🌩 What Is It Prescribed For A Muslim To Say, If He Hears Thunder And Sees Lightning?

Answer: What is prescribed for a Muslim when he hears thunder and sees lightning is not to say anything. This is what is legislated for him, because there is no authentic ḥadīth from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on this matter. Rather, there is a ḥadīth from Abū Qatādah in Al-Musnad, (which says) "We have been forbidden to follow it with our eyes." meaning the meteor.⁽¹⁾ And its chain of transmission was declared fair or what he, Imām Ibn Mufliḥ رحمه الله تعالى said in Al-Ādāb Al-Sharʿiyyah was “Its chain is jayyid” (i.e. fair, as in the grading "ḥasan").

Some scholars say — and this is purely based on ijtihād — that when hearing thunder one should say:
«سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي يُسَبِّحُ الرَّعْدُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَالْمَلاَئِكَةُ مِنْ خِيفَتِهِ»

This was reported on the authority of ʿAbdullah ibn al-Zubayr, narrated by Al-Bukhārī رحمه الله تعالى in "al-Adab al-Mufrad". [...]⁽²⁾ and I do not know of any authentic evidence from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding any dhirk (remembrance) when hearing thunder or seeing lightning.

🤚However, if a person remembers Allah without assuming that this is what is legislated to say or that this is valid, but rather because of the enormity and horror of the matter and the likes, then it is not denounced from him.

⚠️As for making this a regular matter on the basis that it is Sunnah or on the basis that it is the prescribed remembrance or on the basis that this is the prescribed remembrance when seeing it, then there is no evidence for this and it has no basis, and Allah knows best.


— Al-Shaykh Al-Muḥaddith Sulaymān Al-ʿAlwan (text)

~ Galandān


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[1] Musnad Aḥmad (37/244 no. 22549) On the authority of Muḥammad bin Sīrīn, he said: We were with Abū Qatādah on the roof of our house when he saw a star descending (i.e., a meteor). They looked at it, and Abū Qatādah said, "We have been forbidden to follow it with our eyes."
[2] 📌NOTE: The original arabic quote added here “There is a weakness in its isnād”. I say: Either this is a mistake of the trannoscript or Shaykh (Al- ʿAlwān) is referring a narration other than ʿAbdullah ibn al-Zubayr's statement narrated by Al-Bukhārī in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, as Shaykh clearly stated that its chain is ṣaḥīḥ in his fatwā [here]. Also Al-Shaykh Al-Muḥaddith ʿAbdullah Al-Saʿd graded its isnād as ṣaḥīḥ, in his commentary of Al-Adab Al-Mufrad (p. 494, no. 723). The text of this narration is:

ʿĀmir bin ʿAbdullah ibn al-Zubayr said that ʿAbdullah ibn al-Zubayr (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) would stop speaking when he heard a thunder and he would say:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي ‏{‏يُسَبِّحُ الرَّعْدُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَالْمَلاَئِكَةُ مِنْ خِيفَتِهِ‏}‏
"Glory be to Allah whom the thunder glorifies with His praise and the angels from the fear of Him."  Then he would say, "This is a severe warning to the people of the earth."