Chapter: The Rain-Seeking Prayer (Ṣalāt al-Istisqāʾ)

It is an emphatically recommended sunnah; its timing, form, and rulings are the same as the ʿEid prayer.

When the imam intends to go out for it, he first exhorts the people, ordering them to repent and to clear themselves of any injustices. He cleans himself but does not apply perfume, and he proceeds in a state of humility, reverence, lowliness, and earnest supplication1, accompanied by the devout, the righteous, and the elders. It is permissible for children, elderly women, and even livestock2 to join the procession, and for the worshippers to seek Allah’s favor by virtue of the righteous.

He leads the prayer and then delivers a single sermon, opening it with the takbīr as in the ʿEid sermon. In it he makes abundant istighfār, recites verses that command it, raises his hands with their backs toward the sky, and invokes3 the supplication of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), while the congregation says “Āmīn.”

In the midst of the sermon he then turns4 to face the qiblah and says quietly: “O Allah, You have commanded us to call upon You and promised to answer us. We have called upon You as You commanded, so answer us as You promised.” He then turns his cloak inside-out, placing the right side on the left and the left on the right, and the people do likewise5, leaving it that way until they remove it6 with the rest of their garments.