. Attributing this to Imam Muhammad Baqir is also wrong as the first narrator mentioned was
Muhammad bin Ali not Imam Baqir. There were several narrators by the name Muhammad bin Ali and there is
no proof or reason to believe that this person is Imam Baqir. Moreover, Imam Baqir was born 47 years after
the death of the Messenger (SAW), and for a narration to be a Hadith, it must have chains of narration going
. .
back to the Messenger (SAW). This narration clearly does not go back to Messenger (SAW).

2. "According to its authenticity, this saying attributed to Imam Baqir is extremely weak, outcast, and
rejected. Looking at the chain of narration, the second narrator is Amr bin Shimr who has been labeled
(in Meezanul-E'tidaal P262) as the big liar, a narrator of weak and fabricated Ahadith, a non-believer of Hadith,
a person who uses abusive words for the companions of the Messenger (SAW), the Sahabah (Razi-Allahu
unhum ajmaeen), and according to Ilm-ul-Hadith, his narration is not written as Hadith." These are the words
of Allamah Shamsuddin Dhahbi (Rahmatullah Alayhe) who was an expert of the Funn-e-Rijaal, art of
Men Narrators. Thus, it is clear that this narrator is absolutely not reliable nor trustworthy. So, to present
this narration as a Hadith of Rasool (SAW) is not only a great false accusation and a lie but according
to Hadith-e-Sahih (agreed upon Hadith, which says, "Whoever lies upon me deliberately and knowingly
should know that he has made his abode in Jahannam"), it is making an abode in the Hell fire.

The third narrator is Jabir. There were several narrators by this name, and which Jabir is mentioned here
is unknown; someone by this name was known to be a person of unknown parentage or lineage. One among
the persons with the name Jabir was Jabir Ja'fi, who was described by Imam Abu-Hanifah (Rahmatullah Alayhe)
as "among the liars that I met, no one was bigger liar than Jabir Ja'fi." Remember, that Imam Abu-Hanifah,
Imam Baqir, Jabir Ja'fai, and Amr bin Shimr were all born after 47 to 80 years after the death of the
Messenger (SAW).

None of the narrators mentioned that they heard this from Sahabah or Rasool (SAW), and the authenticity of
these narrators is extremely questionable. Now you can tell, how can such narration be labelled as Hadith, and
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Sun & Moon Eclipses

how can it be worth any discussion and argument.

Read more on this.
.
Solar eclipse only occurs at New Moon, when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and
the Moon's shadow sweeps across a portion of Earth's surface and an eclipse of the Sun is seen from
that region. Solar eclipses are two to five per year, but the ground covered by totality is only a band of
about 30 miles wide, length being that portion of the globe which is under the moon's shadow.

Lunar eclipse only occurs at full Moon, when the earth passes between the Sun and Moon and
the Earth's shadow sweeps across a portion of Moon's surface and an eclipse of the Moon is seen.
Lunar eclipses are less frequent that solar, and at any given location could be zero to three per year.
Total lunar eclipses are visible everywhere that it is night time as the event takes place - essentially over
half the globe.

Thus, the closest time between solar and lunar eclipse is 2 weeks. Solar eclipse always occurs at the end
of an Islamic month. Lunar eclipse always occurs in the middle of an Islamic month.

At solar eclipse the sun is partially or totally blocked by the moon. Some people are confused with
this phenomenon that the moon surface is seen, and the Islamic month has begun. There is a big
difference in seeing this dark circle blocking the sun and the visible Crescent that marks the beginning of
an Islamic month.

Let me emphasize that a solar eclipse is the proof of disappearance of the moon and does not mark
the beginning of a month. Few years ago Sheikh Ali Al-Tantawi, the Mufti of Egypt at that time, also said
the same thing when the eclipse occurred in Saudi Arabia, and he said in a fatwa that this was a proof of
the disappearance of moon and it is not Hilal nor should it be taken as a Hilal.

An interesting story of lunar eclipse is related to Columbus, the sailor when one of his ships was
damaged and he stranded all his ships and crew in Jamaica (caribbeans). In the beginning the crew
traded things for food with the natives, but later, the natives became annoyed with some of the
less respectful sailors, and refused to deal with Columbus. Columbus and his crew faced starvation.
That's when Columbus used his astronomy knowledge of precalculated lunar eclipse on February 29,
1504. He told them that he would remove the moon from the sky if they would not cooperate with him.
The natives at first did not believe him. Then the full moon rose a blood red, then it began to dim.
The natives worried. The moon got very dim; the natives got very worried. Then the moon disappeared.
The natives were in a panic and pleaded with Columbus. Columbus knew precisely when the moon
would reappear. He agreed to bring back the moon in due time, if they agreed to give him food. The
natives agreed, and were awash with relief when the moon reappeared. Columbus saved himself and
his crew from starvation.

Date of death of Ibrahim (son of our beloved prophet, peace be upon him)

Sun Eclipse also occurred at Prophet's time when (his son) Ibrahim died. It was recorded in history that
it was Jan 27, 632 CE (Monday), details of this eclipse. It was the 29th of Shawwal,
while Dhul-Qi'dah 1, 10AH was on Jan 29, 632 CE (Wednesday). Dhul-Qi'dah was of 29 days also
and Dhul-Hijjah 1, 10AH was on Feb 27, 632 CE (Thursday), such that Hajj-e-Nabavi fell on Friday, March
6, 632 CE. This also proves that sun eclipse cannot be taken as the beginning of a month.

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Sun & Moon Eclipses

All the solar eclipses that could be noticeable in Arabia during the prophethood of Muhammad (peace
be upon him) are listed below (For details of any eclipse, click on it):

Sun-Eclipse visible while Prophet was in Makkah:

(Islamic date unknown because of undocumented practice of Nasi')

1. July 23, 613 CE (Monday) - Around 10 am Local Time

2. May 21, 616 CE (Friday) - Around 10 am Local Time
3. November 4, 617 CE (Friday) - Around 11 am Local Time
4. September 2, 620 CE (Tuesday) - Around 10 am Local Time

Sun-Eclipse visible while Prophet was in Medinah:

5. April 21, 627 CE (Tuesday) - Dhul-Qi'dah 29, 5 AH - Around 11 am Local Time

6. January 27, 632 CE (Monday) - Shawwal 29, 10 AH - Around 10 am Local Time

Extreme care must be taken when watching the solar eclipse. You should visit a web site
which discusses a number of ways to Safely View the Eclipse.

At solar eclipse, congregational prayers (2 Rak'aat) should be performed as done by the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). According to Hadith, the Prophet performed 2 long Rak'aat in
congregation (Qir'at loudly) when solar eclipse occured, and individual prayers are encouraged (at least
2 Rak'aat) when lunar eclipse occurred. If congregational prayers are done at lunar eclipse, then
Qir'at should be done silently.

Top Updated November 8, 2010 Copyright © moonsighting.com

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