He said (1): It has reached me that one of the Prophet’s Companions (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), on a morning after rain had fallen upon the people, would say: “We have been given rain through Allah’s opening of mercy.” He would then recite:
“Whatever mercy Allah opens up for people, none can withhold.” [Fātir: 2]
He said (2): Someone whom I do not suspect of falsehood informed me, from ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn ‘Umar, from Makhūl, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
“Seek an answer to supplication when armies meet, when the call to commence prayer is made, and when rain falls.”
He said: I have learned from more than one person that an answer to supplication should be sought when rain falls and when the call to commence prayer is made.
Al-Bayhaqī said (3): A hadith with a connected chain of transmission has been related to us from Sahl ibn Sa‘d, from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), concerning supplication:
“It is not rejected at the call to prayer (4), during battle, or in the rain” (5).
(1) In al-Umm (2/552), and transmitted from him by al-Bayhaqī in al-Ma‘rifah (5/181). Mālik (518) also reported it from Abū Hurayrah as a balāgh (a report without a stated chain). Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr did not provide a connected chain for it in al-Tamhīd (16/286).
(2) In al-Umm (2/554), and transmitted from him by al-Bayhaqī in al-Ma‘rifah (5/186). It is mursal (disconnected). See also Natā’ij al-Afkār (5/143).
(3) In Ma‘rifat al-Sunan (5/186).
(4) Sād and mb read al-du‘ā’ (supplication), an error.
(5) He transmitted it with a connected chain in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (3/360; 1/411), and stated (1/410): “Al-Zam‘ī attributed it to the Prophet, whereas the imam Mālik ibn Anas attributed it only to the Companion.” The marfū‘ version (attributed to the Prophet) was also reported by al-Dārimī (1236), Abū Dāwūd (2540), Ibn Abī ‘Āsim in al-Jihād (18, 19), Ibn Khuzaymah (419), al-Tabarānī (6/135), and al-Hākim (2/113; 1/198), through various chains from Mūsā ibn Ya‘qūb al-Zam‘ī, from Abū Hāzim, from Sahl ibn Sa‘d, from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), without the addition “and in the rain.” This addition is weak. It appears in the reports of Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Abī ‘Āsim, and at the first cited location in both al-Hākim and al-Bayhaqī. Its chain runs through al-Zam‘ī, from Ruzayq ibn Sa‘īd ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān, from Abū Hāzim, with the remainder of the same chain. Ruzayq is an unknown narrator. Al-Zam‘ī has some weakness, and Mālik differed from him, reporting it in his Muwatta’ (178) as mawqūf (attributed only to the Companion). It was also reported through Mālik by al-Bukhārī in al-Adab al-Mufrad (661), Ibn Abī Shaybah (29852), Ibn al-Mundhir in al-Awsat (3/35), and al-Bayhaqī (1/411). Ibn Hibbān reported it through al-Bukhārī (1720), and through another chain from Mālik with the same transmission (1764). Thus, the correct version is mawqūf, attributed to Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sā‘idī, without the addition “and in the rain.” Nevertheless, it has the status of a marfū‘ report, since such a statement cannot be based on personal opinion.