Al Istisqaa : Prayers to Seek Rain

al istisqaa is a prayer to seek rain from Allah during times of drought. it’s usually done in early morning, in pursuit of the Prophet’s sunnah.

it was in the papers, that the ruler of uae (united arab emirates) directed the people to offer al istisqaa prayer because it hasn’t rained eventhough we’ve welcomed winter for a couple of weeks now!

 

 

abu dhabi: prayers seeking rain were offered yesterday in various UAE mosques following the directives of president his highness shaikh khalifa bin zayed al nahyan. the call for prayers came after the delay in rains this season.

~ gulfnews

after the summer heat from april, we just entered the cool winter season since few weeks back, and it hasn’t rained since.

 

 

during the 6th year of the Prophet's migration to Madinah, people complained to him about lack of rain, so he gave orders for a pulpit to be prepared.

he then appointed a day for the people to gather. he came out when the sun had just appeared and sat down on the pulpit. he extolled Allah's greatness and praised Him. then he said: ‘you have complained of drought in your areas and of delay in receiving rain at the beginning of its season, but you have been ordered by Allah to supplicate Him and He has promised that He would answer your prayers.'

after this, he turned his back to the people and started praying to Allah, keeping his hands raised, saying, "oh Allah, let us be covered with thick clouds that have abundant and beneficial rain, frequently making a light rain upon us and sprinkling upon us with lightning. oh Allah, You are full of majesty, bounty and honour."

finally, he faced the people, descended from the pulpit, and prayed twice in rak'at (prostration).

~ gulfnews

for full story, click here.

this prayer is taken recourse to when seeking rain from Allah during times of drought. it may be performed in one of the following manners:

1. the imam prays, with the followers, two rak’at
2. maybe performed during any time except those times in which it is not desirable to pray
3. in the first rak’ah, the imam recites al-A’la after al-Fatihah
4. in the second rak’ah, he reads al-Ghashiyah after al-Fatihah
5. and he delivers a khutbah before or after the salah
6. as soon as he finishes the khutbah, the people present should turn their outer garments around, each placing its left side on his right side and its right side on his left, face the qiblah (Ka’ba), supplicate Allah and raise their hands while doing so

to read full article, click here.

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i was wondering about that last bit (no. 6) about having to turn your jacket or coat inside out during the prayer. then i found this. please enlighten me if i was mistaken.

in Sahih al-Bukhari:

- Volume 2, Book 17, Number 124:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Zaid (RA):

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) turned his cloak inside out on Istisqa.

- Volume 2, Book 17, Number 125:
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Zaid (RA):
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) went towards the Musalla and invoked Allah for rain. He faced the Qibla and wore his cloak inside out, and offered two Rakat.

more dalil here.

 

 

i found these pictures of the al istisqaa prayer being done in gaza, where the imam raised his hand very high in the air, like the Prophet (saw). and in the picture below, the man took off his jacket and put it inside out as expected in al istisqaa prayer.

 

 

Allah knows best.