65/44.5. Chapter:
Sahih Bukhari 4824 — Smoke, Relief, and Return
"Then they had turned away from him (Messenger Muḥammad PBUH) and said: (He is) taught (by a human being), a madman!" (V.44:14)
Hadith About the Smoke, Relief, and Returning After Hardship
Sahih Bukhari : 4824
Sahih BukhariHadith Number 4824
حَدَّثَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ خَالِدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدٌ، عَنْ شُعْبَةَ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ، وَمَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الضُّحَى، عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ، قَالَ قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَعَثَ مُحَمَّدًا صلى الله عليه وسلم وَقَالَ {قُلْ مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ} فَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَمَّا رَأَى قُرَيْشًا اسْتَعْصَوْا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ " اللَّهُمَّ أَعِنِّي عَلَيْهِمْ بِسَبْعٍ كَسَبْعِ يُوسُفَ ". فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ السَّنَةُ حَتَّى حَصَّتْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ حَتَّى أَكَلُوا الْعِظَامَ وَالْجُلُودَ ـ فَقَالَ أَحَدُهُمْ حَتَّى أَكَلُوا الْجُلُودَ وَالْمَيْتَةَ ـ وَجَعَلَ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ الأَرْضِ كَهَيْئَةِ الدُّخَانِ فَأَتَاهُ أَبُو سُفْيَانَ فَقَالَ أَىْ مُحَمَّدُ إِنَّ قَوْمَكَ قَدْ هَلَكُوا فَادْعُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يَكْشِفَ عَنْهُمْ فَدَعَا ثُمَّ قَالَ " تَعُودُوا بَعْدَ هَذَا ". فِي حَدِيثِ مَنْصُورٍ ثُمَّ قَرَأَ {فَارْتَقِبْ يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاءُ بِدُخَانٍ مُبِينٍ} إِلَى {عَائِدُونَ} أَيُكْشَفُ عَذَابُ الآخِرَةِ فَقَدْ مَضَى الدُّخَانُ وَالْبَطْشَةُ وَاللِّزَامُ وَقَالَ أَحَدُهُمُ الْقَمَرُ وَقَالَ الآخَرُ الرُّومُ.
`Abdullah Narrated from:
Allah sent (the Prophet) Muhammad and said:-- 'Say, No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an) nor am I one of the pretenders (i.e. a person who pretends things which do not exist). (38.68)When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw Quraish standing against him, he said, "O Allah! Help me against them by afflicting them with seven years of famine similar to the seven years (of famine) of Joseph. So they were afflicted with a year of drought that destroyed everything, and they ate bones and hides. (One of them said), "And they ate hides and dead animals, and (it seemed to them that) something like smoke was coming out of the earth. So Abu Sufyan came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Muhammad! Your people are on the verge of destruction! Please invoke Allah to relieve them." So the Prophet (ﷺ) invoked Allah for them (and the famine disappeared). He said to them. "You will revert (to heathenism) after that." `Abdullah then recited: 'Then watch you for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible.......but truly you will revert (to disbelief).' He added, "Will the punishment be removed from them in the Hereafter? The smoke and the grasp and the Al-Lizam have all passed." One of the sub-narrater said, "The splitting of the moon." And another said, "The defeat of the Romans (has passed).
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 4824In-book reference : Book 65, Hadith 346USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 6, Book 60, Hadith 349
Summary of Sahih Bukhari Hadith 4824
This hadith about the smoke and Quraish gives a detailed report from Abdullah. Allah sent Muhammad, and the verse is quoted that he did not ask for payment and was not one of the pretenders. When the Prophet saw Quraish standing against him, he asked Allah to help him against them with years like the years of Joseph. The drought destroyed everything, and they ate bones, hides, and dead animals. Abu Sufyan came and asked the Prophet to invoke Allah to remove the hardship. The Prophet did so, and the hardship was lifted. The text then says they would return after that. Abdullah also mentions that the smoke, the grasp, Al-Lizam, the moon, and the Romans had passed. Readers searching for hadith about famine of Quraish or the smoke hadith should notice the movement from hardship to relief to return.
What we learn from this hadith
- The Prophet did not ask people for payment for the Qur’an.
- Quraish faced a severe drought after standing against the Prophet.
- The Prophet prayed for relief when asked, and the hardship was removed.
- The narration warns that relief should not be followed by a return to wrongdoing.
