When Will It Rain?

One Account, One Miracle

When Will It Rain?

Arshad Aslam Attari Madani

 “Umm Habiba! Where’s Grandad?” bellowed Khubayb. “Why? said Umm Habiba. “Do you need to ask him something?”

“Yes! Where is he?”

“He’s gone to pray.”

Khubayb was surprised to hear this. “It’s 11am! Which prayer has he gone for at this time?”

Suhayb sat silently nearby, listening to Khubayb and Umm Habiba. “What are you thinking?” asked Umm Habiba, turning her head to Suhayb.

“I was just wondering where Grandad went too,” he remarked. “Today isn’t even Friday. I wonder what prayer he has gone to pray.”

They were all curious.

Khubayb was sat in his room doing his homework when Suhayb walked in and told him that Grandad was home. Grandad drank a glass of water, gave the empty glass to Umm Habiba, and began to explain where he had been, without the children even asking!

“Dear children! The prayer I went to attend was the rain prayer.”

Khubayb, Suhayb, and Umm Habiba looked at one another in surprise. “What’s that?”, Umm Habiba asked, “We’ve never heard of that prayer before.”

“It’s a prayer that we perform whenever it doesn’t rain at all, or doesn’t rain enough,” explained Grandad. “Allah has set a fixed time for everything. Cold weather comes in winter, and hot weather in the summer. In the same way, rain in some regions normally occurs in a specific rainy season during the year, and so if for some reason there is no rain in that period, the people will have to wait another whole year for rain.”

“Is rain really that important?” Umm Habiba asked.

“Yes it is. Rain is very important. Without it, lots of things can go wrong.”

“Like what, Grandad?”, Khubayb chirped in.

“So many things, Khubayb! Let me give you some examples.”

Grandad began to explain, “When there is no rain, water levels begin to decrease in rivers, canals, dams, oceans, and ponds, and then crops do not grow properly. Temperatures increase, which then increases people’s use of electricity. Naturally occurring water in the earth begins to also diminish, and drinking water becomes more and more difficult to find.”

Grandad stopped, and looked at the children closely, deep in thought.

Right, let me now tell you of a miracle performed by our beloved Prophet  صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم ; this miracle is related to rain. In his blessed time, it once so happened that rainfall had stopped. It had been a very long time since even a drop of rain had fallen from the sky, and people were beginning to become worried.

Before Friday prayer, our beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم was teaching people about Islam. They stood up and requested, “O Prophet of Allah! It hasn’t rained for so long! Tree leaves have dried, and animals are about to die. Kindly supplicate to Allah for rain.” Our Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم was so kind that he did not like to see even a single person in worry or difficulty. So, he immediately did something to relieve the people’s worries.

“How, Grandad?”, Umm Habiba asked, “The people needed rain, and rain is given by Allah. So, how did our Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم help them?”

Grandad smilingly explained: “Our beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم helped them by supplicating. Allah loves His Prophets, and the most beloved to Him from all of them is our Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم . As soon as he raised his blessed hands to make du’ā, it began to rain! And it was not a small amount of rainfall. It rained and rained and rained, for seven days in a row!”

Khubayb was amazed. “It rained for a whole week?”

“Yes, Khubayb! For a whole week!” Grandad responded. “It rained so much that on the following Friday a man stood up and asked the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم to pray for the rain to stop. So, he supplicated once more: ‘Dear Allah! May it not rain in Madina, but only outside of it. Dear Allah! Send rain upon rivers, elevated places, and places in which trees grow!’ It immediately stopped raining in Madina and not even a single further drop fell. However, it continued to rain heavily outside of Madina for an entire month.”^[1]

Grandad then asked the children, “How many miracles of our beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم can you count in this event?”

“One!”, Suhayb hurriedly replied.

“No, two!” Umm Habiba and Khubayb exclaimed.

“This account actually has four miracles!”, Grandad said. When asked what they were, he began to explain, “Firstly, the supplication of the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم resulted in immediate rain. Secondly, he supplicated again and it stopped instantly. Thirdly, the absence of rain in Madina due to his supplication, and fourthly, how it continued to rain outside the blessed city.”

The praise of Allah echoed throughout the house as the children relished in amazement and Grandad went to rest for a while.