All living creatures and plantation need water to survive. The lands become dry and parched if sufficient if not sufficiently watered. For lands to be "living" and alive, sufficient rains must fall to provide fresh water for the barren lands to be productive and living creatures to survive. The need for rains is far more for areas that are no reservoirs of waters like lakes or aquifers or running rivers and streams.
Sometimes it so happens that due to less or no rains, the once fertile lands get dried and living becomes difficult and ultimately extinct. That is why all older civilizations thrived around the banks of rivers and once rivers changed courses or sufficient rains did not fall, people slowly and gradually shifted to other places, leaving behind the tales of their sustenance.
In such hard times, we must bow to Allah and invoke His mercy to shower on us rains so as us to live. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is said to have supplicated for people who had been suffering from less or no rains. And Allah did honour His prophet and Allah honoured His prophet's supplication and it rained.
This Hadith is mentioned in Sunan Abi Dawud (Book # 3 Of The Prayer For Rain (Kitab al-Istisqa') / كتاب الاستسقاء / Chapter # 3 Raising The Hands During Istisqa' / باب رَفْعِ الْيَدَيْنِ فِي الاِسْتِسْقَاءِ as Hadith number # 1169, quoted herein under:
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:
The people came to the Prophet (ﷺ) weeping (due to drought). He said (making supplication): O Allah! give us rain which will replenish us, abundant, fertilizing and profitable, not injurious, granting it now without delay. He (the narrator) said: Thereupon the sky became overcast.
Arabic Text:
حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي خَلَفٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مِسْعَرٌ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ الْفَقِيرِ، عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ أَتَتِ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَوَاكِي فَقَالَ " اللَّهُمَّ اسْقِنَا غَيْثًا مُغِيثًا مَرِيئًا مَرِيعاً نَافِعًا غَيْرَ ضَارٍّ عَاجِلاً غَيْرَ آجِلٍ " . قَالَ فَأَطْبَقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ .
Grade: Sahih (Al-Albani)
This supplication is often read in prayers specially organized for the rains, called Salaat al-istisqa'. Istisqa' prayer is a means of seeking rain from Allah, Exalted be He, during times of drought. The Salaat al-istisqa' includes two cycles / rakah and is prayed in times other than for the time of the obligatory prayers.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
You may refer to our reference page: Supplications attributed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for more supplications attributed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Please also refer to our reference page: Sunnah and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to know more about sunnah / Hadith of Prophet of Allah. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references as given below. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors. If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.
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1 comments:
I want to add a little more here that according to Sahih Al Bukhari ,” prophet Muhammad ( Sal Allho Alehay wa Alehi Wasalam) turned his covering ( Chadar) after this supplication. I’m not giving the reference of Bukhari Sharif here because I have an old version of this book printed in India but anyone can find this Hadith in the chapter of salat-Al-istasqa there.
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