Concerning the Prayer for Rain (ṣalāt al-istisqāʾ)
Under heading no. 1 he writes: “In the first rak‘ah he recites aloud al-Fātiḥah and Sabbih isma rabbika al-aʿlā, and in the second al-Ghāshiyah after al-Fātiḥah.”
I say: As for reciting aloud, that is soundly established from the Prophet ﷺ in the ḥadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd cited in the book and traced in Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 3 / 133.
But specifying those two sūrahs is not authentically attributed to him ﷺ, for its chain contains Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿUmar al-Zuhrī, who is extremely weak. See Dhahabī’s Talkhīṣ al-Mustadrak, Zaylaʿī’s Naṣb al-Rāyah, Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 3 / 134, and al-Ṣaḥīḥah wa-l-Ḍaʿīfah no. 5631.
The correct course is to recite whatever is easy without binding oneself to a particular sūrah.
He then says: “When he finishes the sermon, all those praying turn their cloaks … raising their hands and exaggerating in doing so.”
I reply: This statement contains two points for which the author has cited no evidence:
- The worshipers turning their cloaks.
- Their raising their hands.
Evidence for the first is the ḥadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd who said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he sought rain for us; he prolonged the supplication and pleaded profusely. Then he faced the qiblah and turned his cloak inside-out, and the people turned with him.” Aḥmad recorded it with a strong chain, but the mention of the people turning with him is anomalous, as I have shown in Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ḍaʿīfah no. 5629.
Evidence for the second is the ḥadith of Anas which will appear in the book under no. 2, for he said in