Hadith 1020

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ كَثِيرٍ ، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ ، حَدَّثَنَا مَنْصُورٌ ، وَالْأَعْمَشُ ، عَنْ أَبِي الضُّحَى ، عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ ، قَالَ : أَتَيْتُ ابْنَ مَسْعُودٍ فَقَالَ : إِنَّ قُرَيْشًا أَبْطَئُوا عَنِ الْإِسْلَامِ فَدَعَا عَلَيْهِمُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَخَذَتْهُمْ سَنَةٌ حَتَّى هَلَكُوا فِيهَا وَأَكَلُوا الْمَيْتَةَ وَالْعِظَامَ ، فَجَاءَهُ أَبُو سُفْيَانَ ، فَقَالَ : يَا مُحَمَّدُ جِئْتَ تَأْمُرُ بِصِلَةِ الرَّحِمِ وَإِنَّ قَوْمَكَ هَلَكُوا فَادْعُ اللَّهَ ، فَقَرَأَ : فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاءُ بِدُخَانٍ مُبِينٍ سورة الدخان آية 10 ثُمَّ عَادُوا إِلَى كُفْرِهِمْ فَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى يَوْمَ نَبْطِشُ الْبَطْشَةَ الْكُبْرَى سورة الدخان آية 16 يَوْمَ بَدْرٍ قَالَ وَزَادَ أَسْبَاطٌ : عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ ، فَدَعَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَسُقُوا الْغَيْثَ فَأَطْبَقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعًا وَشَكَا النَّاسُ كَثْرَةَ الْمَطَرِ قَالَ : " اللَّهُمَّ حَوَالَيْنَا وَلَا عَلَيْنَا فَانْحَدَرَتِ السَّحَابَةُ عَنْ رَأْسِهِ فَسُقُوا النَّاسُ حَوْلَهُمْ " .
Narrated Masruq: One day I went to Ibn Mas`ud who said, "When Quraish delayed in embracing Islam, the Prophet I invoked Allah to curse them, so they were afflicted with a (famine) year because of which many of them died and they ate the carcasses and Abu Sufyan came to the Prophet and said, 'O Muhammad! You came to order people to keep good relation with kith and kin and your nation is being destroyed, so invoke Allah I ? So the Prophet I recited the Holy verses of Sirat-Ad-Dukhan: 'Then watch you For the day that The sky will Bring forth a kind Of smoke Plainly visible.' (44.10) When the famine was taken off, the people renegade once again as nonbelievers. The statement of Allah, (in Sura "Ad- Dukhan"-44) refers to that: 'On the day when We shall seize You with a mighty grasp.' (44.16) And that was what happened on the day of the battle of Badr." Asbath added on the authority of Mansur, "Allah's Apostle prayed for them and it rained heavily for seven days. So the people complained of the excessive rain. The Prophet said, 'O Allah! (Let it rain) around us and not on us.' So the clouds dispersed over his head and it rained over the surroundings."
Hadith Reference صحيح البخاري / كتاب الاستسقاء / 1020
Hadith Grading محدثین: أحاديث صحيح البخاريّ كلّها صحيحة
Explanation & Benefits
Maulana Dawood Raz
Hadith Commentary:
The incident mentioned at the beginning is related to Makkah.
When the disobedience and arrogance of the disbelievers became unbearable, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) invoked a supplication (bad du'a) against them, resulting in a severe famine. At that time, Abu Sufyan—who was still a disbeliever—came to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and said, "You command the maintaining of family ties, yet you have made such a severe supplication against your own people. Now, at the very least, you should pray for the removal of this hardship from your people."
It is not explicitly stated in the hadith that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) prayed for them again, but from the wording of the hadith, it is understood that he did pray, as the famine then ceased. However, the arrogance of the people continued, and then this verse was revealed:
﴿يَومَ نَبطِشُ البَطشَةَ الكُبرَى﴾ (ad-Dukhan: 16)
This "great seizure" (batsh kubra) occurred during the Battle of Badr, when the best men of Quraysh were killed in battle and they suffered a crushing defeat.
Dumyati has written that the very first supplication (bad du'a) made by the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was when the disbelievers, while he was in prostration in the Sacred Sanctuary (Haram), threw the entrails of a camel upon him, and then rejoiced greatly at this "feat" and burst into laughter.
When the arrogance and corruption of the people reached such a level, even from the tongue of the gentle-natured, forbearing, and patient Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), a supplication (bad du'a) emerged.
When there remains no hope whatsoever for the people to embrace faith, and their existence in the world becomes nothing but a cause of evil and corruption, then the last resort to eliminate this evil is supplication (bad du'a).
Yet, even then, from the blessed tongue of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), never did such a supplication emerge that would cause the destruction of the entire people, because the faith of most of the Arabs was destined.
In this narration, the portion transmitted through Asbat is not related to Makkah, but rather to Madinah.
The hadith that Asbat narrated from Mansur has already been detailed in several previous chapters.
The author (rahimahullah) has combined two hadiths and presented them together; this conflation is not from any narrator, but as Dumyati has stated, it is from the author (rahimahullah) himself.
(Tafheem al-Bukhari)
The personalities of the Prophets are extremely exalted and lofty; they endure every hardship and pain with a smile. However, when the rebellion of their people exceeds all bounds and they lose hope in their guidance, they also employ their final weapon—supplication (bad du'a).
In the Noble Qur'an, the supplications of many Prophets are mentioned in such circumstances.
Our master, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), also made supplications (bad du'a) in hopeless situations, the effects of which became manifest immediately. The incident mentioned here is one such example.
(Wallahu a‘lam)
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Commentary by Maulana Dawood Raz, Page: 1020
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:
(1)
The command of Allah, the Exalted, is:
﴿وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا فِي قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّبِيٍّ إِلَّا أَخَذْنَا أَهْلَهَا بِالْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَضَّرَّعُونَ ﴿٩٤﴾ ﴿ثُمَّ بَدَّلْنَا مَكَانَ السَّيِّئَةِ الْحَسَنَةَ حَتَّىٰ عَفَوا وَّقَالُوا قَدْ مَسَّ آبَاءَنَا الضَّرَّاءُ وَالسَّرَّاءُ فَأَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ ﴿٩٥﴾
“We did not send a prophet to any town but We seized its people with hardship and adversity so that they might humble themselves. Then We changed their hardship into ease until they flourished and said, ‘Hardship and ease also befell our forefathers.’ Then We seized them suddenly while they were unaware.” (Al-A‘raf 7:94-95)

In these two verses, the same established practice of Allah’s punishment is mentioned as is referenced in the aforementioned hadith: when any nation collectively rejects the call of its prophet, then a light punishment is sent upon them from Allah, such as famine, epidemics, inflation, and the like. This punishment serves as a warning for them. When the nation does not heed its effect, then they are tested with prosperity. Their sustenance and manpower are greatly increased. When they become engrossed in this, suddenly Allah’s punishment seizes them. In this hadith, Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (radi Allahu anhu) has described this very divine law regarding the Quraysh.

(2)
In one narration, it is mentioned that when the punishment was lifted from them and prosperity returned, they again adopted the same conduct as before. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Tafsir, Hadith: 4821)

(3)
Some have attributed the addition narrated by the hadith narrator Asbat ibn Nasr to Madinah Munawwarah, but their stance is not correct. Although similar circumstances did arise in Madinah Munawwarah, this does not mean that the narration in Sahih al-Bukhari should be considered a mistake. (Fath al-Bari: 2/659)
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 1020