Narrated Abu Bakra: We were with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) when the sun eclipsed. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stood up dragging his cloak till he entered the Mosque. He led us in a two-rak'at prayer till the sun (eclipse) had cleared. Then the Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "The sun and the moon do not eclipse because of someone's death. So whenever you see these eclipses pray and invoke (Allah) till the eclipse is over."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1040
Book 16, Hadith 1
Reference : Vol. 2, Book 18, Hadith 150
Solar and lunar eclipses are two of the signs of Allah with which He scares His slaves and reminds them of some of the things which will happen on the Day of Resurrection,
when the sun will be wound round and will lose its light and be overthrown and the stars will fall (Al-Takweer 81:1),
and the sight will be dazed (al-Qiyaamah 75:7),
the moon will be eclipsed (al-Qiyaamah 75:8),
and the sun and moon will be joined together (by going into one another, or folded up, or deprived of their light) (al-Qiyaamah 75:9).
This is why Muslims should be alarmed by eclipses. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to fear Allah very much, and one day he came out in an agitated state, thinking that the Hour had begun, when the sun was eclipsed during his lifetime. This is indicative of the great extent to which prophet (pbuh) kept the Hour in mind and feared it.
We, on the other hand, have become negligent and most people no longer think of eclipses as anything other than a natural phenomenon which they go out to watch with special glasses, carrying cameras. They limit themselves to the worldly scientific explanation without understanding the reminder of the Hereafter which it brings.
This is one of the signs of hard-heartedness and a lack of concern about the matters of the Hereafter.
It reflects a lack of fear of the onset of the Hour, and ignorance of the aims of sharee’ah and the reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to feel fear when these eclipses happened.
The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) used to stand to pray the eclipse prayer, because they believed that if indeed the Hour had come, they would not then be counted negligent of their prayer, and if this eclipse was nothing to do with the Hour, then they would not lose anything by praying, for they would have earned a great reward. We ask Allah to make us among those who fear Him and who are afraid of the Hour. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad.
Although an eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer, the eclipse prayer is prescribed when one sees an eclipse, not when one hears news of an eclipse from the astronomers.
It was the habit of the prophet (saw) that when something unusual and extraordinary happened, he would use it to remind people about Allah, remove the gaflah (negligence) from people’s hearts and he would get them to turn to Allah. Hence, when the solar eclipse took place in Madinah Munawwarah, it coincided with and was on the same day as the death of the son of the prophet (saw), whose name was Ibrahim.
The people started talking, and some claimed that the solar eclipse was happening due to the death of the prophet’s son. Despite this being a very difficult time, the prophet (saw) felt that it was important to correct this misconception and wrong belief. The prophet (saw) thus ordered the people to gather inside the Masjid, and performed two rakaats of salaatul khusoof. Most of the books of hadith mention this. Prophet (saw) then advised the people saying: “Surely the sun and the moon are two signs from the signs of Allah. They do not eclipse upon the death or the life of anyone. When you witness the two signs you should hasten for Salah.” (Bukhari, Muslim) In fact, whenever the prophet (saw) faced any difficulty, he would at once turn to Salah. This was the case during strong winds, storms etc.
The prophet (saw) used this incident to remind the people that Allah is the one who gives light to the sun and the moon, and He is the one who has the power to takes away the light. Prophet (saw) hinted that it is very easy for Allah to destroy this world and start qiyamah.
To your Lord, that Day, will be the procession (إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمَسَاقُ - 75:30 )
And Allah Knows the best.