The Book of Praying for Rain (Al-Istisqa')

Qutaybah ibn Sa‘id narrated to us, from Malik, from Sharik ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Namir, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: A man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the livestock are perishing and the roads are cut off. Pray to Allah, Mighty and Sublime.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, and we had rain from one Friday to the next. Then a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, houses have collapsed, the roads are cut off, and the livestock are perishing.” He said, “O Allah, [let the rain fall] on the mountain peaks and hills, in the valley bottoms and where the trees grow.” It then drew away from Medina like a garment being removed.

Muhammad ibn Mansur narrated to me; he said: Sufyan narrated to us; he said: al-Mas‘udi narrated to us, from Abu Bakr ibn ‘Amr ibn Hazm, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim. Sufyan said: I asked ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr, who said, “I heard it from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim narrating to my father”: ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd, the one who was shown the call, said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out to the prayer place to seek rain. He faced the qiblah, turned his cloak inside out, and prayed two rak‘ahs. Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman said: This is a mistake by Ibn ‘Uyaynah. The ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd who was shown the call is ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn ‘Abd Rabbih; this man is ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn ‘Asim.

Ishaq ibn Mansur and Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us, from ‘Abd al-Rahman, from Sufyan, from Hisham ibn Ishaq ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Kinanah, from his father, who said: So-and-so sent me to Ibn ‘Abbas to ask him about the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer for rain. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out imploring Allah, humbly and plainly dressed. He did not deliver a sermon like this sermon of yours, and he prayed two rak‘ahs.

Qutaybah narrated to us; he said: ‘Abd al-‘Aziz narrated to us, from ‘Umarah ibn Ghaziyyah, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim, from ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated for rain while wearing a black khamisah (cloak).

Muhammad ibn ‘Ubayd ibn Muhammad narrated to us; he said: Hatim ibn Isma‘il narrated to us, from Hisham ibn Ishaq ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Kinanah, from his father, who said: I asked Ibn ‘Abbas about the Messenger of Allah’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer for rain. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out in plain clothes, humbly and imploringly. He sat on the pulpit but did not deliver a sermon like this sermon of yours. Rather, he continued supplicating, imploring, and proclaiming Allah’s greatness, and prayed two rak‘ahs as he used to pray on the two Eids.

‘Amr ibn ‘Uthman narrated to me; he said: Al-Walid narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Dhi’b, from al-Zuhri, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim, that his paternal uncle told him he went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to seek rain. He turned his cloak inside out, turned his back to the people, and supplicated. Then he prayed two rak‘ahs, reciting aloud.

Qutaybah narrated to us, from Sufyan, from ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim, from his paternal uncle, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated for rain, prayed two rak‘ahs, and turned his cloak inside out.

Qutaybah narrated to us, from Malik, from ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr, who heard ‘Abbad ibn Tamim say: I heard ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out to supplicate for rain and turned his cloak inside out when he faced the qiblah.

Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik, Abu Taqiyy al-Himsi, narrated to us; he said: Baqiyyah narrated to us, from Shu‘ayb, from al-Zuhri, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim, from his paternal uncle, that he saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicating for rain: he faced the qiblah, turned his cloak inside out, and raised his hands.

Shu‘ayb ibn Yusuf narrated to me, from Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan, from Sa‘id, from Qatadah, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raise his hands in any supplication except when supplicating for rain. On that occasion, he would raise them until the whiteness of his armpits could be seen.

Qutaybah narrated to us; he said: Al-Layth narrated to us, from Khalid ibn Yazid, from Sa‘id ibn Abi Hilal, from Yazid ibn ‘Abdullah, from ‘Umayr, the freedman of Abi al-Lahm, from Abi al-Lahm, that he saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) at Ahjar al-Zayt supplicating for rain, holding his hands raised with his palms turned upward.

‘Isa ibn Hammad narrated to us; he said: Al-Layth narrated to us, from Sa‘id—the al-Maqburi—from Sharik ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Namir, from Anas ibn Malik, who heard him say: While we were in the mosque on Friday and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was addressing the people, a man stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the roads are cut off, our property is perishing, and the lands have become barren. Pray to Allah to send us rain.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands level with his face and said, “O Allah, send us rain.” By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had not yet descended from the pulpit when abundant rain fell upon us. It rained from that day until the following Friday. Then a man stood up—I do not know whether he was the one who had asked the Messenger of Allah to pray for rain for us or someone else—and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the roads are cut off and our property is perishing from the excess of water. Pray to Allah to hold the water back from us.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “O Allah, [let the rain fall] around us, not upon us, but on the mountains and places where trees grow.” He said: By Allah, no sooner had the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said this than the clouds broke apart until we could no longer see any of them.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; he said: Abu Hisham al-Mughirah ibn Salamah narrated to me; he said: Wuhaib narrated to me; he said: Yahya ibn Sa‘id narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O Allah, send us rain.”

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-A‘la narrated to us; he said: al-Mu‘tamir narrated to us; he said: I heard ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar—the al-‘Umari—from Thabit, from Anas, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the Friday sermon when the people stood and shouted, “O Prophet of Allah, rain has been withheld and the livestock are perishing. Pray to Allah to send us rain.” He said, “O Allah, send us rain. O Allah, send us rain.” By Allah, we could not see a single small patch of cloud in the sky. Then a cloud formed and spread, and it rained. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) descended, prayed, and the people left. It continued raining until the following Friday. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood to deliver the sermon, they called out to him, “O Prophet of Allah, houses have collapsed and the roads are cut off. Pray to Allah to hold the rain back from us.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled and said, “O Allah, around us, not upon us.” The clouds dispersed away from Medina, so it rained around it but not a drop fell in the city. I looked at Medina, and it was as though it were encircled by a ring.

‘Ali ibn Hujr narrated to us; he said: Isma‘il ibn Ja‘far narrated to us; he said: Sharik ibn ‘Abdullah narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik, that a man entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing and delivering a sermon. The man stood facing him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, our property is perishing and the roads are cut off. Pray to Allah to send us rain.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands and said, “O Allah, send us rain. O Allah, send us rain.” Anas said: By Allah, we could not see even a small patch of cloud in the sky, and there was no house or dwelling between us and Mount Sal‘. Then a cloud like a shield appeared. When it reached the middle of the sky, it spread and it rained. Anas said: By Allah, we did not see the sun for a week. The following Friday, a man entered through that same door while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing and delivering the sermon. He stood facing him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless you. Our property is perishing and the roads are cut off. Pray to Allah to hold the rain back from us.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands and said, “O Allah, around us, not upon us. O Allah, on the hills and mounds, in the valley bottoms and places where trees grow.” The rain stopped, and we went out walking in the sunshine. Sharik said: I asked Anas, “Was he the first man?” He said, “No.”

Al-Harith ibn Miskin said—as it was read to him while I listened—, from Ibn Wahb, from Ibn Abi Dhi’b and Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, who said: ‘Abbad ibn Tamim informed me that he heard his paternal uncle, who was one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out one day to supplicate for rain. He turned his back to the people, supplicating Allah and facing the qiblah, and turned his cloak inside out. Then he prayed two rak‘ahs. Ibn Abi Dhi’b added in the hadith: “And he recited in both of them.”

‘Amr ibn ‘Ali narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn Sa‘id narrated to us, from Yahya, from Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim, from ‘Abdullah ibn Zayd, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out to supplicate for rain, prayed two rak‘ahs, and faced the qiblah.

Mahmud ibn Ghaylan narrated to us; he said: Waki‘ narrated to us; he said: Sufyan narrated to us, from Hisham ibn Ishaq ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Kinanah, from his father, who said: One of the governors sent me to Ibn ‘Abbas to ask him about the prayer for rain. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “What prevented him from asking me? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went out humbly, simply dressed, submissive, and imploring. He prayed two rak‘ahs as he would pray on the two Eids, and did not deliver a sermon like this sermon of yours.”

Muhammad ibn Rafi‘ narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn Adam narrated to us; he said: Sufyan narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Dhi’b, from al-Zuhri, from ‘Abbad ibn Tamim, from his paternal uncle, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out to supplicate for rain, then prayed two rak‘ahs, reciting aloud in them.

Muhammad ibn Mansur narrated to us; he said: Sufyan narrated to us, from Mis‘ar, from al-Miqdam ibn Shurayh, from his father, from ‘A’ishah, that whenever it rained, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would say: “O Allah, make it a beneficial downpour.”