13:58, 28 July 2018

Chechen believers treat lunar eclipse as a portent

In Chechen mosques, thousands of believers made their collective namazes (prayers) in connection with a complete lunar eclipse. Muslims were called to repeatedly remember the Almighty and pray for pardon, the Chechen Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) has stated.

At night on July 28, the start and end of the lunar eclipse were clearly visible in Chechnya even without any optical instruments; almost all residents of the republic watched the phenomenon, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

All the mosques of Chechnya have held night collective prayers.

Theologians say that lunar and solar eclipses are portents of the Most High.

"In Islam, lunar and solar eclipses are treated as Allah's portents, which He sends to people ... They are intimidations that He sends to his slaves," said an Imam named Muslim.

Shakhran, a local resident, said that earlier, in the Chechen Republic, the onset of a lunar or solar eclipse was marked with rifle shots.

"It was believed that some shaitan keeps the moon or the sun; and he should be frightened off. Now, no one is doing that," he has noted.

The lunar eclipse that occurred at night on July 28 was the longest in the 21st century, the RIA "Novosti" has reported. The Moon plunged into the northern part of Earth's shadow, which completely eclipsed the visible surface of our natural satellite. Because of this, the Moon turned purple. The natural phenomenon could be observed from all over Russia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 28, 2018 at 11:57 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent