Salat al-Istikhaara ( ar, صلاة الاستخارة ), which translates to Prayer of Seeking Counsel, is a prayer recited by

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

who are in need of guidance from God Almighty (

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

) when facing a decision in their life. The prayer, known as

salah (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba wit ...

in Arabic is performed in two units of prayer or ''

raka'ah A Rak'ah ( ar, ركعة ', ; plural: ') is a single iteration of prescribed movements and supplications performed by Muslims as part of the prescribed obligatory prayer known as salah. Each of the five daily prayers observed by Muslims consist ...

'' followed by the

supplication Supplication (also known as petitioning) is a form of prayer, wherein one party humbly or earnestly asks another party to provide something, either for the party who is doing the supplicating (e.g., "Please spare my life.") or on behalf of someon ...

of ''Salat al-Istikhaara.''

Description of the prayer

The description of Salat al-Istikhaara which translates to "Prayer of Seeking Counsel" was narrated by the well known

disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

of the Islamic

prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

, Jabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah al-Salami, who said: "The Messenger of

used to teach his companions to seek counsel from

(Istikhaara) in all things, just as he used to teach them chapters from the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

. 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 units ''

'' of voluntary

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: O Allah, I seek Your guidance n making a choiceby 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, nd turn it away from me and ordain for me the good wherever it may be and make me pleased with it." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa'i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad)

Conditions of the prayer

One must

wash WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievin ...

themselves ahead of the ''Salat al-Istikharah,'' in the same manner as one would do when entering into any

. Ibn Hajr said, commenting on this hadith: "Istikharah is a word which means asking

to help one make a choice, meaning choosing the best of two things where one needs to choose one of them." With the salaa completed one should immediately say the

of ''Istikhaara''. 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

for deciding whether he should go for

hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

or not. Because if he is financially and physically able to do it then

is obligatory and he does not have a choice. But seeking counsel from

(''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 his disciples to seek counsel from Allah (''Istikhaara)'' for every matter just as he used to teach them the Sürah from the

. In another Hadith the Prophet Muhammad (“May Allah honor him and grant him peace” or “peace and blessings of Allah be upon him”) said: ''"He who seeks counsel from

(Istikhaara) will not fail and he who consults and seeks advice from people will not regret".''

Language

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: 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 biheeSahih Bukhari, Book 19, Chapter 25, Hadith 1162

References

{{Authority control Salah terminology