Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “God has not sent down any blessing from heaven without a section of the people disbelieving in it. God sends down the rain but they say it comes by means of such and such a star.” Muslim transmitted it.
Medicine and Spells - Mishkat al-Masabih 4597
Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "God has not sent down any blessing from heaven without a section of the people disbelieving in it. God sends down the rain but they say it comes by means of such and such a star." Muslim transmitted it.
Commentary on the Hadith
This noble hadith from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) addresses the human tendency to attribute divine blessings to secondary causes rather than recognizing them as direct manifestations of Allah's mercy and power. The example of rain is particularly significant, as it represents one of the most fundamental blessings necessary for life.
The scholars explain that when people say "rain comes by means of such and such a star," they are committing shirk in Allah's lordship (rububiyyah) by attributing the creative power to celestial bodies rather than to the Creator of those bodies. This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of causality, where created beings are given attributes that belong exclusively to Allah.
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani comments that this hadith warns against the pre-Islamic Arabian practice of ascribing meteorological phenomena to stellar movements, which constituted a form of polytheism. The proper Islamic understanding recognizes that while Allah has established natural laws and causes, these are merely means (asbab) through which His will operates, not independent agents.
Al-Nawawi emphasizes that this teaching applies to all blessings - whether spiritual or material. The believer must constantly guard against attributing success, provision, or any good to other than Allah, maintaining instead the proper understanding of tawhid where all praise and recognition of blessings returns to their true Source.