of that star, this does not reach the level of major shirk; rather, it is counted among the lesser forms of shirk, because he has attributed the rainfall to the star—even if only figuratively—and the Law blocks such avenues.
Al-Bukhari and Muslim relate from Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him): “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the dawn prayer at al-Hudaybiyah after rain had fallen during the night. When he finished, he turned toward the people and said, ‘Do you know what your Lord has said?’ They replied, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said, ‘This morning some of My servants have woken as believers in Me while others have awoken as disbelievers. Whoever said, “We have been given rain by Allah’s grace and mercy,” is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the star; but whoever said, “We have been given rain by such-and-such a star,” is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the star.’”
His words, “some of My servants have woken as believers in Me and others as disbelievers,” are explained thus: the believer is the one who ascribes the rain to Allah’s bounty and mercy, while the disbeliever is the one who ascribes it to a celestial body. This proves that attributing Allah’s acts to anyone else is impermissible and constitutes disbelief. Should someone believe that the stars have any real influence in bringing down rain, that is major disbelief, for it assigns partners to Allah in His Lordship, and the one who commits shirk is a disbeliever. If, however, he does not believe the stars possess such influence and merely mentions them metaphorically, the statement remains forbidden and is considered minor shirk, because he has credited Allah’s favor to another.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Whenever a star rose in the east and another set in the west, and rain or wind followed, some of the Arabs would attribute the event to the rising star and others to the setting star, claiming that they had actually produced and originated it. They would utter the phrase cited in the hadith. The Lawgiver therefore forbade such speech so that no one would adopt their belief or imitate their wording…” End quote.
Muslim also reports in his Ṣaḥīḥ, regarding the reason for the revelation of Allah’s words, “Then I swear by the setting of the stars…” (Al-Wāqiʿah 75–82), on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah