Minister Of Religion Invites Muslims To Hold Istisqa Prayers Asking For Rain

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. (ANTARA/HO-Kemenag)

The Ministry of Religion invites Muslims to hold Istisqa prayers or pray asking for rain, along with the long dry season that occurs in Indonesia and causes a number of areas to experience drought.

"The Ministry of Religion invites Muslims to perform the Istisqa Prayer or prayer asking for rain," said Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as reported by ANTARA, Friday, September 15.

The Minister of Religion said that according to his name, al-istisqa', was asking for a living water (thalab al-saqaya). The fiqh scholars defined the Istisqa prayer as the sunnah muakadah prayer that was carried out to ask Allah SWT to make it rain.

The Prophet MuhammadSAW once performed the Istisqa prayer, as told through the history of Abu HurairahRA.

According to Yaqut, the Istisqa prayer is part of an inner effort as well as a form of slavery to Allah SWT.

"We ask that Allah will send heavy rain evenly, irrigate, fertilize, benefit without harm, immediately without delay. Amen," he said.

The implementation of the Istisqasama prayer with Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha prayers. After Takbiratul Ihram, perform takbir seven times in the first meeting, and five takbir in the second meeting.

After reading the letter Al-Fatihah and others, then rukuk, prostrate until sitting tahiyyat then greeting.

Khatib then delivered the same sermon as the Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha sermons. The sermon is recommended to invite Muslims to repent, ask for forgiveness for all sins, and increase istighfar in the hope that Allah SWT will grant what is the need for Muslims and other living things during a long dry season.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that the new rainy season will occur around November after the dry dry dry dry season decreases in intensity in October.

Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati said the peak of the dry dry dry dry dry season occurred in mid-August to September with an increasing heat intensity.

"Later, after entering October, it will begin to decrease, it will decrease but it is still dry. Now it is predicted that this rain will be in November," said Dwikorita.

Dwikorita explained that the weather phenomenon of El Nino is still happening. In fact, it peaked in October-November. On the other hand, Indonesia benefited from the arrival of the rainy season from November.

However, he continued, conditions are different in the regions of West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara, as well as South Papua, which is predicted to still experience dry dry water quite strongly until early December.