the rain has ceased, the trees have turned red, and the livestock have perished—so supplicate Allah to send us water.’

He replied, ‘O Allah, send us rain,’ repeating it twice. By Allah, we could not see the slightest shred of cloud in the sky when a cloud suddenly formed and it began to rain. He then descended from the pulpit and prayed, and when he finished the prayer the rain continued until the following Friday.

When the Prophet ﷺ rose to deliver the next sermon, they shouted to him, ‘The houses have collapsed and the roads are cut off; pray to Allah to withhold it from us.’

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and then said, ‘O Allah, around us and not upon us.’ Madinah immediately cleared (1); rain fell all around it while not a single drop fell within the city. I looked at Madinah and it was encircled as though by a diadem (2).

Muslim (3) also recorded it through the narration of Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān, from ʿUbayd Allāh—who is Ibn ʿUmar al-ʿUmari—with the same wording.

Imām Aḥmad said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, from Ḥumayd, who said:

Anas was asked, ‘Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raise his hands?’ He replied, ‘On a Friday it was said to him, “O Messenger of Allah! The rain has stopped, the earth has become barren, and the wealth has perished.” He raised his hands until I could see the whiteness of his armpits and supplicated for rain. Indeed, he raised his hands and we could not see a cloud in the sky, yet we had barely finished the prayer before a young man living nearby was anxious to hurry back to his family (4).

‘When the next Friday arrived they said, “O Messenger of Allah! The houses have collapsed and the travelers are stranded.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled at how quickly the son of Adam grows weary and said, “O Allah, around us and not upon us,” whereupon the sky cleared over Madinah.’ This isnād is three-tiered and satisfies the conditions of the two Shaykhs, though they did not include it (5).

Al-Bukhārī and Abū Dāwūd—using the latter’s wording—also reported: Musaddad narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣuhaib from Anas ibn Mālik, and from Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd from Thābit from Anas, who said:

‘The people of Madinah were struck by drought in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. While he was delivering the Friday sermon, a man stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the riding animals have perished and the sheep have perished; pray to Allah to give us rain.” He stretched out his hand and made supplication.

‘Anas said: “The sky was as clear as glass, then the wind rose, formed a cloud, it gathered, and the sky sent down its torrents. We left, wading through water until we reached our homes, and it continued to rain until the next Friday. Then that same man—or someone else—stood and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, the houses have collapsed; pray to Allah to stop it.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and said, ‘Around us and not upon us,’ and I saw the clouds split apart around Madinah as though it were encircled by a crown (6).”’