With respect to the act of seeking rain (istisqāʾ), the majority of jurists maintain that performing a prayer is part of the Sunnah when one goes out to beseech Allah for rain; Abū Ḥanīfah alone held that no particular prayer belongs to this Sunnah.

The reason for the divergence is that some transmitted reports state, “He sought rain and prayed,” while others mention no prayer at all.

Among the most frequently cited traditions affirming that he did pray—and on which the majority rely—is the ḥadith of ʿAbbād b. Tamīm, from his uncle:

“The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—went out with the people to seek rain. He led them in two rakʿahs, reciting aloud; he raised his hands to the level of his shoulders, turned his cloak inside out, faced the qiblah, and supplicated.”

This narration is reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.

As for the ḥadiths that mention seeking rain without any reference to a prayer, they include:

• The report of Anas b. Mālik, related by Muslim, in which he said:

“A man came to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, the livestock are perishing and the roads are cut off; pray to Allah for us.’ The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—supplicated, and we were blessed with rain from one Friday until the next.”

• The report of ʿAbd Allāh b. Zayd al-Māzinī, which states:

“The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—went out to seek rain, and when he faced the qiblah he turned his cloak inside out,”

with no mention of a prayer. Those who follow the literal sense of this tradition claim that the same is transmitted from ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, namely:

“He went out to the prayer-ground to seek rain and did not pray.”

The majority reply that the silence of a report is no proof against one that speaks explicitly. In my view, the only point that can be drawn from the conflicting reports is that the prayer is not a condition for the validity of the istisqāʾ, since it is confirmed that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—once sought rain while standing on the pulpit. This does not, however, show that the prayer is not part of his Sunnah, as Abū Ḥanīfah contended.

All who deem the prayer Sunnah also agree that delivering a sermon is Sunnah, for that too is found in the transmitted texts. Ibn al-Mundhir states: “It is firmly established that the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—prayed the prayer for rain and delivered a sermon.”

They subsequently disagreed as to whether the sermon precedes the prayer or follows it, because of the conflicting reports; some held that it comes after