Bilal Rana, USA
As we witness the rare phenomenon of the solar and lunar eclipses occurring in Ramadan this year, a discussion has surfaced regarding their significance in light of the prophecy foretold by the Holy Prophet and the Mahdi. If it was such a unique sign, why is it recurring this Ramadan?
While some may argue that eclipses are natural occurrences that have happened before and will happen again, it is critical to understand that the uniqueness of this sign is not in the event itself but in the way it was foretold. The specific prophecy in Daraqutni provides criteria that must be met for it to be considered a divine sign, a precise sequence that had never occurred before in history.
The hadith of Daraqutni and its exact conditions
The prophecy in Daraqutni states:
“For our Mahdi, there are two signs which have never appeared before since the creation of the heavens and the earth: the moon will be eclipsed on the first night of the eclipse, and the sun will be eclipsed in the middle of it, and this will happen in the month of Ramadan.” (Sunan al-Daraqutni, 2004, Vol. 2, p. 419, Kitab al-‘idayn, Bab sifah salah al-khusuf wal-kusuf wa hay’atihima, Hadith 1795)
This Hadith specifies:
1. A lunar eclipse on the first possible night of its occurrence in Ramadan.
2. A solar eclipse on the middle possible day of its occurrence in Ramadan.
3. Both must take place in the same Ramadan.
4. A claim must exist; otherwise, the events cannot occur for him.
5. Both eclipses must be visible from the same horizon, as how else can one be called a sign if it could not be verified.
A moon can only be eclipsed when it is full. This only occurs over the span of three possible days in a month. The sun can only scientifically be eclipsed on three dates also, given celestial trajectories. Hence, the prophecy specified which of those dates, like verifiable timestamp, and these precise conditions were miraculously fulfilled in 1894 during the time of the Promised Messiahas.
This was an extraordinary sign, one that had never been observed before. Prior to this, eclipses had occurred in Ramadan, and they will occur again. But never before in accordance with these exact dates and in the manner and conditions outlined in the Hadith.
Understanding the reoccurrence
The prophecy did not suggest that these signs would never happen again – it only stated that they had never occurred before in this specific way. There must be a claimant to the office of the Mahdi at the time since a sign must point to something; a prophecy without an active claim loses its meaning.
The Promised Messiahas claimed to be Ma’mur [appointed] and Mujaddid [reformer] in 1882, and claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Mahdi in 1891. At this time, Mullahs began ruling out the Promised Messiah’s claim, citing this very hadith.
According to NASA, the eclipses which occurred in Ramadan in 1894 would be extremely difficult, if not entirely impossible, to predict given the technology of the time and place. With these conditions met, the probability of such an event occurring naturally after such a claim is astonishingly low. This is why the hadith states that such a pairing has “never occurred before” in this manner, pointing to divine orchestration rather than chance.
Any attempt to dismiss this prophecy as a general forecast of eclipses collapses under scrutiny. Eclipses occur regularly, but the prophecy does not merely predict an eclipse – it sets restrictive conditions on their timing, visibility, and correlation with a claimant. In sum, the Hadith in Sunan al-Daraqutni presents a prophecy of immense specificity and empirical verifiability.
A challenge to opponents
If these celestial events are merely coincidences, then those who reject the fulfilment of the sign in 1894 must answer: why had this precise alignment of lunar and solar eclipses never occurred in Ramadan before Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas made his claim? If this were an ordinary astronomical event, why did it first occur only when he had announced himself as the Promised Messiah?
Furthermore, if another claimant arises and these signs occur again during his era, then opponents must be consistent in their reasoning. Will they accept a future claimant on the same grounds they reject the Promised Messiahas, or will they dismiss the sign altogether? The reality is that no one else has successfully demonstrated the fulfilment of this prophecy with the precision and divine wisdom shown in the time of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas.
The eclipses this year serve as an opportunity to revisit this grand sign. They do not bring a new proof but reaffirm a truth that was already made manifest over a century ago.