The reported return of the sun after the Prophet’s supplication for Ali

A report attributed to Asma bint Umays tells of an extraordinary moment connected with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and Ali ibn Abi Talib. In the first route preserved by al-Tahawi, revelation was coming to the Prophet while his head rested in Ali’s lap. Ali had not yet prayed Asr, and the sun set before he could do so. When the Prophet asked whether he had prayed, Ali answered that he had not. The Prophet then turned to Allah in supplication, mentioning Ali’s obedience to Allah and His Messenger and asking that the sun be returned for him. Asma says that she had seen the sun set and then saw it rise again after its setting.

Al-Tahawi also preserves a second route with a fuller setting. It places the episode at al-Sahba during the time of Khaybar. In this account, the Prophet had prayed Asr and later rested his head in Ali’s lap until the sun disappeared. He then prayed that the sun’s light be restored for Ali. Asma reports that sunlight appeared again over the mountains and the ground. Ali rose, performed ablution, prayed Asr, and the sun then set again. The two routes share the same central sequence: Ali’s prayer had not been performed before sunset, the Prophet supplicated, and the sun was reported to have appeared again so the prayer could be completed.

Al-Tahawi did more than merely transmit the report. He treated the material among the signs of Prophethood and preserved Ahmad ibn Salih's statement that the Asma report should not be neglected by a student of knowledge because it is among the notable signs of Prophethood. Qadi Iyad likewise records that the two reports are established and their narrators trustworthy. Later, Ibn al-Iraqi graded one Asma route hasan, and al-Suyuti wrote that the Asma and Abu Hurayra routes have hasan isnads.

Ibn Hajar also cited the report in Fath al-Bari and explicitly said that Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyya were mistaken in declaring it fabricated. This means the report cannot fairly be described as a baseless or merely weak story. Some hadith critics, including Ibn Kathir, nevertheless objected to its chains. The most accurate public presentation is therefore a well-known classical report with significant Sunni authentication and strengthening, while noting briefly that its grading was not unanimous.