Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque clarified that the inability to see the lunar eclipse due to clouds was the reason for not offering eclipse prayers at the Two Holy Mosques on Saturday night.

The presidency attributed this to the Tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that linked offering the eclipse prayer to the sight of the eclipse. It quoted the Prophet’s (PBUH) saying as narrated by Ibn Majah: “The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death of one of the people. So if you see them, stand up and offer prayer.” In another Hadith, narrated by Ibn Omar, the Prophet said: “The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of the death or life (birth) of someone but they are two signs amongst the signs of Allah. When you see them offer the prayer.”

In a statement on its official X account, the presidency said that the Islamic jurists and scholars have emphasized this fact with regard to eclipse prayers. It is noteworthy that a partial lunar eclipse happened in Saudi Arabia for an hour and 17 minutes between 10:35 pm and 11:52 pm on Saturday but it was not visible because of the cloudy atmosphere. Most regions of Saudi Arabia experienced moderate to heavy rain on Saturday.