hanya gerhana

Picture location: in front of my house in terengganu, taken by ayah, filtered with negative film.

I feel like it has been quite a long time since my last entry here. Heh. So now, even though the issue is quite outdated, but I wanted to share something here with you guys, as usual.

I was in Pengkalan Chepa at that particular time with candlesky and mawar merah, when the solar eclipse starts at 4.37pm. After 5.00pm, we have the opportunity to engage in a rare Sunnah, the Solat Sunat Kusuf in KB town.

It is a recommended 2 rak'at prayer when solar or lunar eclipse takes place.
"The Sun and the Moon are two of the Signs (Ayat) of Allah: they do not darken for the death or birth of any person, but Allah strikes fear into His servants by means of them. So when you see them darken, remember and mention Allah, declare His Greatness, offer prayer, give in charity, and supplicate to Him and seek His forgiveness." (Bukhari)

The Sunnah is for the prayer to be held in congregation in the masjid, although individuals who cannot reach the congregation may pray alone. Women may attend the congregation or pray at home individually.

Okay, that is only an additional info. What I would like to highlight here is our reactions towards this rare scene of ayatullah (sign of Allah). After the prayer, we went out of the mosque waiting for the mid eclipse at 5.54pm for the best coverage.

At first we cannot see the eclipse and in fact I were a bit depressed to think of how would it looks like. After a while, we were so amazed seeing one of His signs. This is our first time watching the eclipse. The sun change its shape slowly, and sometimes becoming purple-red in colour.

“When the sight is dazed, and the moon is buried in darkness, and the sun and moon are joined together: Man will say on that day, Where is the refuge?.” (Surah al-Qiyamah)

We were there, standing directly facing to the sun.
Subhanallah
Subhanallah
Subhanallah
It's really amazing.

I am not writing to show you guys my good side or anything related to it (nauzubillah..), but I would like to share my heartbreaking towards our fellow Muslims brothers and sisters. While we were there, they were just walking around, like they did not know about the eclipse (or maybe they really do not know). And it's hard for me to find any of them going to the mosque (which is very near, only few metres away) to perform the Solatul Khusuf.

They're also playing around with us. Maybe for them, it's sort of weird for us to stand there, watching the sun for nothing. And taking some pictures.

"Buat apelah amik gambar matahari tuh, amik ah gambar kami nih." This is what they said for few times and that caused us to move slowly to another port :D

It's okay, let us just take it positively about them. Maybe they have their own reasons. Maybe they perform the prayer in their own places. Maybe..

What we could watch through our eyes, cannot be captured with the camera. I do not know why, is it because I did not use DSLR? By the way, this is only a picture during the eclipse when I'm in KB, but the real scene is really different.

It's just a regret to miss that kind of rare event with our own eyes and also to miss the rare sunnah.