A sound hadith is not rejected because it describes an unseen reality in language that is not the language of a physics textbook. This report establishes the sun's submission to Allah, not a primitive astronomy in which the sun literally disappears into a place under the earth at night.
The objection at its strongest
The concern is not silly. The hadith says that the sun, after setting, goes and prostrates beneath the Throne, asks permission, and is allowed to rise again. A critic says: astronomy tells us sunset is only the earth turning; the sun does not "go away" at night, nor does it stop and wait. So, they argue, even if the chain is strong, reason and observation should overrule the isnad. If we do not do that, then the hadith corpus becomes vulnerable to scientifically absurd claims.
The Prophet (PBUH) said to Abu Dharr when the sun set: "Do you know where it goes?" He said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said: "It goes and prostrates beneath the Throne, then asks permission, and permission is given to it..."
Sahih al-Bukhari 3199
What the hadith is actually claiming
The hadith speaks about the unseen relation between a created thing and its Lord. The Quran itself uses this language for the sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees, animals, and human beings:
"Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the trees, the moving creatures, and many of the people?"
Quran 22:18
No one imagines that trees pray like human beings, with knees and foreheads. Their prostration is real, but according to their created nature, in a manner Allah knows. The same applies here. The hadith does not require us to picture the sun leaving its orbit, diving under the earth, and performing a human posture.
Nor does "setting" in prophetic speech need to mean an absolute astronomical event. We still say "the sun rose" and "the sun set" though we know what is happening physically. Human language commonly describes things as they appear to us, without intending a technical model of celestial mechanics.
Reason has a role, but not as a blunt weapon
Classical scholars did not say, "Only check the chain and ignore the meaning." They examined both transmission and text. A report that clearly contradicts the Quran, established reality, or necessary reason is not treated casually. But there is a difference between contradiction and describing something beyond measurement.
A contradiction would be: the hadith plainly says the sun stops moving every night in a way that makes day and night impossible. It does not say that. It says the sun prostrates beneath the Throne and seeks permission. The Throne is part of the unseen, and its relation to the created world is not mapped by telescopes. Astronomy can tell us about the sun's motion, mass, fusion, and relation to the earth. It cannot disprove that the sun is, in a manner befitting it, obedient to Allah.
"And the sun runs to its appointed course. That is the decree of the Mighty, the Knowing."
Quran 36:38
The wording "runs" is perfectly compatible with motion; the Quran is not teaching that the sun is idle. Modern astronomy itself knows the sun is not motionless. Still, we should not force the verse or hadith into a modern science claim. Its main point is servitude, decree, and the coming sign near the end of time when the normal order will be changed by Allah's command.
What this does and does not prove
This hadith proves that the sun is a creature under Allah's command, that its regular rising is by divine permission, and that one day this order will be altered. It does not prove a flat earth, a geocentric cosmos, or that Muslims must deny astronomy. It also does not prove that every difficult narration should be waved through without thought.
The fair standard is balanced: authenticate carefully, understand language properly, distinguish the seen from the unseen, and do not turn modern assumptions into a judge over revelation. A sound report is not discarded because we first imagined it crudely. Often the problem is not the hadith, but the picture we attached to it.