Istikhara (Seeking Guidance from Allah), and Consultation

[Zahida Raees Raji]

Suggestions from God -- Salah tul-Istikhara


Listen dua-e-istikhara
http://www.islamicacademy.org/html/audio/Dua/Istikhara.ram
Download dua-e-istikhara
http://www.islamicacademy.org/DUA.php?fname=Istikhara_A.rm

Suggestions from God -- Salah tul-Istikhara

Istikhara" means to seek goodness from Allah (Exalted is He), meaning when one intends to do an important task they do istikhara before the task. The one who does the istikhara is as if they request Allah Almighty that, O the Knower of Unseen (Exalted is He) guide me if this task is better for me or not?

WAY TO PERFORM ISTIKHARA:
First pray two cycles of ritual prayer [raka'] such that in the first raka' after Surah Fatiha (Allhamd…) recite Surah al-Kafirun (Chapter 109) and in the second raka' after Fatiha (Allhamd…) recite Surah al-Ikhlas (Chapter 112) and after finishing prayer [salam] then recite this (supplication/dua'):




TRANSLATION:
"O Allah! I seek goodness from Your Knowledge and with Your Power (and Might) I seek strength, and I ask from You Your Great Blessings, because You have the Power and I do not have the power. You Know everything and I do not know, and You have knowledge of the unseen. Oh Allah! If in Your Knowledge this action ------------------------------------------------ (which I intend to do) is better for my religion and faith, for my life and end [death], for here [in this world] and the hereafter then make it destined for me and make it easy for me and then add blessings [baraka'] in it, for me. O Allah! In Your Knowledge if this action is bad for me, bad for my religion and faith, for my life and end [death], for here [in this world] and the hereafter then turn it away from me and turn me away from it and whatever is better for me, ordain [destine] that for me and then make me satisfied with it."



And it is better to do istikhara seven (7) times and after reciting the supplication, given above, sleep with ablution facing the direction of the Qibla. It is better to recite Surah Fatiha (Allhamd…) and salutations on the Prophet Allah's Grace and Peace be upon him (darood/ salawat) before the supplication.
If in the dream one sees whiteness or greenery then understand that this task is better and if one sees redness or blackness then understand it is bad and avoid it.
If dont remember any dream or dont see any colors then follow your heart. Whatever intention grows stronger in your heart regarding your targated work follow it after seven days of Istakhara

[Zahida Raees Raji]

Q 1. What is the significance of Istikharah prayer? Is it true that one sees in the dream the correct decision for any problem? My parents tell me that I must pray Istikharah prayer before making any decision and I shall see the correct answer in my dream. I have tried that several times, but I did not see any thing. I shall appreciate if you kindly throw some light on this subject. (Anonymous from Thousand Oaks, California)


A 2. The word "istikaharah" means "to seek good or to desire well-being". In our life we are often faced with difficult decisions. We feel some kind of dilemma whether to do something or not to do. We try all our rational thinking and put together all the positives and negatives, evaluate every thing, but still we feel some sort of fear of the unknown. We hesitate to make a decision. People in these situations go sometimes to fortune-tellers, astrologers, palmists etc. In pre-Islamic times, Arabs used to consult oracles or used to draw the arrows. The Prophet -peace be upon him- said that all these things have no meaning. It is forbidden (haram) to consult the astrologers or soothsayers or to believe in their predictions. Instead the Prophet -peace be upon him- told us that we should turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and seek His help. He alone knows all the hidden things and only He has the perfect knowledge of the future. He has power to make things easy for us and guide us to right decisions. Doing Istikharah does not mean that one should not use one's reason or experience. Allah has commanded us in the Qur'an that we should use our intellect ('aql) and seek knowledge. If we do not know something then we should ask those who know. But human reason has limitations. We do not know every thing. Only Allah knows all things. When we are faced with a dilemma then we should turn to Allah.
The Companion of the Prophet (s) Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (r) said, "The Prophet-peace and blessings of Allah be upon him- used to teach us Istikharah in all our affairs, just as he used to teach us the Surah from the Qur'an. He used to say, 'When any of you intend to do some important thing, he should pray two rak'ah other than the obligatory (fard) prayers and then he should say, 'O Allah I seek the good from You on the basis of Your knowledge and I seek the strength from You on the basis of Your great power and I ask You something from Your great bounty. Surely, You possess power and I have no power; You know and I do not know. You are the knower of all the unseen things. O Allah, if according to Your knowledge this matter -mention the matter- is good for me spiritually and materially and with regard to its ultimate results, then ordain it for me and make its attainment easy for me and bless it for me. But if according to Your knowledge this matter is harmful for me, spiritually and materially and with regard to it ultimate results, then keep it away from me and keep me away from it. Ordain for me what is good and beneficial, wherever it be and make me satisfied and contented with it.'" (Reported in all the major books of Hadith except the Sahih of Muslim)
The best way is to pray two rak'ah nafl prayer and then sincerely say the above du'a of istikaharah. After that do whatever is best in your understanding or whatever convinces you. You may repeat this du'a several times if you are still hesitant. There is no need to dream about anything and you do not have to wait for an answer in your dreams. It is reported in a Hadith that the Prophet -peace be upon him- said, "O Anas, when you intend to do some important thing, then seek the good (istakhir) from your Lord seven times and then do that to which your heart (or mind) goes, because the good is in it." Most of the Ahadith on this subject do not talk about any dream. The famous Hanafi jurist Ibn 'Abideen, however, has suggested in his Hashiyah that one should make the Istikharah prayer before sleeping. One should sleep with Wudu. The face should be towards Makkah. If one sees something white or green in one's dream then the answer is yes, but if one sees some thing dark or red then the answer is no. Other jurists of Shafi'I, Maliki, Hanbali or Ja'fari schools say that one should do that which is most convincing (ma insharaha lahu al-sadr). According to Imam Malik, other people can also do Istikharah on behalf of someone.
There is nothing strange about dreams. If you did not see any dreams then it does not mean that dreams do not occur. After the Istikharah prayer, some people may see a dream and some may not. We know that some of our dreams become true dreams. Some time we see something in a dream and it happens exactly the same way later. As there are good dreams and bad dreams so there are also true dreams and false dreams. The interpretation of dreams is a special knowledge that some people have. In the Qur'an many dreams are mentioned. Prophet Ibrahim -peace be upon him- saw in his dream that he was sacrificing his son. Prophet Yusuf -peace be upon him- had dreams and Allah also gave him the knowledge of dream explanation. Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him- also used to explain sometimes the dreams of his companions.

[Nohani]

SISTER,

THANKS FOR THE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT ESTEKHARA

MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU

[samko]

-Allah

[saeedbaloch]

          
                   

[yahya. याहया]

SUBHAN ALLAH 
 

[Baloch Prince]

Mashallah..Jazakallah 

[yousef]

salam alaykum
jazakallah khay for illustration the topic really i`ll appreciate you for this research and its my biggest willing that all of our nationalist have such direction into islam and have knowledge of it.
قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه و سلم:الدال علی الخیر کفاعله.