Syria

Rain Prayers for Syria
Discovery Earth Alert, Nov. 30, 1999

Special Moslem prayers will be conducted in drought-stricken Syria on Friday to ask for rain, the state media reported on Monday. A severe continuing drought in Syria this year has had a serious effect on the country's agriculture, slashing grain production and diminishing exports of cereal crops. The country's President Hafez al-Assad called for the rain prayers, known in Arabic as "istisqa'a," to be held at the Ommayad mosque in the city of Damascus. Moslems participating in the prayers have been asked by the Ministry of Religious Endowments to fast three days before reciting the prayers and to denounce "all sins and wrongdoings for the sake of the nation." The istisqa'a are recited in times of drought in several other Middle Eastern Arab countries as well.