A Partial Solar Eclipse Will Put On a Show, How to Perform Ṣalāt al-Āyāt

A partial solar eclipse will be visible from Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The eclipse will become visible first in Reykjavik, Iceland, at 8:58 a.m. local time; where the sun will eventually be about 20 percent covered (sunrise is at 8:30 a.m.). By 11 a.m. in London, the moon will block 15 percent of the sun. The shadow will be peak around 4 p.m. in Chelyabinsk in Russia’s southern Ural region, which is expected to get 79 percent coverage, before waning in New Delhi at 5:30 p.m. with 44 percent coverage.

Eclipse will be much more visible further east, in Russia’s Western Siberian Plain

The eclipse will be much more visible further east, where in Russia’s Western Siberian Plain, near the city of Nizhnevartovsk, onlookers will be able to see the moon block out 86.2% of the sun around the time our solar companion is setting in the sky. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe and eastern Asia, such as Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Northwest India, the sun’s surface will be more than 60% covered by the moon. Iceland, Germany, eastern France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and southwest India will see a predicted eclipse of around 40%.

How does a solar eclipse work?

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks the sun either in part or in totality, as seen from Earth. As the moon makes its orbit around Earth, and as Earth orbits around the sun, the moon gets caught in the middle and casts a shadow on Earth. Anyone standing in that shadow will be able to see the solar eclipse.

Solar eclipse will begin in the U.K. at 10:08 A.M

The solar eclipse will begin in the U.K. at 10:08 a.m. BST (9:08 a.m. UTC), when the moon’s silhouette will slowly pass over the sun’s top left side, reaching a maximum at 10:59 a.m., at which point 15% of the sun’s surface will be obscured.

Solar eclipse in Middle East

The Middle East will witness a solar eclipse, Tuesday, October 25, 2022, which will be visible in Arab countries except for Morocco and Mauritani. Mosques and religious sites in Islamic countries host special prayers called ‘Al-Ayat’ during solar or lunar eclipses.

Solar eclipse in UAE will approximately cover 39.09 percent of sun

UAE residents have been urged to exercise due caution while viewing the second partial solar eclipse of the year tomorrow – Tuesday, October 25 – as exposure to the celestial spectacle with the naked eye can be harmful, Dubai Astronomy Group CEO Hasan Al Hariri has said.

Speaking to Gulf News, Al Hariri said, “The partial solar eclipse visible in UAE will approximately cover 39.09 per cent of the sun. It will last for a duration of over two hours starting from 2.41pm and ending at 4.54pm. It will peak at 3.51pm.”

In Dubai, the prayer will be offered after Asr on Tuesday as the partial eclipse peaks.

Oman’s people to witness eclipse

Oman’s sky too will witness a partial solar eclipse in a number of wilayats. The total duration of the partial solar eclipse is 127 minutes between 2.50 pm to 5.00 pm on Tuesday.

The astronomer Youssef Al-Salmi said that the solar eclipse will include most of the northern governorates of the Sultanate and it will be more in the Musandam Governorate.

A partial solar eclipse means less than 30% of the Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon when viewed from the Sultanate. The maximum eclipse is scheduled to take place here at 3:57pm. The eclipse will end with the day’s sunset.

The Omani Astronomical Society, in cooperation with the Department of Astronomical Affairs at the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and others, will organize events for the general public to witness the eclipse.

Method of performing ṣalāt al-āyāt 

Ṣalāt al-āyāt consists of two rakʿahs, and in each rakʿah there are five rukūʿs. The method of performing the prayer is as follows: after one has made the intention [of performing the prayer], he says takbīr, recites one Sūrat al-Ḥamd and one other complete surah, goes into rukūʿ, and then raises his head from rukūʿ; then, he again recites one Sūrat al-Ḥamd and one other complete surah, goes into rukūʿ again, and so on until he has done this a total of five times. After getting up from the fifth rukūʿ, he performs two sajdahs, stands up, and proceeds to perform the second rakʿah in the same way as the first; he then says tashahhud and the salām of the prayer.

A shorter method of performing ṣalāt al-āyāt is as follows:] after one has made the intention [of performing the prayer], he says takbīr and recites Sūrat al-Ḥamd; 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 bismillāh [on its own and count that as one verse]. Then, he goes into rukūʿ, raises his head, and without reciting Sūrat al-Ḥamd he recites the second part of the other surah. He then goes into rukūʿ again, and so on until he completes the other surah before he goes into the fifth rukūʿ.

Source:Shafaqna