Para ulama bersepakat bahawa keluar untuk memohon hujan, berpindah dari kawasan kediaman, berdoa kepada Allah dan memohon agar Dia menurunkan hujan adalah sunnah yang ditetapkan oleh Rasulullah ﷺ. Mereka berselisih pendapat tentang solat untuk memohon hujan (salat al-istisqa'). Majoriti berpendapat bahawa ia termasuk antara sunnah ketika keluar untuk memohon hujan, kecuali Abu Hanifah yang berkata bahawa solat itu sendiri bukanlah antara sunnahnya. Sebab perselisihan ini berpunca daripada pertentangan hadis. Diriwayatkan dalam sebahagian hadis bahawa Nabi ﷺ berdoa memohon hujan dan juga melakukan solat, tetapi dalam hadis-hadis lain solat tidak disebut. Salah satu hadis yang paling masyhur bahawa baginda memang solat, dan yang dijadikan sandaran oleh majoriti, ialah hadis 'Abbad bin Tamim daripada bapa saudaranya, bahawa Rasulullah ﷺ membawa orang ramai keluar untuk memohon hujan, lalu baginda mengimami mereka solat dua rakaat, membaca dengan suara lantang, mengangkat kedua-dua tangan hingga ke bahu, membalikkan selendangnya, menghadap kiblat, dan berdoa memohon hujan. Hadis ini diriwayatkan oleh al-Bukhari dan Muslim. Hadis-hadis yang menyebut doa tanpa solat termasuk hadis Anas bin Malik yang diriwayatkan oleh Muslim, bahawa beliau berkata: "Seorang lelaki datang kepada Rasulullah ﷺ dan berkata: 'Wahai Rasulullah, haiwan-haiwan sedang mati (kehausan), jalan-jalan telah terputus, maka berdoalah kepada Allah.' Rasulullah ﷺ pun berdoa, lalu hujan turun dari satu Jumaat ke Jumaat berikutnya." Terdapat juga, antara mereka, riwayat Abdullah bin Zayd al-Mazini, yang berkata, "Rasulullah ﷺ keluar dan berdoa memohon hujan. Baginda membalikkan jubahnya ketika menghadap kiblat." Solat tidak disebut dalam riwayat ini. Mereka yang berpegang kepada makna zahir riwayat ini berpendapat bahawa ini diriwayatkan daripada Umar bin al-Khattab, iaitu beliau keluar ke tempat solat dan berdoa, tetapi tidak solat. Hujah majoriti ialah bahawa sesuatu yang tidak disebut dalam sesebuah riwayat tidak boleh dijadikan dalil menentang apa yang disebut dalam riwayat yang lain. Implikasi daripada pertentangan riwayat-riwayat ini ialah solat bukanlah syarat sah doa memohon hujan, kerana telah thabit bahawa Nabi ﷺ "berdoa memohon hujan di atas mimbar", tetapi tidak thabit bahawa solat itu bukan salah satu daripada sunnah bagi solat hujan, sebagaimana yang dipegang oleh Abu Hanifah. Mereka yang berpendapat bahawa solat itu adalah salah satu sunnah bagi solat hujan bersetuju bahawa khutbah juga adalah salah satu sunnahnya, kerana ia disebut dalam sesebuah riwayat. Ibnu al-Mundhir berkata bahawa thabit bahawa Rasulullah ﷺ melaksanakan solat untuk hujan* dan menyampaikan khutbah. Mereka berselisih pendapat tentang sama ada khutbah itu hendaklah disampaikan sebelum solat atau selepasnya, kerana pertentangan riwayat dalam perkara ini. Satu kumpulan berpendapat bahawa ia dilakukan selepas solat, berdasarkan qiyas dengan dua solat hari raya. Pendapat ini dipegang oleh Malik dan al-Syafi'i. Al-Layth bin Sa'd berkata bahawa khutbah hendaklah disampaikan sebelum solat. Ibnu al-Mundhir telah berkata bahawa "diriwayatkan daripada Nabi (semoga rahmat dan keberkatan Allah dilimpahkan ke atasnya) bahawa baginda membuat doa memohon hujan dan menyampaikan khutbah sebelum solat," dan perkara yang sama telah diriwayatkan daripada Umar bin al-Khattab, dan itulah yang kami terima. Al-Qadi (Ibnu Rushd) berkata bahawa perkara ini telah direkodkan oleh Abu Dawud melalui pelbagai jalur periwayatan, dan mereka yang menyebut khutbah itu menyatakan, setahu saya, bahawa ia disampaikan sebelum solat. Mereka bersepakat bahawa bacaan dalam khutbah itu hendaklah dikuatkan, tetapi mereka berbeza pendapat sama ada bilangan takbir yang dilafazkan di dalamnya hendaklah sama seperti dalam dua solat 'Id. Malik berpendapat bahawa takbir dilafazkan di dalamnya sebagaimana dalam solat biasa, manakala al-Shafi'i berpendapat bahawa takbir dilafazkan di dalamnya sebagaimana dalam solat 'Id. Punca perbezaan mereka timbul daripada perselisihan tentang qiyas terhadap kedua-dua solat tersebut. Al-Shafi'i berhujah bagi pendapatnya dengan bersandarkan riwayat daripada Ibnu 'Abbas bahawa "Rasulullah (semoga rahmat dan keberkatan Allah dilimpahkan ke atasnya) melakukan dua rakaat di dalamnya sebagaimana dilakukan dua rakaat dalam solat 'Id." Mereka bersepakat bahawa antara sunnahnya ialah imam hendaklah menghadap kiblat sambil berdiri, berdoa, membalikkan selendangnya, dan mengangkat kedua-dua tangannya, sebagaimana yang diriwayatkan dalam hadis-hadis. Namun mereka berbeza pendapat tentang cara melakukannya dan tentang waktu ia dilakukan. Mengenai cara ia dilakukan, majoriti berpendapat bahawa hendaklah dia memindahkan selendangnya dari bahu kanan ke bahu kiri dan dari bahu kiri ke bahu kanan. Al-Shafi'i berkata bahawa hendaklah dia membalikkan bahagian bawah ke atas, iaitu apa yang di sebelah kanannya ke sebelah kirinya, dan apa yang di sebelah kirinya ke sebelah kanannya. Punca perselisihan mereka berpunca daripada percanggahan hadith mengenai perkara ini. Diriwayatkan dalam hadith 'Abd Allah ibn Zayd bahawa Nabi ﷺ keluar ke tempat solat untuk berdoa memohon hujan. Baginda menghadap kiblat, membalikkan jubahnya, dan solat dua rakaat. Dalam sebahagian riwayatnya, hadith itu berbunyi: "Aku bertanya: 'Adakah baginda meletakkan sebelah kiri ke sebelah kanan dan sebelah kanan ke sebelah kiri, atau baginda membalikkan bahagian bawah ke bahagian atas?' Dia menjawab: 'Sebenarnya, baginda membalikkan yang kiri ke kanan dan yang kanan ke kiri.'" Selain itu, diriwayatkan dalam hadith orang yang sama, 'Abd Allah, bahawa dia berkata: "Rasulullah ﷺ berdoa memohon hujan, dan ketika itu baginda memakai baju hitam yang dimilikinya. Baginda cuba memegang bahagian bawahnya untuk membalikkannya ke atas, tetapi apabila itu menjadi sukar, baginda meletakkannya di atas bahunya." Mengenai bila imam perlu melakukan perkara ini, Malik dan al-Shafi'i kedua-duanya berkata bahawa dia melakukannya selepas menyampaikan khutbah. Abu Yusuf berpendapat bahawa dia membalikkan jubahnya apabila bahagian awal khutbah telah selesai. Pendapat ini juga telah diriwayatkan daripada Malik. Kesemua mereka berpendapat bahawa jika imam membalikkan jubahnya ketika berdiri, orang ramai hendaklah membalikkan jubah mereka ketika duduk, kerana sabda Nabi ﷺ: "Sesungguhnya imam dilantik untuk diikuti." Pengecualian ialah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, dan sebahagian murid Malik. Para pengikut (di belakang imam) pada pandangan mereka tidak boleh memusingkan jubah mereka kerana imam memusingkan jubahnya, kerana perkara ini tidak dilaporkan dalam hadith mengenai solat Nabi ﷺ ketika baginda mengimami mereka. Sekumpulan fuqaha berpendapat bahawa waktu keluar untuk solat ini sama dengan waktu solat Hari Raya, kecuali Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn 'Amr ibn Hazm, yang berkata bahawa waktu keluar untuknya ialah ketika matahari mula condong. Ia diriwayatkan oleh Abu Dawud daripada 'A'isyah bahawa Rasulullah ﷺ keluar untuk solat meminta hujan apabila tepi matahari telah muncul.

The jurists agreed that going out for seeking rain, moving away from the dwelling area, supplicating Allah and entreating Him to sending down rain is a sunna established by the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him). They disagreed about prayer (saldh) for rain. The majority maintain that this is one of the sunan when going out for seeking rain, except that Abu HanTfa said that (formal) prayer itself is not one of its sunan. The reason for disagreement stems from the conflict of traditions. It is related in some traditions that the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) made supplications for rain and also prayed, but in other traditions (formal) prayer is not mentioned. One of the best known traditions on the point that he did pray, and which was relied upon by the majority, is the tradition of ‘Abbad ibn TamTm from his (paternal) uncle “that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) led the people out to make a supplication for rain and there he led them in a prayer of two rakfas in which he recited audibly, raised his hands up to his shoulders, turned his cloak inside out, faced the qibla, and made a supplication for rain”. It has been recorded by a l-BukharT and Muslim. The traditions in which, supplication is.mentioned but prayer is not include the tradition of Anas ibn Malik, which is recorded by Muslim, that he said, “A man came up to the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, the animals are dying (of thirst), the paths have been blocked, so make a supplication to Allah’. The Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) made a supplication, and then the rain poured from one Friday to the next”. There is also, among them, the tradition of cAbd Allah ibn Zayd al-Mazinl, in which he said, “The Messenger of Allah went out and made a supplication for rain. He turned his cloak inside out when he faced the qibla”. Prayer was not mentioned in this tradition. Those who adopted the apparent meaning of this tradition thought that this is related from TJmar ibn al-Khattab, that is, he went out to the place of prayer and made a supplication, but did not pray. The argument of the majority is that because a tradition does not mention something, it cannot be used as evidence against that which does. The implications of the conflict of the traditions is that prayer is not a condition for the validity of the supplication for rain, for it has been established that the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) “made a supplication for rain from the pulpit”, but not that it (prayer) is not one of the sunan for rain, as has been held by Abu HanTfa. Those who maintained that prayer is one of the sunan for rain agreed that the sermon is also one of its sunan, because of its occurrence in a tradition. Ibn al-Mundhir said that it is established that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) observed the prayer for rain* and delivered a sermon. They disagreed then on whether it should be delivered before the prayer or after it, because of the conflict of traditions on this point. One group maintained that it is after the prayer on the analogy of the two 'id prayers. This was upheld by Malik and al-ShafiT. Al-Layth ibn SaM said that the sermon is to be delivered prior to prayer. Ibn al-Mundhir has said that “it is related from the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) that he made a supplication for rain and delivered the sermon before prayer,” and the same has been related from TJmar ibn al-Khattab and that is what we accept. The QadT (Ibn Rushd) said that this has been recorded by Abu Dawud through different channels, and those who mention the sermon state, to my knowledge, that it is delivered before the prayer. They agreed that the recitation in it is to be audible, but they differed on whether the (the number of) takbirs to be pronounced in it should be the same as that in the two 'id prayers. Malik held that the takbirs are to be pronounced in it as they are in the ordinary prayers, while al-Shafici maintained that the takbirs are to be pronounced in it as they are in the 'id prayers. The reason for their disagreement arises from their dispute about its analogy over the two prayers. Al-Shafi T argued for c his opinion by relying on what has been related from Ibn €Abbas “that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) observed two rak'-as in it as they are observed in the *id prayers”. They agreed that one of its practices (sunan) is that the imam should face the qibla while standing, and he should make a supplication, turn his cloak inside out, and raise his hands, as has been related in the traditions. They disagreed, however, about the manner of doing this, and about the time when he should do it. With respect to the question as to how it is done, the majority’ maintain that he should turn his cloak from the right side on to his left (shoulder) and that on his left side to his right (shoulder). Al-ShaficT said that he should turn the lower part upward, what is on his right to his left, and what is on the left to his right. The reason for their disagreement derives from the conflict of traditions on the issue. It is reported in the tradition of €Abd Allah ibn Zayd “that the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) went out to the place of prayer to make a supplication for rain. He faced the qibla, turned his cloak, and prayed two rak'as”. In some of its versions the tradition says, “I said: ‘Did he place the left side toward the right and the right toward the left, or did he turn the lower part toward the top?’ He said, ‘In fact, he turned the left over to the right and the right over to the left’”. Further, it is recorded in the tradition of this (person) cAbd Allah that he said, “The Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) made a supplication for rain and (at that time) he was wearing a black shirt that he had. He tried to take hold of its lower part to turn it toward the top, but when this became difficult he placed it over his shoulders”. As to when the imam is required to do this, both Malik and al-Shafi T said c that he does this after delivering the sermon. Abu Yusuf held that he turns his cloak when the early part of the sermon is over. This has also been related from Malik. All of them maintain that if the imam turns his cloak while standing the people are to turn theirs while sitting, because of the words of the Prophet (God’s peace and blessings be upon him), “The imam has been appointed so that he be followed”. The exception are Muhammad ibn al- Hasan, al-Layth ibn SaM, and some of the disciples of Malik. The followers (behind the imam) in their view are not to turn their cloaks because of the imam's turning his, as this has not been reported in the traditions about the Prophet’s prayer when he led them. A group of jurists held that the time of departure for this prayer is the same as that of the Hd prayers, except for Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn cAmr ibn Hazm, who said that the time for departure for it is at the declining of the sun. It is reported by Abu Dawud from cA*isha “that the Messenger of Allah (God’s peace and blessings be upon him) departed for the supplication for rain when the rim of the sun had appeared”.