Eclipses have inspired curiosity and cause fear throughout history. Ancient cultures came up with numerous superstitions to try and make sense of these seemingly inexplicable phenomena. The Aztecs believed that during an eclipse, demons would consume the sun and then come to earth, bringing an end to the world. Father Bernardino was a 16th century anthropologist, who gave the following account of an eclipse, which occurred in Mexico in the year 1531. The common folk raised a cry, lifting their voices, shrieking. People of light complexion were slain as sacrifices. It was thus said, the demons will come down and they will eat men. Hindu scriptures speak of the demon Rahu, who is responsible for disturbing the sun and moon during an eclipse. Rahu is unfriendly toward both the sun and the moon. The supreme personality of the godhead, Vishnu, engages his disc to protect them. The intense heat of its splendor is unbearable to Rahu and he therefore flees in fear of it. During the time Rahu disturbs the sun or moon, there occurs what people commonly know as an eclipse. The Chinese believed that the onset of an eclipse was caused by a celestial dragon trying to consume the sun. To stop it from succeeding, pots and pans were beaten to make noise to scare away the dragon. This belief about sun-eating dragons even influenced the Chinese language, as the word for eclipse is she, which means to eat. Notice the flag of the wing dynasty, which shows a dragon devouring the sun. In Judaism, rabbis have linked eclipses to acts such as murder. The Babylonian Talmud informs us, the sages taught that on account of four matters the sun is eclipsed. On account of a president of the court who dies and is not eulogized appropriately. And the eclipse is a type of eulogy by heaven. On account of a betrothed young woman who screamed in the city that she was being raped and there was no one to rescue her. On account of homosexuality and on account of two brothers whose blood was spilled as one. The New Testament seems to echo this negative connotation with death. It has an eclipse occur at the moment of Jesus' passing. It was now about the sixth hour and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured and the veil of the temple was torn into. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed his last. We can see that superstitions around eclipses are commonplace throughout history. This should be of no surprise, as it's only through recent scientific advancements that we have come to properly understand the astronomical mechanics of the universe. Now when it comes to the religion of Islam, given the highly superstitious nature of the desert Arabs in the seventh century, one would expect to find similar myths and legends, like those we have seen of other cultures and world religions. Yet Islam stands in stark contrast. At the time when Muhammad had publicly announced his prophethood, one of his sons sadly became struck with fever and shortly afterwards passed away. It just so happened though, on the same day of his sons passing there wasn't eclipse. The people linked the two events together by saying that even the sun and moon were saddened by the death of his child. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, personally denounced such rumors, saying, The sun and the moon are two of the signs of God. They do not eclipse because of the death or life of someone. During a time when people were highly superstitious, such a coincidental event was the perfect opportunity for a charlatan or liar to claim a miraculous sign. Yet even at the height of grief, the prophet Muhammad never took advantage of people's ignorance, and instead continued to try to steer them away from superstitious beliefs. What this also proves is that he was not copying from other sources, as is often claimed, because his teachings are free of the superstitions that are present in other cultures and world religions.