Salat - The Muslim Prayer Book — Page 92
92 S al a t —The Muslim Prayer Book Companions of the Holy Prophet sa. Tar a v ih Prayer consists of eight Rak‘ a t , but one can offer as many as twenty or more Rak‘ a t if one wants to. It seems appropriate to take a little rest each time after offering four Rak‘ a t. PRAYER WHEN SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES OCCUR The solar eclipse is called Kus u f and the lunar eclipse is called Khus u f. This visual change in the heavenly bodies reminds the faithful that just as the sun and the moon appear to have lost their light to a considerable extent during the eclipses, so can various kinds of spiritual ills result in a reduction of the spiritual light that illuminates the believer’s heart. Only God’s mercy can protect one from such a spiritual eclipse. Hence a two Rak‘ a t Prayer is precribed on the occasion of solar or lunar eclipses as a reminder to believers that they should seek God’s blessings and God’s mercy if they want to scale spiritual heights. The inhabitants of a town or city offer two Rak‘ a t in congregation, either in a mosque or outside in the open. S u rah Al-F a ti h ah and long passages from the Holy Quran should be recited aloud in this Prayer. In every Rak‘at , two Ruk u‘ are performed. After the recitation of some passages of the Holy Quran, a Ruk u‘ should be performed, then the Im a m should go back in Qiy a m position and recite some other passages from the Quran and then go into Ruk u‘ for the second time. Some Traditions even tell us that the