The Prescribed Practice in the Prayer for Rain
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Fatwa No. ( 12607 )
Q: What is the opinion of the honorable scholars regarding those who, when they wish to seek rain, buy a cow or a bull and divide the price among themselves, then take it up to the summit of a specific mountain via a specific path, then slaughter it and perform the prayer for rain?
The meat is placed in a container to be distributed, and then divided. Please be aware, Your Eminence, that there is no path on the mountain for anyone who wishes to ascend; rather, the ascent involves a hardship that is not hidden from you. It is difficult for the young, let alone the elderly who ascend with great effort. Your Eminence, is this practice permissible, and does it have a basis in the pure Shari'ah? Please be aware that they tell us: as soon as we divide the meat, and sometimes before we divide it, the rain has already fallen before we descend from the mountain. This increases their adherence to their opinion and their preference of it over the texts of the Shari'ah. Your Eminence, I ask you to answer this question so that I may hear it from the people of the village, perhaps there will be in it what benefits them and guides them to the truth.
A: When the rain is withheld, the prescribed practice is the prayer for rain, supplication, and charity to the poor, and the like of what has been reported. It is not from the Sunnah what was mentioned regarding slaughtering the cow, etc.; rather, that is a religious innovation. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: What is the opinion of the honorable scholars regarding those who, when they wish to seek rain, buy a cow or a bull and divide the price among themselves, then take it up to the summit of a specific mountain via a specific path, then slaughter it and perform the prayer for rain?
The meat is placed in a container to be distributed, and then divided. Please be aware, Your Eminence, that there is no path on the mountain for anyone who wishes to ascend; rather, the ascent involves a hardship that is not hidden from you. It is difficult for the young, let alone the elderly who ascend with great effort. Your Eminence, is this practice permissible, and does it have a basis in the pure Shari'ah? Please be aware that they tell us: as soon as we divide the meat, and sometimes before we divide it, the rain has already fallen before we descend from the mountain. This increases their adherence to their opinion and their preference of it over the texts of the Shari'ah. Your Eminence, I ask you to answer this question so that I may hear it from the people of the village, perhaps there will be in it what benefits them and guides them to the truth.
A: When the rain is withheld, the prescribed practice is the prayer for rain, supplication, and charity to the poor, and the like of what has been reported. It is not from the Sunnah what was mentioned regarding slaughtering the cow, etc.; rather, that is a religious innovation. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.