If the one in authority orders the prayer for rain, and it rains before the prayer, is the prayer obligatory?
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The Shaykh : Did the one in authority order that you seek rain specifically for your city? Answer.
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : You, for example, are from which city? From Riyadh.
The one in authority said: Seek rain for Riyadh only. Then it rained on Riyadh. Do we seek rain or not? We do not seek rain, because the reason for which seeking rain was prescribed has ceased. But the orders that come from the one in authority for a general seeking of rain are a general order. As you know, the Kingdom is vast in extent. If it rains in Riyadh, it may not have rained in al-Kharj, which is the closest place to it. So they seek rain even if it has rained. For this reason, the scholars said: “It is a recommended practice to seek rain even if the drought is in a land other than their own”. Yes.
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : You, for example, are from which city? From Riyadh.
The one in authority said: Seek rain for Riyadh only. Then it rained on Riyadh. Do we seek rain or not? We do not seek rain, because the reason for which seeking rain was prescribed has ceased. But the orders that come from the one in authority for a general seeking of rain are a general order. As you know, the Kingdom is vast in extent. If it rains in Riyadh, it may not have rained in al-Kharj, which is the closest place to it. So they seek rain even if it has rained. For this reason, the scholars said: “It is a recommended practice to seek rain even if the drought is in a land other than their own”. Yes.