—though each component is briefer than its counterpart—then he recites the tashahhud and ends the prayer with salām. If the eclipse clears while he is praying, he completes the prayer quickly; if it clears before he begins, he does not pray at all.

The prayer is also valid if performed like any other supererogatory prayer, or with three, four, or even five bowings.

Section
The Prayer for Rain (ṣalāt al-istisqāʾ)

When drought strikes a land and rain is withheld, the people perform the prayer for rain in the same manner as the ʿEid prayer described above. If the imam wishes to lead it, he appoints a specific day for the congregation, instructing them to repent, abandon mutual grievances, fast, and give charity.

He goes out humble, reverent, and submissive, accompanied by the pious, the righteous, the elders, and children who can distinguish right from wrong. He then leads them in two rakʿahs like the ʿEid prayer, after which he delivers a single sermon that he opens with the takbir, as in the ʿEid. In that sermon he frequently (1) seeks forgiveness, recites verses that command it, raises his hands, and supplicates with the prayer taught by the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The crier announces for it as he does for the eclipse prayer:

"as-salātu jāmiʿah"
(The prayer is about to begin.)

It is Sunnah to stand under the first rainfall, to place one’s belongings so the rain may touch them, and to say:

"muṭirnā bifaḍli-llāh"
(We have been given rain by the grace of Allah),

while it is forbidden to say:

"bi-nawʾi kadha"
(by such-and-such a constellation).