the valleys and the places where trees grow.” That is, he supplicated to Allah Most High that the rain fall upon places where it would bring benefit and cause no harm. Anas said: “Whenever he pointed towards a direction in the sky, the clouds would part,” for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, caused them to do so in response to the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication. The people then went out walking in the sunshine after the Friday prayer (1). Thus, the first Bedouin asked the Prophet ﷺ to supplicate to Allah for rain, while the second asked the Messenger ﷺ to supplicate to Allah to withhold it. This was due to a need and a benefit, so there is nothing wrong with it.

This hadith also proves that the afternoon prayer is not combined with the Friday prayer, because the Prophet ﷺ did not combine it with the Friday prayer despite the presence of a factor permitting combination: rain on the first Friday, and mud on the second.

[Two issues:

First: If a member of the congregation sneezes on Friday, he should praise Allah quietly. If he does so aloud and those around him hear it, they may not respond by saying, “May Allah have mercy on you.”

Second: If the imam sneezes and praises Allah aloud, must those who hear him respond by saying, “May Allah have mercy on you”?

Answer: According to the view that everyone who hears him must respond to him, as Ibn al-Qayyim said, the apparent ruling is that if the imam pauses because of the sneeze, there is nothing wrong with responding to him; but if he does not pause, then not, because the sermon is ongoing.

What I hold in this matter is that the imam should praise Allah quietly, so that he does not put the people in difficulty. If he praises Allah aloud, then if he continues