United Arab Emirates AE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is urging residents to pray for rain this Friday: There is a popular story listed on WikiIslam as “Allah, rain there, not here!” It chronicles a time when livestock were dying and roads were cut off so nobody had access to water. While the Prophet Mohammed was delivering a sermon or Khutba in the mosque, a man asked him to pray to Allah for rain.
Even though there was not a cloud in the sky, according to the Wiki entry, “Allah’s Apostle…raised both his hands and said, ‘O Allah! Bless us with rain. O Allah! Bless us with rain. O Allah! Bless us with rain!” And sure enough, a giant cloud emerged and the rain poured forth.
But it was too much rain and the livestock were dying, so a man entered the mosque the following Friday during prayers to ask the Prophet Mohammed to ask Allah to make the rain desist. He did, the rain stopped, and nobody knew if it was the same man both times.
In this tradition, President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has called for residents of the United Arab Emirates to pray for rain this Friday at 8am in mosques throughout the country, reports Gulf News.
This is not uncommon in the Middle East. Religious leaders in Jordan frequently urge followers to perform the Al Istisqaa prayer during the dry season. Weather forecasts call for a sunny Friday in Abu Dhabi with a maximum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius.
:: Gulf News
image via Aih, flickr
More on praying for rain: