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Was the Prophet (peace be upon him) accustomed to abandoning his prayer upon seeing a star appear in the sky?

2 min readAlso available in العربية

The mentioned hadith is authentic and has come with similar wordings. Among them is what Imam Ahmad narrated with the wording: "When the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a rising cloud in the sky or a wind, he would turn to face it from wherever he was. If he was praying, he would seek refuge with Allah Almighty from its evil. When it rained, he would say: 'O Allah, a beneficial downpour.'" Its chain of narration is weak. Abu Dawud narrated it with the wording: "When he saw a rising cloud in the sky, he would stop whatever he was doing, even if he was praying. Then he would say: 'O Allah, I seek refuge in You from its evil.' If it rained, he would say: 'O Allah, a pleasant downpour.'" Al-Albani and Al-Arna'ut authenticated it. Al-Bukhari narrated it in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad with the wording: "When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw a rising cloud in any part of the sky, he would stop what he was doing – even if he was praying – then he would turn towards it. If Allah dispelled it, he would praise Allah, and if it rained, he would say: 'O Allah, a beneficial downpour.'" Al-Albani authenticated it.

The meaning of the hadith is that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw a rising cloud, he would fear that it might be a prelude to an approaching punishment, just as happened to the people of Hud who thought the cloud was beneficial rain but it turned out to be a painful punishment. So he would stop what he was doing, face the cloud, supplicate to Allah, and seek refuge from its evil. If it rained, he would be relieved, praise Allah, and supplicate for the rain to be beneficial. Aisha narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) would show dislike on his face if he saw a cloud or wind, and he said to her: "O Aisha, what assures me that there is no punishment in it? Indeed, a people were punished by wind, and a people saw the punishment and said: '{This is a cloud bringing us rain.}'"

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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