 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Salat al-Istikhaara (Arabic:صلاة الاستخارة), which translates as Prayer of Seeking Counsel, is a prayer recited byMuslims who seek guidance fromGod when facing a decision in their life. The prayer, known assalah in Arabic, is performed in two units of prayer orraka'ah followed by thesupplication ofSalat al-Istikhaara. It was revealed as a permissible substitute ofbelomancy andaugury, which is haram in Islam, and was common in pre-Islamic Arabia.
After the death ofMuhammad, the method of digging his grave was selected through istikhara.[1] During the reign ofYazid ibn Muawiyah,Ibn Jubayr decided to rebuild the Kaaba after three days of istikhara.[2]
The description of Salat al-Istikhaara which translates to "Prayer of Seeking Counsel" was narrated by the well knowndisciple of the Islamicprophet Muhammad,Jabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah al-Salami, who said:[3]
The Messenger ofAllah used to teach his companions to seek counsel from Allah (Istikhaara) in all things, just as he used to teach them chapters from theQur'an. He said:
'If any one of you is concerned about a decision he has to make or wants to take an action then let him pray two unitsraka'ah of voluntarysalah prayer and say:
"O Allah, I seek Your counsel through Your knowledge and I seek Your assistance through Your might and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You alone decree our fate while I do not, and You know while I do not, and You alone possess all knowledge of the Unseen. O Allah, if You know this matter ( mention matter here ) to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life and livelihood and the end of my affairs, my present and future, then decree it for me and facilitate it for me, and then place blessing for me within it, and if You know this affair to be harmful for me concerning my religion, my life and livelihood and the end of my affairs, then remove it from me and remove me from it, and decree for me what is good, wherever it may be, and make me content with it."'
Another translation is as follows:[4]
O Allah, I seek Your guidance [in making a choice] by virtue of Your knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not. You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if in Your knowledge, this matter (then it should be mentioned by name) is good for me both in this world and the hereafter, then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge it is bad for me and for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs (or: for me both in this world and the next), then turn me away from it, [and turn it away from me], and ordain for me the good wherever it may be and make me pleased with it.
Umar told this quote as supplication of Istikhara,
اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ عَلِمْتَ فِيهِ خَيْرًا فَأَمْضِهِ, (allahumma in alimta feehi khairan fa-'amdih(i)) O Allah, if you know good in it, then make it done.[5][6]
Istikhara salat is prayed in case of seeking counsel about a matter, whereas either the action is worthy for oneself or the person is worthy of the action, asZaynab bint Jahsh prayed istikhara at the marriage proposal from prophetMuhammad, to ascertain whether she herself was worthy for the prophet, as scholars explain.
One mustwash themselves ahead of theSalat al-Istikharah, in the same manner as one would do when entering into anysalah.
Ibn Hajr said, commenting on this hadith:"Istikharah is a word which means asking Allah to help one make a choice, meaning choosing the best of two things where one needs to choose one of them."
With thesalaa completed one should immediately say thesupplication ofIstikhaara.
Istikhaara is done when a decision is to be made in matters which are neither obligatory nor prohibited. So one does not need to seek counsel from Allah for deciding whether he should go forhajj or not. Because if he is financially and physically able to do it then hajj is obligatory and he does not have a choice. But seeking counsel from Allah (Istikhaara) can be done in all kind of other permissible matters where a choice needs to be made such as buying something, taking a job, or choosing a spouse etc.
It is recorded in hadith that Muhammad used to teach hisdisciples to seek counsel from Allah (Istikhaara) for every matter just as he used to teach them the Sürah from theQur'an.[7]Scholars said that istikhara salat is any of two rakah prayers outside fard salat, either it is sunnah or nafl, and during menstruation, women can pray the supplication without prayer and also one can perform this salat in forbidden time in case of emergency.
It is recommended for all acts except the fard and the haram, and the scholars have forbidden any act to be considered unnecessary for Istikhara, because even a small matter can have important consequences, and even a small matter can cause harm. Because Muhammad said take the Lord's advice even in the matter of tying shoelaces.[8][9][10] Istikhara is also prescribed for taking Islamic political decisions where the solution can not be found in Quran and hadith clearly.[11]Tahir ibn Husayn advised to his sonAbdallah ibn Tahir after he had become a governor ofDiyar Rabi'a:
Whenever a matter of importance comes upon you, seek assistance in it by making istikharah to Allah and fearing him... and perform istikhara abundantly in all your matters.[12][13]
The original Arabic text is below, followed by transliteration using Latin characters.
It is also essential is that the reader's heart is sincerely rendered humble to God in full reliance and trust:
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
Allahumma innee astakheeruka bi ilmika wa-astaqdiruka biqudratika wa-as'aluka min fadhlika al-adheem. Fa innaka taqdiru walaa aqdiru. Wa ta'lamu walaa a'lamu wa anta 'alamul ghuyoob. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna haadhal-amra (mention your concern) khayrun liy fiy deeniy wa-ma'aashiy wa-'aaqibati amriy, faqdur hu liy wa-'yassir hu- liy thumma baarik liy feehi. Wa in-kunta ta'lamu anna haadhal amra sharrun liy fiy deeniy wa-ma'aashiy wa-'aaqibati amriy. Fa-srifhu 'annee wa-srifni 'anhu. Wa aqdur lial khayra haythu kaana thumma a-rdhiniy bihee[14]
Istishara orCounseling with worthy wise person is needed for fulfilling the istikhara. Istishara can be done before after or along with istikhara, but praying istikhara before istishara is the best and preferable according to hadith.
One can perform this salat as many times as desired while his doubt about the action persists. Scholars suggest that the narration of praying seven times or seven days is weak, therefore the number of praying in case of doubt is not limited, as CaliphOmar did Istikhara for one month before requestingAbu Bakr forcanonizing the Quran because he feared that it would be aBidah as prophet Muhammad neither did it himself nor ordered to do it. But after doing istikhara for one month he became surely convinced to take decision to do it.[15][16][17] Omar bin Khattab sought to collect hadith and did istikhara for a month and cancelled the decision in fear of it being mixed with Quran.[18][5] Abd al-Razzaaq narrated inal-Musannaf (10/301) fromIbn al-Musayyib that, "‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab wrote a document about the grandfather and kalaalah (issues of inheritance when a grandfather of the deceased was still living, or if the deceased left behind no children), and he continued to pray istikhaarah, saying, “O Allaah, if You know that there is some good in it then let it be.” Then when he was stabbed he called for the document, and erased it, and no one knew what was in it. He said: “I wrote something about the grandfather andkalaalah, and I prayed istikhaarah asking Allaah for guidance, then I decided to leave you as you are now.”[19][6]Imam Bukhari before writing eachHadith in hisSahih Bukhari, performed ablution, prayed two rakats and made Istikhara. If there was any doubt in his heart about the hadith then he would not have written it in Sahih Bukhari even though the hadith is authentic according to the conditions. Thus sitting in Masjid an-Nabawi, he started writing it and worked on this work for 16 consecutive years.[20]Al-Shafii said inKitab al-Umm that, "It was said that zakaah is due on jewellery for personal use, and this is what I pray istikhaarah about, asking Allaah for guidance. Al-Rabee’ said: He prayed istikhaarah, asking Allaah for guidance concerning it, and al-Shaafa’i said: There is no zakaah on jewellery for personal use."[19] MuhaddithIbn Hibban inal-Majrooheen says (1/194), "Bahz ibn Mu’aawiyah ibn Heedah al-Qushayri, one of the people of Basrah, who narrated from his father, from his grandfather; al-Thawri andHammaad ibn Salamah narrated from him. He made many mistakes. As for Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ishaaq ibn Ibraaheem (may Allaah have mercy on him), they quoted him as evidence and narrated from him, but a number of our imams ignored him. Were it not for the hadeeth, “We will take them [the camels that are due as zakaah] and half of his camels as the due of our Lord”, I would have included him amongthe thiqaat (trustworthy). He is one of those concerning whom I pray istikhaarah, asking Allaah for guidance."[19]
There are two sign of the result of istikhara
Scholars say that there are some common superstitions that certain things should be done to obtain a result through istikhara, such as sleeping and seeking signs in dreams, which they reject as there are no trustworthy references in Quran or Hadith about that.[21]
وما جاء في بعض الآثار أن بعض الصحابة كان يستخير لأمر ما كما فعل عمر في جمع القرآن استخار الله شهراً فهذا يعني الاستخارة بالمعنى اللغوي وهو طلب الخيرة، أي أنه دعا شهراً لذلك الأمر حتى شرح الله صدره له، وليس الاستخارة هنا ما جاء في هيئة الحديث من صلاة ركعتين والدعاء المخصوص فيه!!!... ما جاء في بعض الآثار أن بعض الصحابة كان يستخير لأمر ما كما فعل عمر في جمع القرآن استخار الله شهراً فهذا يعني الاستخارة بالمعنى اللغوي وهو طلب الخيرة، أي أنه دعا شهراً لذلك الأمر حتى شرح الله صدره له، وليس الاستخارة هنا ما جاء في هيئة الحديث من صلاة ركعتين والدعاء المخصوص فيه!!! ورُوي أنه كان يَسْتَخِيرُ اللَّهَ في الأمر ويَقُولُ: «اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ عَلِمْتَ فِيهِ خَيْرًا فَأَمْضِهِ». 29 استخدم أهل العلم عبارة "أستخير الله" في بعض الرواة ونحو ذلك أيضاً بالمعنى اللغوي بإمعان النظر حتى يصل لرأي فيه. (What is mentioned in some narrations that some of the companions used to seek guidance from Allah for a certain matter, as 'Umar did in collecting the Quran, seeking guidance from Allah for a month. This means seeking guidance in the linguistic sense, which is asking for the best. That is, he supplicated for a month for that matter until Allah opened his heart to it. The istikhara here is not what is mentioned in the hadith form of praying two rak'ahs and the specific supplication for it!!! What is mentioned in some narrations that some of the companions used to seek guidance from Allah for a certain matter, as 'Umar did in collecting the Quran, seeking guidance from Allah for a month. This means seeking guidance from Allah in the linguistic sense, which is asking for the best. That is, he supplicated for a month for that matter until Allah opened his heart to it. The istikhara here is not what is mentioned in the hadith form of praying two rak'ahs and the specific supplication for it!!! It was narrated that he used to seek guidance from Allah in the matter and say: "O Allah, if You know good in it, then carry it out." 29 Scholars used the phrase "I seek guidance from Allah" in some narrations and the like also in the linguistic sense with careful consideration until arriving at an opinion on it.)
Salah (Islamic prayer) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories and types |
|  | ||||||||||
| Prayer unit (raka'ah) and its constituents |
| |||||||||||
| Mosque |
| |||||||||||
| Conditions |
| |||||||||||
