Total Lunar Eclipse Thursday March 13, 2025
Total Lunar Eclipse
Salaam Alaikum,
In Minneapolis the Total Lunar Eclipse is expected on Thursday, March 13th starting at 10:57 PM and ending Friday March 14th at 5:00 AM.
Message from Sayyid Muntadher
The partial eclipse will start at 12:09 and conclude at 3:47, with the full eclipse occurring during this time. So one should offer their prayer of Ayaat between 12:10 AM and 3:46 AM. The penumbral eclipse may be hard to notice or could cause a section of the moon to appear dimmer than usual, while the entire disc will remain visible.
Click the link below to see Sayyid Muntadher's demo video on how to pray Salaatul Ayaat. In addition, detailed instructions are listed below.
Watch: How to pray Salaatul Ayaat
Salaatul Ayaat
The time of Salaatul Ayaat sets in as the eclipse starts, and remains till the eclipse is over. It is better, however, not to delay till the reversal of eclipse commences, though completion of Salaatul Ayaat may coincide with the time of reversal.
If a person delays offering of Salaatul Ayaat till the sun or the moon starts coming out of eclipse, the niyyat of Ada (i.e. praying within time) will be in order, but if he offers the prayers after the eclipse is over, he should make a niyyat of qadha.
Salaatul Ayaat consists of two Rak'ats, and there are five Ruku in each.
There are two methods for Salaatul Ayaat that one can follow, a longer and shorter method. Please find both below:
Longer Method: After making niyyat of offering the prayers, one should say takbir (Allahu Akbar) and recite Surah al-Hamd and the other Surah, and then perform the Ruku. Thereafter, he should stand and recite Surah al-Hamd and a Surah and then perform another Ruku. He should repeat this action five times, and, when he stands after the fifth Ruku, he should perform two Sajdah, and then stand up to perform the second Rak'at in the same manner as he has done in the first. Then he should recite tashahhud and Salam.
Shorter Method: After one has made the intention [of performing the prayer], he says takbr and recites Srat al-amd; 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 bismillh [on its own and count that as one verse]. Then, he goes into ruk, raises his head, and without reciting Srat al-amd he recites the second part of the other surah. He then goes into ruk again, and so on until he completes the other surah before he goes into the fifth ruk. He then stands up, performs two sajdahs, and then proceeds to perform the second rakah in the same way as the first. And after the second sajdah [of the second rakah], he says tashahhud and the salm of the prayer
With Duas, \