Is it permissible for a mosque imam to call the people of his town to the prayer for rain (Salat al-Istisqa) and perform it with them alone, if the ruler of the state has caused the Sunnah of the prayer for rain to die out when rain ceases or wells dry up?

If the ruler does not command the performance of the Eid prayer or the prayer for rain (Istisqa'), it is permissible for the people of the town to perform them in the desert or in the mosques, because the Prophet legislated them for his Ummah. The Eid prayer is a communal obligation (fard kifaya) that Muslims are not allowed to abandon, and it has been said that it is an individual obligation (fard ayn) like the Friday prayer.