The drought prayer and rain seeking (istisqa)

When rain is lacking, the scholars agree: going out to ask for rain, leaving the town, invoking Allah and imploring Him is a sunna instituted by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It is lived in community, outside the dwellings, in an open place of prayer.

The reported form

Abdallah ibn Zayd reports from his uncle: the Prophet went out to the place of prayer, asked for rain, faced the qibla, turned his cloak around and prayed two rak'as (reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim). The turning of the cloak expresses hope for change: Sufyan explains it as placing the right in the place of the left.

Who turns his cloak?

The schools vary on this detail: the turning concerns men and not women according to all; Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, among the Hanafis, limit it to the imam alone, since it was reported only from the Prophet; Abu Hanifa does not hold it as a sunna, arguing that the Prophet asked for rain on a Friday without turning his cloak (reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim). The essential remains the humble call upon Allah: two rak'as, the qibla, and the supplication.

The intercession of the virtuous scholar

'Umar had the supplication carried by al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's uncle, saying: we used to ask for rain through our Prophet, and we ask through the uncle of our Prophet (reported by al-Bukhari). The community therefore recognizes the value of a supplication supported by a righteous man.

Practical note

The istisqa is not an automatic ritual: it calls for returning to Allah, seeking forgiveness and justice toward people, then the collective prayer and supplication. The lack of rain is a reminder before being a calamity.