Chapter: Reports Concerning Seeking Rain through the Stars (al-Anwā’)

and the words of Allah, the Exalted: “And you turn your share into denial.” (al-Wāqi‘ah 56:82)

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Relevance of this chapter to the Book of Tawḥīd: To attribute the coming of rain to a particular star on the basis of belief that it actually influences the rainfall is major shirk, just like believing that the dead or the absent can bring benefit or avert harm. If one does not believe the stars have any real effect but regards them merely as causes for rain, the act is minor shirk. Because of this danger the author devoted a separate chapter in the Book of Tawḥīd to warn against it.

“what has been reported” refers to the threat of punishment mentioned in the texts.

“in seeking rain” (istisqā’) means requesting water and the arrival of rain.

“through the anwā’” is the plural of naw’, the lunar mansions. They are twenty-eight stations through which the moon passes, occupying one station each night. Concerning them Allah says, “And the moon—We have determined its phases” (Yā Sīn 36:39). These mansions correspond to twenty-eight well-known stars whose risings are fixed: every thirteen days one of them sets at dawn while its counterpart rises in the east, and the full cycle ends with the lunar year. The Arabs of the pre-Islamic era claimed that when one of these stars set and its counterpart rose, rain would fall, and they would ascribe the rainfall to the rising or setting of that star, saying, “We were rained upon by the naw’ of such-and-such.”

“And you turn your share (rizqakum)” means: you allocate your portion—that is, your gratitude for Allah’s favor