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Rain prayer

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Islamic prayer used to request rain

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The Rain prayer (Arabic: صلاة الاستسقاء; ṣalāt al-istisqa, "rain request prayer") is a sunnah salah (Islamic prayer) for requesting and seeking rain water from God.^[1]

Presentation[edit]

According to Muslim prophetic tradition, during a prolonged drought a man came to Muhammad as he was delivering the Khutba (sermon) of the Friday prayer in the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi mosque, to pray and implore for the rain to fall, for the men and the cattle and the orchards suffered from the lack of water, and in response, Muhammad raised his hands in Dua and prayed to God for a downpour.^[2] After his supplication was answered with torrential rain for days, Muhammad again prayed to God for the excessive rain to stop.^[3]

On another occasion Muhammad is said to have walked out of the mosque in broad daylight into an esplanade with the congregation of priors, and prayed for rain, then performed a prayer consisting of two rak'ahs as a group while reading Al-Fatiha aloud, as he did in Friday prayer.^[4]

Ritual[edit]

In Muslim agricultural societies, in times of calamity such as drought, the Imam is asked to provide spiritual help to the community in the hope of inducing God to fall rain.^[5]

Practice[edit]

On the day fixed to perform this prayer, the imam of the mosque leads Muslims in a collective ritual to ask God to give them enough rain for agricultural and human drinking needs, and personal hygiene.^[6]

This prayer ritual takes place in the same open space outside the mosque where the two Eid prayers are held annually.^[7]

References[edit]