sins are a cause for the withholding of rain and the disappearance of blessings, whereas repentance and seeking forgiveness are a means for prayers to be answered. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “If only the people of the towns had believed and been God-fearing, We would have opened for them blessings from heaven and earth; but they rejected the truth, so We seized them for what they had been doing” (7:96).

He should also urge them to give charity to the poor and the destitute, for charity is a cause of mercy. He then fixes a day on which they will go out, so that they may prepare themselves for this noble occasion in the prescribed manner. When the appointed time arrives, they proceed to the prayer ground in humility, meekness, and open acknowledgment of their need before Allah. Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: “The Prophet ﷺ went out for the rain-seeking prayer humble, submissive, devout, and imploring.” Al-Tirmidhī commented, “A sound, authentic hadith.”

No Muslim who is able to go out should stay behind, even the children and the women whose attendance will not lead to temptation. The imam leads them in two rakʿahs as previously described, then delivers a single sermon. Some scholars hold that two sermons should be given, and the matter is flexible; however, limiting it to one sermon is stronger in light of the evidence. Likewise, placing the sermon after the rain-seeking prayer was the Prophet’s usual practice ﷺ, and the Muslims have consistently followed it. Nevertheless, it is also reported that he ﷺ once preached before the prayer, and some scholars have adopted that view.