✍ Compiled by: Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Anwar Zāhid (ḥafiẓahullāh)
This popular incident is cited in the preface to Taysīr al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (p. 64, published by Naumani Kutub Khana, Lahore) and in Irshād al-Sārī by al-Qasṭallānī (1/39), where it is said:
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ reports that Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr ibn al-Ḥasan al-Samarqandī visited them in the year 424 AH and narrated:
"There was once a drought in Samarqand, and despite repeated prayers for rain, the rain did not come. Then a pious man went to the Qāḍī of Samarqand and suggested that the people should go to the grave of Imām al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) and pray there, seeking rain through the blessing of the grave.
The Qāḍī found the idea excellent, gathered the people, and they went to the grave. They wept and prayed to Allah at the grave, asking through the status of the one buried there. Allah sent down such a heavy rain that people were unable to leave Khartang (the area of the grave) for seven days due to the intensity of the rainfall."
This story has been narrated without a reliable chain of transmission, and suffers from the following flaws:
Hence, this story is not established with a sound or acceptable chain and cannot be cited as evidence for religious rulings or beliefs.
Even if hypothetically accepted, such a report would fall under khabar (historical anecdote), and not a legally binding or doctrinally authoritative text. Moreover:
✔ The story of rain being sent down after supplication at the grave of Imām al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) is based on a weak and disconnected chain of narration.
✔ The main narrator (Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ) is unknown, and the isnād is not complete.
✔ Therefore, this narration holds no weight in matters of Islamic belief or practice.
✔ While Imām al-Bukhārī’s status as a monumental scholar of Hadith is unquestionable, attributing miraculous incidents to his grave without authentic evidence is misleading and not permitted in Islamic methodology.
◉ The Narration
This popular incident is cited in the preface to Taysīr al-Bārī Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (p. 64, published by Naumani Kutub Khana, Lahore) and in Irshād al-Sārī by al-Qasṭallānī (1/39), where it is said:
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ reports that Abū al-Fatḥ Naṣr ibn al-Ḥasan al-Samarqandī visited them in the year 424 AH and narrated:
"There was once a drought in Samarqand, and despite repeated prayers for rain, the rain did not come. Then a pious man went to the Qāḍī of Samarqand and suggested that the people should go to the grave of Imām al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) and pray there, seeking rain through the blessing of the grave.
The Qāḍī found the idea excellent, gathered the people, and they went to the grave. They wept and prayed to Allah at the grave, asking through the status of the one buried there. Allah sent down such a heavy rain that people were unable to leave Khartang (the area of the grave) for seven days due to the intensity of the rainfall."
◉ Hadith Criticism: Analysis of the Chain
❖ Verdict: Chain is Weak (Isnād Ḍaʿīf)
This story has been narrated without a reliable chain of transmission, and suffers from the following flaws:
- The isnād between al-Qasṭallānī and Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ is unknown (مجهول). There is no mention of the full chain, which makes the report incomplete and unverifiable.
- Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ himself is a majhūl narrator – his biography and scholarly status are not documented in the primary works of rijāl (biographical evaluation).
- The entire narration hinges on a dream-like or anecdotal narrative that lacks authentication by hadith methodology.
Hence, this story is not established with a sound or acceptable chain and cannot be cited as evidence for religious rulings or beliefs.
◉ Theological Perspective
Even if hypothetically accepted, such a report would fall under khabar (historical anecdote), and not a legally binding or doctrinally authoritative text. Moreover:
- Using the grave of a righteous person as a direct means (wasīlah) for seeking rain is a matter of significant theological debate.
- The Qur’an and Sunnah teach to supplicate to Allah directly during hardship, especially Salāt al-Istisqāʾ (the prayer for rain), without invoking the dead or seeking intercession through graves.
- Acts of excessive grave veneration have historically led to innovation (bidʿah) and un-Islamic practices, which the Prophet ﷺ explicitly warned against.
◉ Conclusion
✔ The story of rain being sent down after supplication at the grave of Imām al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) is based on a weak and disconnected chain of narration.
✔ The main narrator (Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥāfiẓ) is unknown, and the isnād is not complete.
✔ Therefore, this narration holds no weight in matters of Islamic belief or practice.
✔ While Imām al-Bukhārī’s status as a monumental scholar of Hadith is unquestionable, attributing miraculous incidents to his grave without authentic evidence is misleading and not permitted in Islamic methodology.
