What is Salat al-Ayat, and how is it prayed?
Salat al-Ayat, the prayer of signs, is a short prayer for certain events in nature: an eclipse of the sun or moon, or an earthquake. It has two rak'ahs, like Fajr, but each has five ruku' instead of one.
When it is required
In Ayatollah al-Sistani's rulings (1470):
- A solar or lunar eclipse makes it obligatory, even a partial one, and even if nobody is afraid.
- An earthquake makes it obligatory as an obligatory precaution, even if you weren't frightened.
- Thunder and lightning, or storms that turn the sky black or red, call for it as a recommended precaution, when most people are frightened by them. So do sinkholes and rock-slides.
It is for the people of the area where the event happens, not for people elsewhere (1473). Two events, such as an eclipse and an earthquake, mean two prayers (1471).
How to pray it
Make the intention, say takbir, and then in each rak'ah (1486):
- Recite al-Fatiha and a surah, then go into ruku'.
- Rise, recite al-Fatiha and a surah again, and go into ruku' again.
- Do this five times in all. After the fifth ruku', rise and make the two sajdahs as usual.
Stand for the second rak'ah and pray it the same way: five ruku', then two sajdahs. Finish with tashahhud and salam. There is no adhan or iqamah (1489).
The shorter way (1487): recite al-Fatiha once at the start of the rak'ah, then split one surah into five parts and recite one part before each ruku'. Each part should be a full sentence (obligatory precaution), and Bismillah alone doesn't count as a part. With al-Falaq, for example, you recite Bismillah and its first verse before the first ruku', then one verse before each of the other four. You can pray one rak'ah the long way and the other the short way (1488).
Qunut is recommended before the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th ruku', and one qunut before the 10th is enough (1491). Every ruku' is a pillar of the prayer: leaving one out, or adding one on purpose, makes it invalid (1494).
When to pray it
- For an eclipse, from the moment it begins until the sun or moon is back to normal. It is better not to wait until it has started to clear (1474).
- For an earthquake, straight away, without a delay people would call putting it off (1477).
If you didn't know about an eclipse and find out after it ended, you make up the prayer if it was total, but not if it was partial (1478). Women during menstruation or postnatal bleeding don't pray it and don't make it up (1485).
Know when the next eclipse is
Eclipses are predicted years ahead, so you can know before one reaches your city. The next large one is the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027, across North Africa and Arabia, seen as a partial eclipse much further around. Check whether, and at what times, it is visible where you live on an eclipse calendar.
Get the app Shia Namaz shows the time for each prayer where you are, and reminds you when it comes. It works offline.
See today's prayer times for your city →
Next guide: why Shia Maghrib is after sunset →
Sources: Office of Ayatollah al-Sistani, Islamic Laws, the prayer of signs (rulings 1470 to 1485) and its method (rulings 1486 to 1494). Follow your own marja' where his rulings differ.