Chapter 16 - The Istisqa' Prayer

Chapter 16 The Istisqa’ Prayer

536. Ibn ‘Abbas : narrated, ‘The Messenger of Allah :saws : went out (to make the Istisqa’ prayer) wearing old clothes, in a humble and submissive manner, walking slowly, invoking Allah (in humility) and prayed two rak’at, as he prayed the ‘Id prayer, but he did not give a similar Khutbah (like the one he delivers on the ‘Id day).’ Related by the five Imams. At-Tirmidhi, Abu ‘Awanah and Ibn Hibban graded it Sahih.


537. ‘Aishah : narrated, ‘The people complained to the Messenger of Allah about the lack of rain, so he gave orders for a pulpit to be set up for him in the place of prayer. He then appointed a day for the people to gather and he came out on that day when the sun had just appeared. The Messenger of Allah sat down on the pulpit, said Takbir and praised Allah. Then he said, “You have complained of drought in your areas , but you have been ordered by Allah to supplicate Him and He has promised that He would answer your prayers.” Then he said: “All praise is for Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Only Owner of the Day of Judgement. There is no God but Allah Who does what He wishes. O Allah, there is no God except You! You are the Self-sufficient and we are the needy. Send down rain upon us and make it a source of strength for us and satisfaction." He then raised his hands and kept raising them until the whiteness of his armpits could be seen. After that he turned his back to the people and turned his cloak around{1}, keeping his hands raised, then he faced the people, descended from the pulpit and prayed two rak’at. Allah, the Almighty then sent a cloud which produced thunder and lightening, and by Allah’s permission, it rained.” Related by Abu Dawud, who said that its chain of narrators is good.

{1} In a narration by Al-Bukhari, on the authority of ‘Abdullah Ibn Zaid, ‘The Prophet turned his outer garments around, placing its left side on his right side and vice versa.’ Scholars say that the wisdom here is the favourable omen of a change of state. It seems that the Prophet was optimistic that by turning round his cloak, the state of drought would turn into that of rain and prosperity.

538. The story of turning the garment is mentioned in Sahih Al-Bukhari on the authority of ‘Abdullah Ibn Zaid, who said, ‘The Messenger of Allah turned towards the Qiblah and started invoking Allah, then he prayed two rak’at reciting the Qur’an aloud.’

539. Abu Jafar al-Baqir : narrated, ‘and he turned his garment for the drought to turn away.’ Related by Ad-Daraqutni, and it was reported to be hadith mursal (that in which the link between the Successor (Tabi’i) and the Prophet , i.e. the companion is missing.)

540. Anas : narrated, ‘A man entered the mosque on Friday while the Prophet was standing delivering the Khutbah. The man said, “O Messsenger of Allah, our wealth has been destroyed and we no longer have any transport .{2} Supplicate Allah for us to have rain. The Prophet raised his hands and said, “O Allah, give us rain. O Allah, give us rain. O Allah, give us rain.” Anas said, ‘By Allah, at that time there were no clouds in the sky and there was no house or building between the mountain and us. From behind the mountain came a cloud that looked like a shield. By the time it reached the middle of the sky it started to pour with rain. By Allah we did not see the sun for a week. On the following Friday, a man entered the mosque from that (same) door while the prophet was standing delivering the Khutbah and said, ‘Our livestock are dead and the roads are cut off (due to torrential rain). “O Allah, around us and not upon us. O Allah, make it upon the hills, small mountains, bottom of the valleys, and plantations.” The rain stopped and we walked out in the sunshine.’ Agreed upon.

{2} In another narration ‘livestock are dying’, which may account for the lack of transport.

541. Anas : narrated, ‘Whenever drought threatened them, ‘Umar Ibnul Khattab used to ask Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib to invoke Allah for rain. He used to say, ‘O Allah! We used to ask our Prophet to invoke You for rain, and You would bless us with rain, and now we ask his uncle to invoke You for rain. O Allah! Bless us with rain.’ And so it would rain. Related by Al-Bukhari.

542. Anas : narrated, ‘A shower of rain fell when we were with the Prophet He lifted up his clothes (uncovering part of his body to the rain), until the rain fell on him. We said, ‘Messenger of Allah, why did you do this?’ He said, “Because it has just come from Allah, the Exalted.” Related by Muslim.

543. ‘Aishah : narrated, ‘Whenever the Prophet saws the rain, he used to say, “O Allah! Make it beneficial.” Agreed upon.

544. Sa’d : narrated, ‘The Messenger of Allah would supplicate for Istisqa’ saying, “O Allah, let us be covered with thick clouds that have abundant and beneficial rain, that is accompanied by a strong sound of thunder (which is a sign of a strong rain), frequently making light rain fall upon us and surrounding us with lightning. O Allah, You are full of majesty, bounty and Honor.” Related by Abu ‘Awanah in his Sahih.

545. Abu Hurairah : narrated, ‘The Messenger of Allah said, “Prophet Sulaiman went out invoking Allah for rain. He saw an ant lying on its back raising its legs up to the sky saying, ‘O Allah! We are creatures amongst Your creatures. We can not live without Your rain.’ Prophet Sulaiman then said, ‘Go back, for it has rained in response to the invocation of others (than you).’ Related by Ahmad.

546. Anas : narrated that the Messenger of Allah supplicated Allah for rain and he pointed with the back of his hand to the sky.’ Related by Muslim.