Drought in Madīnah & the Prayer of the Holy Prophet(sa) for Water

During the month of Ramaḍān1 of the same year, as it had not rained for quite some time, signs of drought began to develop in and around Madīnah. The companions presented themselves before the Holy Prophet(sa) and mentioned their suffering. They requested the Holy Prophet(sa) to pray for rain. Upon this, the Holy Prophet(sa) took a congregation of companions to the place of prayer and facing the Ka‘bah, he prayed for rain. Subsequently, by the grace of God, it quickly began to rain.2 After this, Ṣalātul-Istisqā’3 was formally instituted. The distinction of this prayer is that although the Imām stands in front of the following as in normal prayers, in addition to a verbal prayer wherein the suffering of humans and animals is alluded to and God is invoked for rain, the Imām also holds the corner of a mantle and places it on his back. Then, he flips it in such a manner that all four corners of the cloth are switched,4 which is a symbolic expression of invocation to God that, ‘O God, may these trying days be completely transformed for the better and may your mercy, which is hidden behind all things, reveal itself, subduing all the aspects of apparent suffering.’ From another narration of Bukhārī, we find that at one time when the

Holy Prophet(sa) was standing at the pulpit for the Friday Sermon, referring to the severe weather, a companion said, “O Messenger of Allāh! The animals are dying and travel is becoming arduous. Please pray to Allāh for rain.” The Holy Prophet(sa) raised both his hands and loudly prayed for rain. Anas bin Malik(ra), who was the narrator of this account and also a special servant to the Holy Prophet(sa), mentioned that at the time the skies were clear. However, they were still in the mosque and the Friday proceedings had not yet ended, when a small cloud appeared from one side of the sky and spread throughout the entire sky. It began to rain and continuously rained for a week. During that time, they did not see the sun even once (even though this was very rare in that country). Then, when the next Friday arrived, a man said to the Holy Prophet(sa), “O Messenger of Allāh! The rain has flooded our roads, and due to flooding in the pasture grounds, our animals are starving to death. Please pray that Allāh may withhold this rain now.” The Holy Prophet(sa) smiled5 and then raised his hands and prayed:

“O Allāh, please withhold this rain from us now, and let it rain in a place where it is more needed.”

Anas(ra) says, “After this, when we had offered our Friday prayer, and left the mosque, the Sun had come out.” 6