A story of a sinner who caused drought in the time of Hazrat Musa A.S.

Hazrat Musa A.S. and his people (Bani Isra’il) were wandering through the desert, and they had to face a severe drought. There was no water, no crops, no food. Everyone was suffering, and they came to the Prophet Musa A.S. for help. Hazrat Musa A.S. raised his hands to the heavens and requested Allah for rain. However, to their surprise, the drought became worsened, and there was no sign of clouds. It is a point to note that when a prophet asks, what happens? Allah answers. Hazrat Musa A.S. begged for rain; they were waiting for the clouds to come in and rain, but nothing.The prophet of Allah, who had the luxury of talking and directing to Allah, was just standing in a hot desert with his people, whose imans (إِيمَان) were just like wind. Imagine the pressure he was in. Talk about heat under the collar. So, Musa again started praying and said,

 “If for any reason my level had been alleviated, for the sake of the Final Messenger, Muhammad (SAW), you may provide shower on us!”

Then Allah said:

“O Musa! It is not that your levels had gone down! The reason for no rain is that amongst your people there is one person who is disobeying my commands for forty consecutive years. Tell him to get out from your gathering; it is for him I have terminated rainfall.”

So, Musa turned to his people and said:

“There is a person among us who has disobeyed Allah for forty years. Let him leave the congregation, and only then shall we be rescued from the drought.”

Imagine being the man at that time. There were thousands and thousands of people and his pride was on stake and the embarrassment at that time. He realized that “Hey man I am the guilty one, I have to raise hands”. The man stood there, looking left and right. He was expecting someone else to come forward, but no one did. Sweat dripped from his brow when he realized that he was the one warned against by Allah. He knew that if he didn’t come forward, his people would die because of hunger.

At that moment he had no one, except Allah. Tears rolled down from his cheeks and he prayed to Allah in heart,  “O Allah, have mercy on me!” He continued his invocation by saying, “Hide my faults, O Allah! Please pardon me, O Allah!”

Musa was waiting for the man to come forward, but suddenly clouds appeared and rain started falling down. He was baffled. He asked from Allah:

“O Allah, You blessed us with rain, even though the sinner did not come forward!”

Allah said:

“O Musa, I blessed all of Bani Isra’il with water for the repentance of that exact person.”

Musa A.S. exclaimed, “Show him to me, O Allah!” He made this request because he wanted to know the identity of this blessed man. Allah replied:

“O Musa, I covered his faults for forty years. Do you think that after his repentance I shall expose him?”

Reference:

Ibn Qudamah, a great Syrian scholar, narrates in his book Kitab al-Tawwabin. But it must be stated that the story in question is not rigorously authentic. It might be from historical Israelite narrations, which we are allowed to cite as long as they do not contradict our Shariah, as is the case here.