…so Allah sent to him the Angel of the Mountains, instructing that angel to obey whatever command he might give concerning the destruction of his people. Yet the Prophet chose instead to endure their abuse with patience and to beseech Allah to guide them.
I say: This is the better course, and the ḥadīth affirming it has already been cited on the authority of ʿĀʾishah from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. In the story of his journey to Ṭāʾif he invited its people, they harmed him, and he returned distressed. When he reached Qarn al-Thaʿālib, the Angel of the Mountains called out:
“O Muḥammad! Your Lord has heard what your people have said and how they have answered you. He has sent me so that I may carry out whatever you command. If you wish, I will crush them between the two rocky masses”—that is, the two mountains flanking Mecca to the south and north, Abū Qubays and al-Aḥmar.
But he replied, “Rather, leave them be; I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins people who will worship Him alone without associating anything with Him.”(1)
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym, contrasting this with the Divine words
“So he called upon his Lord: ‘I am overpowered, so help me.’ Then We opened the gates of heaven with torrential water, and caused the earth to burst forth with springs; and the waters met according to a decree already set” (Q 54:10–12),
cited the traditions on seeking rain (istisqāʾ) narrated by Anas and others, mentioned earlier in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah: a Bedouin once asked the Prophet ﷺ to pray for them because of severe drought and hunger. The Prophet raised his hands and said:
“O Allah, give us rain! O Allah, give us rain!”(2)
He had not yet descended from the pulpit before rain was seen dripping from his blessed beard ﷺ. Some of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, then recalled the lines his uncle Abū Ṭālib had composed about him:
A fair-faced one, by whose countenance clouds are sought to pour—
a refuge for orphans, a guardian for widows;
Those near destruction from Banū Hāshim seek shelter with him,
and through him they enjoy blessing and abundant favor.
On other occasions as well he sought rain during times of drought and thirst, and his plea was granted precisely in the measure required—no more, no less—an even stronger proof of the miracle. That water was mercy and blessing, while the water of the Flood was wrath and punishment.
Moreover, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, used to seek rain through the supplication of al-ʿAbbās, the Prophet’s uncle, and they would be given rain. Throughout most ages and lands Muslims have continued to seek rain and are answered, whereas others are generally not answered and are left without rain. Praise belongs to Allah.
Abū Nuʿaym further said: Noah remained among his people for one thousand years save fifty, yet the total number of men and women who believed in him and boarded the Ark was fewer than one hundred souls. By contrast, within just twenty years people in both East and West had believed in our Prophet. The tyrants and kings of the earth submitted to him and feared the collapse of their thrones—Chosroes and Caesar among them. The Negus and the Himyarite rulers accepted Islam out of sincere desire for Allah’s religion, and those great men who did not believe—such as the notables of Najrān, Hajar, Aylah, and Ukaydir of Dūmah—agreed to pay the jizyah and render assistance in humility. They surrendered to him, compliant, because of the awe with which Allah supported him—an awe that travelled a month’s journey ahead of him.