Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, not shaded by cloud throughout life
Fatwa No: 348328

Question

Is it true that Allaah, the Exalted, assigned a cloud to shade Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, from the heat when he was just a child and throughout his life?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Among the evidence of the Prophethood of the Prophet and his miracles is what At-Tirmithi and Ibn Abi Shaybah reported in Al-Musannaf, that a cloud shaded the Prophet during his travel to the Levant with his uncle Abu Taalib.

This hadeeth was classified as Saheeh (authentic) by some scholars, such as Al-Albaani in Tahqeeq Sunan At-Tirmithi.

The narration by Abu Nu'aym in Dalaa’il An-Nubuwwah reads, “…He saw two angels who shaded him from the sun while he was on his camel.

This issue was mentioned many times in the books of biography of the Prophet .

Al-Qaadhi Iyaadh said in Kitaab Ash-Shifaa’, while speaking about the miracles of the Prophet :

Among his miracles is that Allah shaded him with a cloud during his journey. A narration reads that Khadeejah and her female friends saw him when he returned from his journey while two angels were shading him. She mentioned this to Maysarah (her young servant), and he informed her that he had seen that ever since he set out in travel with the Prophet . It was also reported that Haleemah [the wet-nurse of the Prophet] saw a cloud shading him when he was with her. This was reported from the brother in breastfeeding of the Prophet .” 

However, some scholars pointed out that the issue of shading the Prophet was not continuous throughout his life; rather, this took place before he was commissioned as a Prophet.

Hadaa'iq Al-Anwaar wa Mataali’ Al-Asraar fi Seerat An-Nabi Al-Mukhtaar, authored by Muhammad ibn ‘Umar Ash-Shaafi’i (known by the name Bahraq, d. in 930 A.H), read, “It appears that shading him with the clouds took place before he was commissioned as a Prophet. The hadeeth on the migration of the Prophet stated that Abu Bakr shaded him with his gown. Also, the story of Ghawrath reads, ‘When we saw a shady tree [a big and large tree with a large shade], we left it for the Messenger of Allah .’

Allah knows best.

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