08/27/2026
-Announcement
*Partial Lunar Eclipse over North America on August 27-28, 2026*
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
There will be a partial *lunar eclipse* that will be visible over North America on *Thursday* and *Friday*, _August 27-28_, 2026, wherein *Salat al-Ayat* is obligatory (wajib).
To see *when* the Lunar eclipse will occur in your respective area, please *use this link* and enter your city in the “search for city” box:
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/cleveland?iso=20260828
In *Cleveland*, the _Lunar Eclipse_ will *begin on Thu, Aug 27, 2026 at 9:23 pm* and will *end on Fri, Aug 28, 2026 at 3:01 am*.
*Religious obligation:*
During a solar or lunar eclipse, it is obligatory (wajib) to perform a special prayer called Salat al-Ayaat. The prayer becomes wajib even if the moon or the sun are partially eclipsed, and even if they do not engender any fear.
The time of Salat al-Ayaat sets in as the eclipse starts and remains until the eclipse is over. It is better, however, not to delay the prayer until the reversal of the eclipse commences, although it may be possible that the completion of Salat al-Ayaat may coincide with the time of reversal.
Note, that Salat al-Ayaat is not required upon a woman who is in her me**es (haydh) or postpartum bleeding (nifas), nor would she be required to make up the prayer (qadha). *How to perform the prayer of “al-Ayaat,”*
a two-unit (Rakah) prayer with five Ruku in each unit:
1. Make the intention (Niyyah) of offering the prayer as “Salat al-Ayaat.”
2. One should say Takbir: “Allahu Akbar”
3. Recite Surat al-Fatiha and any other Surah*
4. Then perform Ruku.
5. After Ruku, then stand and recite Surat al-Fatiha and any other Surah and then perform another Ruku.
6. One should repeat this action (steps 3 & 4) five times, and when one stands after the fifth Ruku, one should then proceed to perform the two Sajdah (as in the normal Fajr prayer). Then stand up to perform the second Rakah in the same manner as was done in the first Rakah (with the five Ruku).
7. After performing the second set of Sajdah, one should recite Tashahhud and end the prayer with Salam to complete it.
