Virtue and context
Anas ibn Malik (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) reported that while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was delivering the Friday sermon, a man entered the mosque and said that livestock were dying and roads had been cut off, asking the Prophet ﷺ to pray for rain. The Prophet ﷺ raised both hands and asked Allah for rain three times. Although no clouds had been visible, a cloud like a shield appeared from behind Mount Sila, spread across the sky, and brought rain that continued for a week.
The following Friday, a man complained that livestock were again dying and roads were cut off because of the rain. The Prophet ﷺ asked Allah to send it around them rather than upon them—over the plateaus, hills, valleys, and places where trees grow. The rain stopped, and the people left walking in sunshine. Sharik asked Anas whether the second man was the same as the first, but Anas did not know.
