Is the prayer for rain performed before the sermon or after it?

The questioner : If, O Shaykh, some of the hadiths mention that the prayer is before the sermon, while others mention that the prayer is after the sermon, how do you reconcile between them? Between these hadiths.

The Shaykh : This is an easy matter, because as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says, this is a difference of variety, not a difference of contradiction. This is like the different tashahhuds and the different supplications for opening the prayer. In other words, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) sometimes did this and sometimes did that. And this is without doubt, provided that both forms are authentic. I am not recalling them right now, but are you aware that both forms are established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The questioner : Yes, they are established.

The Shaykh : So the answer is that it is a clear difference of variety, not a difference of contradiction?