Library Islam Islam: Faith, Practice & History Part III: History Lesson 48 3. The Miracle of Rain
3. The Miracle of Rain
- Details
- Hits: 2056
3. The Miracle of Rain
Once there was a severe famine in Samarra. Mu‘tamid ordered the people to organize a salat known as salatu ’l-istisqÄ’ (the prayer for rain). For three days, people went outside the city to take part in the istisqÄ’ prayer but there was no sign of any rain. On the fourth day, the Christian high priest went to the desert and prayed for rain; and lo! heavy rain started to fall. The same thing was repeated the next day.
The Muslims were surprised; doubts started occuring in their minds about the truth of Islam vis-a-vis Christianity. Mu‘tamid realized the danger and ordered that Imam Hasan al-‘Askari be brought from the prison. After explaining his problem, the caliph asked the Shi‘a Imam to rescue Islam!
The Imam said, “Ask the Christian priests and monks to go to the desert tomorrow on Tuesday.”
Caliph: “Enough rain has come; so why should we ask them to go to the desert tomorrow?”
The Imam: “So that I may dispell the doubt by the will of God.”
The caliph issued the order. The priests and the monks gathered in the desert, and the Imam and Muslims also were present there. The Christians lifted their hands in prayer for rain; the sky became cloudy and rain started to fall.
Imam al-‘Askari pointed at one of the monks and ordered the soldiers to take whatever they found in his hand. They discovered that the monk was holding a piece of human bone in his hand. The Imam placed that bone in a piece of cloth and covered it. Then he asked the priests and the monks to pray again. But this time there was no sign of any cloud or rain!
Everyone was surprised at this turn of events. The caliph asked the Imam: “What bone is this?”
The Imam (a.s.): “This is a bone of one of the prophets of God which they have taken from his grave; and one of the miracles of a prophet’s bone is that whenever it is exposed from the grave, it will start to rain.”
The caliph’s people examined the bone and found that what our Imam was saying was the truth. Thus, a descendant of ‘Ali and FÄtima, rescued the ummah of his grandfather from the enemies of Islam!
