65/44.3. Chapter:
Sahih Bukhari 4822 — Say Allah Knows Best
The Statement of Allah the Most High: "(They will say) Our Lord! Remove the torment from us, really we shall become believers!" (V.44:12)
Hadith About Saying Allah Knows Best and the Smoke of Famine
Sahih Bukhari : 4822
Sahih BukhariHadith Number 4822
حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي الضُّحَى، عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ، قَالَ دَخَلْتُ عَلَى عَبْدِ اللَّهِ فَقَالَ إِنَّ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ أَنْ تَقُولَ لِمَا لاَ تَعْلَمُ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ، إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَالَ لِنَبِيِّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم {قُلْ مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ} إِنَّ قُرَيْشًا لَمَّا غَلَبُوا النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَاسْتَعْصَوْا عَلَيْهِ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ أَعِنِّي عَلَيْهِمْ بِسَبْعٍ كَسَبْعِ يُوسُفَ فَأَخَذَتْهُمْ سَنَةٌ أَكَلُوا فِيهَا الْعِظَامَ وَالْمَيْتَةَ مِنْ الْجَهْدِ حَتَّى جَعَلَ أَحَدُهُمْ يَرَى مَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ كَهَيْئَةِ الدُّخَانِ مِنْ الْجُوعِ قَالُوا  رَبَّنَا اكْشِفْ عَنَّا الْعَذَابَ إِنَّا مُؤْمِنُونَ  فَقِيلَ لَهُ إِنْ كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَادُوا فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ فَكَشَفَ عَنْهُمْ فَعَادُوا فَانْتَقَمَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ يَوْمَ بَدْرٍ فَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى  فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاءُ بِدُخَانٍ مُبِينٍ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ جَلَّ ذِكْرُهُ إِنَّا مُنْتَقِمُونَ.
`Abdullah Narrated from:
It is a sign of having knowledge that, when you do not know something, you say: 'Allah knows better.' Allah said to his Prophet:'Say: No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor am I one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist)' (38.86)When the Quraish troubled and stood against the Prophet (ﷺ) he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine like the seven years of Joseph." So they were stricken with a year of famine during which they ate bones and dead animals because of too much suffering, and one of them would see something like smoke between him and the sky because of hunger. Then they said:Our Lord! Remove the torment from us, really we are believers. (44.12)And then it was said to the Prophet (by Allah), "If we remove it from them. they will revert to their ways (of heathenism)." So the Prophet (ﷺ) invoked his Lord, who removed the punishment from them, but later they reverted (to heathenism), whereupon Allah punished them on the day of the Battle of Badr, and that is what Allah's Statement indicates:'Then watch for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible...we will indeed (then) exact retribution.' (44.10).
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 4822In-book reference : Book 65, Hadith 344USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 347
Summary of Sahih Bukhari Hadith 4822
This hadith about saying Allah knows best begins with a strong lesson on knowledge. Abdullah says that part of knowledge is to say “Allah knows better” about what one does not know. He supports this with the verse saying that the Prophet was not one of those who pretended. The narration then gives the account of Quraish troubling the Prophet, the Prophet asking Allah for years like the years of Joseph, and the famine that made people see something like smoke because of hunger. For people searching for Allah knows best hadith, knowledge in Islam hadith, or Surah Dukhan smoke hadith, the central lesson is clear: do not pretend to know, and read events with honesty and fear of Allah.
What we learn from this hadith
- A person should say “Allah knows better” when they do not know.
- Pretending knowledge is rejected in the wording quoted in the hadith.
- The famine account shows the seriousness of opposing the Prophet.
- Relief after suffering should lead to truth, not a return to old wrongdoing.
