Chapter on Ṣalāt al-Istisqāʾ (the Prayer for Rain)

Ṣalāt al-istiqsāʾ is an emphatically recommended sunnah whenever rainfall is withheld in its normal season, the water from the sky is delayed at its usual time, people fear missing the sowing period, or their crops have dried up and they fear their ruin. On such occasions they go out together in the forenoon, dressed in humble garments, to the open space where the ‘Id prayer is performed.

Its recommended procedure is to assemble there just as on ‘Id. Their imam then leads them in two rak‘ahs with neither adhān nor iqāmah. He recites aloud in both rak‘ahs, and the Opening Chapter (al-Fātiḥah) is mandatory in each. After it he may recite whatever he wishes from the short sūrahs of the mufassal section, without making the recitation long. It is preferable that he read passages such as: “Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High” (Al-Aʿlā 87:1); “By the sun and its morning brightness” (Ash-Shams 91:1); and “Recite in the name of your Lord” (Al-ʿAlaq 96:1). Whatever he chooses to recite after al-Fātiḥah is acceptable.

The takbīrs in this prayer are exactly like those in the other obligatory prayers, not like the extra takbīrs of the ‘Id. When he finishes the prayer he delivers two sermons, separated by a brief sitting, just as on Friday. This is the distilled ruling of Mālik.

Mālik had earlier stated that, in the prayer for rain, the sermon should precede the prayer as on Friday, but he later returned to the view we have just mentioned, making it resemble the two ‘Ids. The imam delivers the sermon while leaning on a staff and faces the congregation. When he has concluded, or is on the verge of concluding, he informs them that he will turn his cloak inside out, in imitation of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and in the hope that their condition will likewise be turned to what they seek, and he instructs them to turn