Can you please reply in detail the hadith which sufi use the hadith of Aishas in which she tell to open a window in Prophet’s grave for rain.
Praise be to Allah.
The hadith referred to was narrated by Abul-Jawza’ Aws ibn ‘Abdullah who said: The people of Madinah were faced with a severe drought. They complained to ‘Aaishah who said: “Look at the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and make an opening facing the sky so that there will be no barrier between him and the sky.” They did that, then it rained until the plants grew and the camels grew exceedingly fat, and it was called the year of the exceedingly fat animals.
Narrated by Ad-Darimi (1/56), no. 92, in the chapter: How Allah honoured His Prophet after his death.
Ad-Darimi said: Abul-Nu’man told us, Sa’eed ibn Zayd told us, ‘Amr ibn Maalik al-Nakri told us, Abu’l-Jawza’ Aws ibn ‘Abdullah said: … then he quoted the hadith.
This report is da’if (weak) and is not sahih.The scholar al-Albani stated that it is weak and said in his book At-Tawassul (p. 128):
This is a weak isnaad which cannot be used as evidence for three reasons:
1. Sa’eed ibn Zayd, who was the brother of Hammad ibn Yazid, has some weakness. Al-Hafiz said concerning him in At-Taqrib: he is sadooq (truthful) but confused. Az-Dhahabi said in al-Mizaan: Yahya ibn Sa’eed said: (he is) weak. As-Sa’di said: It is not evidence; they regard his hadeeth as weak. An-Nasa’i and others said: He is not strong. Ahmad said: There is nothing wrong with him; Yahya ibn Sa’eed did not like him.
2. The report is mawqoof and stops at ‘Aaishah, and it is not attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Even if it were sahih it would not count as evidence, because it may be that it comes under the heading of ijtihad of some of the Sahabah who may make a mistake or get it right, so we are not obliged to follow it.
3. Abul-Nu’man is Muhammad ibn al-Fadl who is known as ‘Aarim. Although he is thiqah (trustworthy), he became confused towards the end of his life. Al-Hafiz Burhan al-Deen al-Halabi narrated it in al-Ightibat bi man rumiya bil-Ikhtilat following Ibn al-Salah who mentioned him among the confused in his book al-Muqaddimah and said: The ruling concerning them is that the hadith of those who learned from them before they became confused may be accepted, but it may not be accepted from those who learned from them after they became confused or those concerning whom it is not known whether they learned from him before he became confused or after.
I (al-Albani) say: it is not known whether Ad-Darimi heard this report before he became confused or after, so it is not acceptable and cannot be quoted as evidence.
Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said, refuting al-Bakri: The report narrated from ‘Aaishah (may Allah be pleased with her) about the opening of a hole towards the sky so that rain could fall (onto the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)) is not sahih, and its isnad is not proven. Among the things which prove that it is false is the fact that during the lifetime of ‘Aaishah the house did not have any opening, rather it remained as it was during the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): some of it was roofed over and some of it was open, and the sun used to shine into it, as it is proven in As-Sahihayn from ‘Aaishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to pray ‘Asr with the sun shining into her room when the shadow had not yet appeared. The apartment remained like that until al-Walid ibn ‘Abd al-Malik expanded the mosque when he was governor, at which time the apartments were added to the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). At that time the room in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is buried was incorporated into the mosque and a high wall was built around the apartment of ‘Aaishah which contains the Prophet’s grave. After that the opening was made so that people could enter it when necessary in order to clean it. As for the opening being made during ‘Aaishah’s lifetime, this is an obvious lie. End quote.
Secondly:
This hadith is not proof for what the extreme Sufis believe about it being permissible to seek rain by the help of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). You cannot find in the hadith anything which indicates that, by any stretch of the imagination. The most that can be said is that it shows how Allah honoured his Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) after he died, as Ad-Darimi described in his Musnad in the chapter heading under which he included this hadith. This is the blessing of his pure body and his honour before Allah. But that does not mean that it is permissible for the Muslims to go to him and seek his help whilst he is in his grave. The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did not do that, rather they opened a hole in the roof of his room so that it might be directly open to the sky, but none of them asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for rain, and they did not speak to him concerning that.
Shaykh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Iqtida’ As-Sirat al-Mustaqeem (p. 338)
Going to graves to offer supplication beside them, and seeking a response to dua’ offered there more than dua’s offered elsewhere, is something that was not prescribed by Allah or His Messenger, and was not done by any of the Sahabah, Tabi’een or imams of the Muslims. It was not mentioned by any of the earlier scholars or righteous men. Rather most of what has been narrated concerning that comes from some of the later figures, after the second century (AH).
The companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were faced with drought several times, and other calamities befell them, but did they come and seek rain and seek help at the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?
Rather ‘Umar went out with al-‘Abbas and sought rain through him, i.e. through his dua’; he did not pray for rain by the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Indeed it was narrated from ‘Aaishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she uncovered he grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so that rain might fall on it, because it (rain) is a mercy, but she did not pray for rain there, or seek divine help there. End quote.
Thus it is clear that there is no evidence in this report for the Sufis that it is permissible to seek help from the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or to seek to draw closer to Allah by means of him or his status.
And Allah knows best.
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