Istikhaarah – Salah and Dua

▪ Istikhaarah

The term Istikhaarah linguistically originates from the Arabic word khair. It means to seek that which has khair, that which entails goodness. Istikhaarah is consulting Allah and seeking His guidance, wisdom, and goodness in our matters.

Imam Bukhari recorded that Jabir bin Abdullah rA narrated: The Prophet ﷺ used to teach us the way of doing Istikharaah in all matters as he taught us the Surahs of the Quran. He said, “If anyone of you thinks of doing any job, he should offer a two rakaat prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer):

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاقْدُرْهُ لِي وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ، وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ، وَاقْدُرْ لِي الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرْضِنِي بِهِ

“O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not, and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this matter [mention the matter here] is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter, then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this matter [mention the matter here] is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter, then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me and make me satisfied with it.”

Decision making over a matter consists of three steps. To begin with we must use our intellect, evaluate all the options available to us, take into consideration our current situation, examine and research the matter at hand.

The next step is to consult people of knowledge and experience in the area pertaining to our matter. This is also called Istishaarah. Once we have come to a final decision after carefully going through the first two steps, the third and final step is Istikhaarah. Now that we have come to a decision and want Allah to place khair in it, it is time to pray two rakah, make the dua of istikhaarah and go forth with the decision.

Istikhaarah can be done for anything big or small. Changing jobs, moving from one city to another, considering a marriage proposal, enrolling into a university etc. When doing Istikhaarah we ask Allah, if it is good for us then allow it to take place and if it is bad for us, then take it away from us. Subsequently, we implement our decision knowing that Allah will facilitate the path we have chosen if there is khair in it for us. However, if that decision is not good for us, He will block that path, thereby protecting us from harm.