Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 913 a
sahih

'Abd al-Rahman b. Samura said:

During the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) I was shooting my arrows in Medina, when an eclipse of the sun took place. I, therefore, threw them away and said, I must see how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) acts in a solar eclipse today. When I came to him, he had been supplicating with his hands, raised, pronouncing Allah-o-Akbar, praising Him, acknowledging that He is One God till the eclipse was over, then he recited two surahs and prayed two rak'ahs.

وَحَدَّثَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ الْقَوَارِيرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ الْمُفَضَّلِ، حَدَّثَنَا الْجُرَيْرِيُّ، عَنْ أَبِي الْعَلاَءِ، حَيَّانَ بْنِ عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ، قَالَ بَيْنَمَا أَنَا أَرْمِي، بِأَسْهُمِي فِي حَيَاةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذِ انْكَسَفَتِ الشَّمْسُ فَنَبَذْتُهُنَّ وَقُلْتُ لأَنْظُرَنَّ إِلَى مَا يَحْدُثُ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي انْكِسَافِ الشَّمْسِ الْيَوْمَ فَانْتَهَيْتُ إِلَيْهِ وَهُوَ رَافِعٌ يَدَيْهِ يَدْعُو وَيُكَبِّرُ وَيَحْمَدُ وَيُهَلِّلُ حَتَّى جُلِّيَ عَنِ الشَّمْسِ فَقَرَأَ سُورَتَيْنِ وَرَكَعَ رَكْعَتَيْنِ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 10, Hadith 27
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 4, Hadith 1991 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The sun and the moon are two of Allah's great signs. Their rotation and their succession denote the perfection of Allah's making. The occurrence of lunar and solar eclipses entails fear of their obliteration and the occurrence of the Day of Judgment, which necessitates returning to Allah and resorting to Him through prayer and supplication, and this was the usual practice and the habit of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). This Hadīth is one of the authentic narrations reported from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) concerning the manner of performing the Eclipse prayer. All the narrations describe one of the Prophet's states what he used to do at the time of such a calamity and how he used to offer prayer and supplication to Allah until the distress would be relieved. The Companion' Abdur-Rahmān ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that while he was shooting arrows and darts, by way of training and perfecting its shooting, while he was in such a state of being preoccupied with shooting, during the time of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), "an eclipse of the sun took place", and such an eclipse results either in total or partial disappearance of the sunlight. On seeing the eclipse, he threw away the arrows and darts and said: "I must see how the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) acts during the solar eclipse today," i.e., I shall go to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) to find out how he deals with this calamity. 'Abdur-Rahmān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that on reaching the place where the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was, he found him raising his hands out of humility before Allah supplicating Him. Part of what he was saying in his supplication was: Allāhu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest), Al-hamdulillāh (praise be to Allah), and La ilāha illallāh (there is no god but Allah). The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) kept supplicating and invoking Allah until the eclipse was over and the sunlight appeared once again. Moreover, he (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) offered the Eclipse prayer, which was a two-Rak'ah prayer, and there were two bowings in each Rak'ah. He recited a Surah from the Qur'an while standing in each Rak'ah. Among the narrations concerning the manner of the Eclipse prayer, there is a narration of tripling and quadrupling the Rukū‘ (bowing) in each Rak‘ah, while another narration reports two bowings in each Rak‘ah. The Hadīth clarifies part of the Prophet's guidance represented in resorting to supplication, invocation, and prayer at the time of calamities like the occurrence of the eclipse. It also shows how the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) performed the Eclipse prayer. It denotes the Companions' keenness to learn from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), especially during calamities..
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