418 – Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that whenever drought befell them, ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) would seek rain through al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and would say, “O Allah, we used to implore You for rain through our Prophet and You provided for us; now we beseech You through the uncle of our Prophet, so grant us rain.” And they would be given water. Recorded by al-Bukhārī. (1)

Vocabulary of the ḥadith:
• qaḥaṭū: the rain was withheld from them and stopped. It is from the verb on the pattern faʿila; al-Farrāʾ also cited it on the pattern faʿila. One says: qaḥaṭa, qaḥṭan.
• istasqā bi’l-ʿAbbās: istisqāʾ is the Form X verbal noun meaning to ask for watering, that is, for rain to descend upon land and people. Here ʿUmar asked al-ʿAbbās to supplicate Allah for rain.
• natavassalu ilayka: we make his supplication a means to draw near to You in obtaining rain and irrigation.
• tawassul: al-wasīlah is on the pattern faʿīlah; its plurals are wasāʾil and wusul. Linguistically it signifies whatever is used to draw near to another. The wasīlah to Allah, exalted is He, is whatever a servant employs to draw close to Him through a righteous deed.

Points derived from the ḥadith:
1 – The ḥadith indicates the recommendation of the rain-prayer (ṣalāt al-istisqāʾ) and of supplication during its sermon. It is a confirmed sunnah that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) continued after the Prophet’s death, amounting to a consensus on its ongoing legitimacy.
2 – The motive for performing the istisqāʾ prayer and making supplication is the occurrence of a drought that harms the Muslims;