Solar Eclipse And the End of the World
By
Prof Dr Mohammad Munir Hasan
A list of the Qur’anic verses mentioning the events which will take place on the Last Day of the world have been compiled in a separate article on this website. Out of these signs the verses 75.8 and 75.9 are considered here which give a clue that the end of the world will take place on the day of solar eclipse. These two verses are:
Verse 75:8 And the Moon will be darkened;
Verse 75:9 And the Sun and the Moon will be brought together.
As we know, the Moon is a satellite of the Earth and the Earth is a satellite of the Sun. So, if the Sun and Moon are to be brought together physically, this is only possible when the Earth with its satellite, the Moon, merges with the Sun. However, in this interpretation the darkening of the Moon cannot be explained. Therefore, another interpretation of the Verse 75:9 may be explained as under.
At the time of solar eclipse the Moon comes in front of the Sun such that at the time of complete solar eclipse the Sun is completely covered by the Moon. This situation as visible from the Earth can be stated as the Sun and the Moon have been brought together. At this moment the bright part of the Moon completely faces the Sun and the dark part faces the Earth. So, any person looking at the Moon from the Earth will see the Moon as darkened. So, in this interpretation both the conditions mentioned in the above two verses are satisfied.
One thing here needs further explanation. At the time of solar eclipse, the full eclipse can be seen from a part of the Earth only, and not from all parts of the Earth at the same time. However, even if it is not a complete solar eclipse but a part eclipse, the two conditioned are still satisfied. That is, the Sun and the Moon will appear to be brought together, and the Moon will be darkened.
It may therefore be said that the day of the “end of the world” will commence at the time of solar eclipse.
(This is our interpretation of the verses; nevertheless, Allah knows best).