Category: Q n A

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) went out to offer the Istisqa’ prayer and turned (and put on) his cloak inside out.

Whenever the Prophet (p.b.u.h) lifted his head from the bowing in the last rak`a he used to say: “O
Allah! Save `Aiyash bin Abi Rabi`a. O Allah! Save Salama bin Hisham. O Allah! Save Walid bin
Walid. O Allah! Save the weak faithful believers. O Allah! Be hard on the tribes of Mudar and send
(famine) years on them like the famine years of (Prophet) Joseph .” The Prophet (ﷺ) further said, “Allah
forgive the tribes of Ghifar and save the tribes of Aslam.” Abu Az-Zinad (a sub-narrator) said, “The
Qunut used to be recited by the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Fajr prayer.”

We were with `Abdullah and he said, “When the Prophet (ﷺ) saw the refusal of the people to accept Islam
he said, “O Allah! Send (famine) years on them for (seven years) like the seven years (of famine
during the time) of (Prophet) Joseph.” So famine overtook them for one year and destroyed every kind
of life to such an extent that the people started eating hides, carcasses and rotten dead animals.
Whenever one of them looked towards the sky, he would (imagine himself to) see smoke because of
hunger. So Abu Sufyan went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “O Muhammad! You order people to obey Allah
and to keep good relations with kith and kin. No doubt the people of your tribe are dying, so please
pray to Allah for them.” So Allah revealed: “Then watch you For the day that The sky will bring forth
a kind Of smoke Plainly visible … Verily! You will return (to disbelief) On the day when We shall
seize You with a mighty grasp. (44.10-16) Ibn Mas`ud added, “Al-Batsha (i.e. grasp) happened in the
battle of Badr and no doubt smoke, Al-Batsha, Al-Lizam, and the verse of Surat Ar-Rum have all
passed .

My father said, “I heard Ibn `Umar reciting the poetic verses of Abu Talib: And a white (person) (i.e.
the Prophet) who is requested to pray for rain and who takes care of the orphans and is the guardian of
widows.” Salim’s father (Ibn `Umar) said, “The following poetic verse occurred to my mind while I
was looking at the face of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) while he was praying for rain. He did not get down till
the rain water flowed profusely from every roof-gutter: And a white (person) who is requested to pray
for rain and who takes care of the orphans and is the guardian of widows . . . And these were the
words of Abu Talib.”

Whenever drought threatened them, `Umar bin Al-Khattab, used to ask Al-Abbas bin `Abdul Muttalib
to invoke Allah for rain. He used to say, “O Allah! We used to ask our Prophet to invoke You for rain,
and You would bless us with rain, and now we ask his uncle to invoke You for rain. O Allah ! Bless
us with rain.”(1) And so it would rain.

The Prophet (ﷺ) turned his cloak inside out on Istisqa.

The Prophet (ﷺ) went towards the Musalla and invoked Allah for rain. He faced the Qibla and wore his
cloak inside out, and offered two rak`at.

I heard Anas bin Malik saying, “On a Friday a person entered the main Mosque through the gate
facing the pulpit while Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was delivering the Khutba. The man stood in front of Allah’s
Apostle and said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! The livestock are dying and the roads are cut off; so please pray
to Allah for rain.’ ” Anas added, “Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) raised both his hands and said, ‘O Allah!
Bless us with rain! O Allah! Bless us with rain! O Allah! Bless us with rain!’ ” Anas added, “By Allah,
we could not see any trace of cloud in the sky and there was no building or a house between us and
(the mountains of) Sila.” Anas added, “A heavy cloud like a shield appeared from behind it (i.e. Sila’
Mountain). When it came in the middle of the sky, it spread and then rained.” Anas further said, “By
Allah! We could not see the sun for a week. Next Friday a person entered through the same gate and
at that time Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was delivering the Friday’s Khutba. The man stood in front of him and
said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! The livestock are dying and the roads are cut off, please pray to Allah to
withhold rain.’ ” Anas added, “Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) I raised both his hands and said, ‘O Allah! Round about
us and not on us. O Allah! On the plateaus, on the mountains, on the hills, in the valleys and on the
places where trees grow.’ So the rain stopped and we came out walking in the sun.” Sharik asked Anas
whether it was the same person who had asked for the rain (the last Friday). Anas replied that he did
not know.

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to offer his night prayer while I was sleeping across in his bed. Whenever
he intended to offer the witr prayer, he used to wake me up and I would offer the witr prayer too.

Anas bin Malik said, “A person entered the Mosque on a Friday through the gate facing the Daril-
Qada’ and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was standing delivering the Khutba (sermon). The man stood in front of
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), livestock are dying and the roads are cut off; please pray
to Allah for rain.’ So Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) raised both his hands and said, ‘O Allah! Bless us with
rain. O Allah! Bless us with rain. O Allah! Bless us with rain!” Anas added, “By Allah, there were no
clouds in the sky and there was no house or building between us and the mountain of Sila’. Then a big
cloud like a shield appeared from behind it (i.e. Silas Mountain) and when it came in the middle of the
sky, it spread and then rained. By Allah! We could not see the sun for a week. The next Friday, a
person entered through the same gate and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was delivering the Friday Khutba and the
man stood in front of him and said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! The livestock are dying and the roads are cut
off; Please pray to Allah to withhold rain.’ ” Anas added, “Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) raised both his hands and
said, ‘O Allah! Round about us and not on us. O Allah!’ On the plateaus, on the mountains, on the
hills, in the valleys and on the places where trees grow.’ ” Anas added, “The rain stopped and we came
out, walking in the sun.” Sharik asked Anas whether it was the same person who had asked for rain
the previous Friday. Anas replied that he did not know.