His statement, “When the land becomes barren and the rain ceases,” apparently applies even if this occurs in a land other than their own.

Some scholars hold that one should seek rain only for one’s own land and its surrounding areas whose condition affects the town. As for a distant land, its drought does not affect them, even though it may harm others—unless the imam orders the prayer, in which case it is to be performed.

The ways in which seeking rain is reported from the Prophet ﷺ are several, including:

First: “A man entered on a Friday while the Prophet ﷺ was delivering the sermon to the people and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, wealth has perished and the roads have been cut off, so supplicate to Allah to send us rain.’ The Prophet ﷺ raised his hands, and the people raised their hands, and he said three times, ‘O Allah, send us rain.’ The sky had been clear, then Allah caused a cloud to form; it thundered, flashed with lightning, and rained. The Prophet ﷺ did not descend from the pulpit before rain was streaming from his beard.” (1)

Second: “He was on a military expedition and their water became scarce, so he appealed to Allah, who caused rain clouds to form. It rained upon them; they drank and had their fill.”

Third: “He supplicated to Allah to give them rain, whereupon Abu Lubabah—who was a farmer—stood and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, the dates are in the drying yards.’ A baydar is the place in which dates are gathered to dry. When they harvested the palm trees, they would place the dates in a designated place until they dried, then bring them into their homes. This place is called a baydar, and it is also called a jarin. He then said—