Ibn Abi al-Dunya preserves a report from the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, when the people were suffering from severe drought. According to the account, Umar led the people in two rak'ahs for rain, turned his cloak, asked Allah for forgiveness and rain, and rain fell before the gathering dispersed. The report then says that Bedouins came to Umar and described a cloud that had shaded them, from which they heard a voice announcing relief for Abu Hafs, Umar’s well-known kunya. Al-Lalaka'i and Ibn Kathir also preserve the same memorable account in later works.
Ibn Abi al-Dunya preserves an account from the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, during a period of severe drought. The people were in need of rain, and Umar went out with them for istisqa, the communal prayer in which Allah is asked for rainfall. The report describes the gathering as a public act of supplication at a time of hardship.
According to the account, Umar led the people in two rak'ahs. He then turned the sides of his cloak and asked Allah for forgiveness and for rain. The prayer is presented simply and directly: the ruler and the people turn to Allah together in a time of drought, seeking mercy and relief. Before they had left the place where they had prayed, rain began to fall.
The story then moves to its most unusual scene. After the rainfall, some Bedouins came to Umar and told him about something they had experienced. They said that a cloud had passed over them and given them shade. While beneath it, they heard a voice coming from the cloud.
The words they reported carried a message of relief for Abu Hafs, the kunya by which Umar was widely known. The account says that the announcement was heard twice. In the flow of the story, this reported voice follows immediately after the prayer for rain and the arrival of rainfall, giving the event its distinctive karamah character.
Ibn Abi al-Dunya records this account in Mujabu al-Da'wa and also in al-Hawatif. Al-Lalaka'i later included the same episode among the reports connected with the karamat of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Ibn Kathir also preserved it while recounting the years of drought during Umar’s rule. These later retellings keep the same central scenes: drought, communal prayer, rain, and the Bedouins’ report of a voice from the cloud.
Taken as a public story, the sequence is straightforward and memorable. A severe drought brings Umar and the people out to pray; he asks Allah for forgiveness and rain; rain comes before they leave; then travelers arrive describing a cloud that shaded them and a voice announcing relief for Abu Hafs. That is the core form in which the report has been preserved in the classical literature.
According to the account, Umar led the people in two rak'ahs. He then turned the sides of his cloak and asked Allah for forgiveness and for rain. The prayer is presented simply and directly: the ruler and the people turn to Allah together in a time of drought, seeking mercy and relief. Before they had left the place where they had prayed, rain began to fall.
The story then moves to its most unusual scene. After the rainfall, some Bedouins came to Umar and told him about something they had experienced. They said that a cloud had passed over them and given them shade. While beneath it, they heard a voice coming from the cloud.
The words they reported carried a message of relief for Abu Hafs, the kunya by which Umar was widely known. The account says that the announcement was heard twice. In the flow of the story, this reported voice follows immediately after the prayer for rain and the arrival of rainfall, giving the event its distinctive karamah character.
Ibn Abi al-Dunya records this account in Mujabu al-Da'wa and also in al-Hawatif. Al-Lalaka'i later included the same episode among the reports connected with the karamat of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Ibn Kathir also preserved it while recounting the years of drought during Umar’s rule. These later retellings keep the same central scenes: drought, communal prayer, rain, and the Bedouins’ report of a voice from the cloud.
Taken as a public story, the sequence is straightforward and memorable. A severe drought brings Umar and the people out to pray; he asks Allah for forgiveness and rain; rain comes before they leave; then travelers arrive describing a cloud that shaded them and a voice announcing relief for Abu Hafs. That is the core form in which the report has been preserved in the classical literature.
Conclusion
The account closes with rain following Umar’s prayer and the Bedouins reporting that a voice from a cloud had announced relief for Abu Hafs.
Sources
Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Mujabu al-Da'wa, report 43 (numbering may vary by edition)
Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Mujabu al-Da'wa, report 43
Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Mujabu al-Da'wa, report 43
Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Mujabu al-Da'wa, report 43
Ibn Abi al-Dunya, al-Hawatif, report 15/16 depending numbering
Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Mujabu al-Da'wa 43 and al-Hawatif 15/16
al-Lalaka'i, Sharh Usul I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunna, vol. 9 pp. 129-130, report 69
al-Lalaka'i report 69, digital hadith portal display
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, events of 18 AH
Ibn Hajar, Taqrib al-Tahdhib: Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Hafs al-Umari = 'weak, devout'; corroborated by classical critics
Critical edition/modern source audit of the Khawwat report: route is disconnected because Abdullah al-Umari did not meet Khawwat
Rijal summaries for 'Ata ibn Muslim al-Khaffaf; Ibn Hajar: truthful but makes many mistakes; Abu Dawud and al-Bayhaqi: weak
Khawwat ibn Jubayr: death in Medina around 40 AH
Sahih al-Bukhari 1010, Book of Istisqa
Sahih al-Bukhari 1012
Sahih al-Bukhari 1025
CAND-0108 Task 1 evidence synthesis
Shu'ab al-Iman modern thematic edition note on report 1674: Ibn Abi al-Dunya al-Hawatif 16; Ibn Asakir 44/346; 'with a weak chain'