another point we raise in answer to that allegation is this: Even if we concede that ʿUmar did intend to illustrate the supposed juristic ruling in question, can anyone seriously claim that the same thought occurred to Muʿāwiyah and al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays when they too sought rain through the noble Follower Yazīd ibn al-Aswad al-Jurashī? Such strained conjecture is nothing but forced interpretation, and no one will envy them for it.

4. In the report of ʿUmar’s rain-seeking with the help of al-ʿAbbās there is a detail that deserves attention. The narrator says, “Whenever they were stricken by drought, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb would seek rain through al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.” The wording plainly indicates that ʿUmar repeated this practice more than once. This constitutes decisive proof against those who imagine that ʿUmar abandoned intercession through the Prophet ﷺ in favour of his uncle merely to demonstrate the permissibility of turning to a less excellent intermediary while a more excellent one is present. Had that been his purpose, he would have done it a single time, not every time the community needed rain. This is clear and, God willing, will not be missed by people of knowledge and fairness.

5. Several sound versions of the narration spell out ʿUmar’s intent by preserving the very supplication that al-ʿAbbās offered in response to his request. Among them is what al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī cites in Fatḥ al-Bārī, 3/150. He reports that al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār, in al-Ansāb, records both the wording of al-ʿAbbās’s prayer in that incident and the time at which it occurred. Through his own chain of transmission he relates that when ʿUmar asked al-ʿAbbās to supplicate, the latter said: “O Allah, no affliction descends except because of a sin, and none is lifted except through repentance. The people have come to You through me on account of my relationship to Your Prophet…"