SEEKING ALLAH'S GUIDANCE IN ALL MATTERS
How does one pray Salat ul Istikhara?
Salatul Istikharah is a sunnah of the Prophet (s). It is a prayer that one may pray if one must choose between permissible alternatives: it is two non-obligatory rak’at (that can be recited separately or in combination with the regular sunnah prayers or the prayer for entering the mosque […] during any time of the day or night, and to recite therein whatever one wishes of the Qur’an after reciting al-Fatihah. After the two-rak’ats, one praises Allah and sends salutations to the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam and recites the following supplication which has been recorded by al-Bukhari in Jabir’s hadith (see full text below) : “The Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would teach us al-istikhara for all of our affairs as he would teach us a surah from the Qur’an. He said: ‘If one of you is deliberating over an act, he should pray two non-obligatory rak’at and say: “ O Allah, I consult You as You are All-Knowing and I appeal to You to give me power as You are Omnipotent, I ask You for Your great favor, for You have power and I do not, and You know all of the hidden matters . O Allah ! If you know that this matter ( then the person reciting the du’a should mention the matter for which he is seeking Allah’s Guidance ) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then make it (easy) for me. And if you know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, my livelihood and my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then keep it away from me and take me away from it and choose what is good for me wherever it is and please me with it .”
The following hadith (referred above in Fiqh-us-Sunnah) is narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah about Salat-ul-Istikhara in Sahih Bukhari (volume 2, hadith number 263 and again volume 9, hadith 487):
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Quran. He said, “ If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two Rakat prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer) :
‘Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi’ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa asaluka min fadlika al-‘azim Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta’lamu Wala a’lamu, Wa anta ‘allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta’lam anna hadha-l-amra ( then the person reciting the du’a should mention the matter for which he is seeking Allah’s Guidance ) Khairun li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri ( or ‘ajili amri wa’ajilihi) Faqdirhu li wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta’lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri ( or fi’ajili amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi. ‘
Note from Rafik Beekun : I have included the french, german and spanish translations of the above dua at the end of this post.
Similar hadiths were reported by Jabir (r) in Sahih Bukhari (volume 8, hadith number 391).
Note from Rafik Beekun: If you have trouble with the arabic version of the dua for Istikhara, here is a dua video where the dua is being recited in arabic. Both the arabic version of the du’a, its english transliteration, and translation are included. Please use it to practice reciting the dua correctly before praying Salat Istihara:
Salat ul Istikhara: Prayer for consultation
Memorizer for the du’a for Salat ul Istikhara
If you cannot view the above video clip, please click here to hear the MP3 version of it .
To summarize, here is how you pray Salat-ul-Istikhara step-by step:
Perform Wudu (the ablution) if you do not have it already.
Pray 2 raka’at either with the intention of praying Istikhara separately by itself or jointly with two non-obligatory rak’at (e.g. the regular sunnah prayers or the prayer for entering the mosque, or tahajjud.) Please make sure that you are not praying during the three times when it is undesirable to pray [The Prophet (s) said: “There is no prayer after the Fajr until the sun (sufficiently) rises; and there is no prayer after the ‘Asr until the sun completely sets.” [Muslim, 1041, agreed upon]. Again, in another hadith reported in Muslim 1040, it is narrated: “ Three were the times at while Allah’s Messenger ( ) forbade us from praying or burying our dead (ie. funeral prayer): when the sun begins to rise until it is fully up; when the sun is at its height until it passes the meridian; and when the sun begins to set until it is completely set. [Muslim, 1040]”
Please note if istikhaarah is done for something that is immediate and cannot be delayed, then this prayer may be performed at a time when prayer is not allowed, such as if a person wants to travel after รข��Asr prayer. But if the matter is not immediate and the prayer can be delayed until after the time.
How does one pray Salat ul Istikhara?
Salatul Istikharah is a sunnah of the Prophet (s). It is a prayer that one may pray if one must choose between permissible alternatives: it is two non-obligatory rak’at (that can be recited separately or in combination with the regular sunnah prayers or the prayer for entering the mosque […] during any time of the day or night, and to recite therein whatever one wishes of the Qur’an after reciting al-Fatihah. After the two-rak’ats, one praises Allah and sends salutations to the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam and recites the following supplication which has been recorded by al-Bukhari in Jabir’s hadith (see full text below) : “The Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam would teach us al-istikhara for all of our affairs as he would teach us a surah from the Qur’an. He said: ‘If one of you is deliberating over an act, he should pray two non-obligatory rak’at and say: “ O Allah, I consult You as You are All-Knowing and I appeal to You to give me power as You are Omnipotent, I ask You for Your great favor, for You have power and I do not, and You know all of the hidden matters . O Allah ! If you know that this matter ( then the person reciting the du’a should mention the matter for which he is seeking Allah’s Guidance ) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then make it (easy) for me. And if you know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, my livelihood and my life in the Hereafter, (or he said: ‘for my present and future life,’) then keep it away from me and take me away from it and choose what is good for me wherever it is and please me with it .”
The following hadith (referred above in Fiqh-us-Sunnah) is narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah about Salat-ul-Istikhara in Sahih Bukhari (volume 2, hadith number 263 and again volume 9, hadith 487):
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Quran. He said, “ If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two Rakat prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer) :
‘Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi’ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa asaluka min fadlika al-‘azim Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta’lamu Wala a’lamu, Wa anta ‘allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta’lam anna hadha-l-amra ( then the person reciting the du’a should mention the matter for which he is seeking Allah’s Guidance ) Khairun li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri ( or ‘ajili amri wa’ajilihi) Faqdirhu li wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta’lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma’ashi wa’aqibati amri ( or fi’ajili amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi. ‘
Note from Rafik Beekun : I have included the french, german and spanish translations of the above dua at the end of this post.
Similar hadiths were reported by Jabir (r) in Sahih Bukhari (volume 8, hadith number 391).
Note from Rafik Beekun: If you have trouble with the arabic version of the dua for Istikhara, here is a dua video where the dua is being recited in arabic. Both the arabic version of the du’a, its english transliteration, and translation are included. Please use it to practice reciting the dua correctly before praying Salat Istihara:
Salat ul Istikhara: Prayer for consultation
Memorizer for the du’a for Salat ul Istikhara
If you cannot view the above video clip, please click here to hear the MP3 version of it .
To summarize, here is how you pray Salat-ul-Istikhara step-by step:
Perform Wudu (the ablution) if you do not have it already.
Pray 2 raka’at either with the intention of praying Istikhara separately by itself or jointly with two non-obligatory rak’at (e.g. the regular sunnah prayers or the prayer for entering the mosque, or tahajjud.) Please make sure that you are not praying during the three times when it is undesirable to pray [The Prophet (s) said: “There is no prayer after the Fajr until the sun (sufficiently) rises; and there is no prayer after the ‘Asr until the sun completely sets.” [Muslim, 1041, agreed upon]. Again, in another hadith reported in Muslim 1040, it is narrated: “ Three were the times at while Allah’s Messenger ( ) forbade us from praying or burying our dead (ie. funeral prayer): when the sun begins to rise until it is fully up; when the sun is at its height until it passes the meridian; and when the sun begins to set until it is completely set. [Muslim, 1040]”
Please note if istikhaarah is done for something that is immediate and cannot be delayed, then this prayer may be performed at a time when prayer is not allowed, such as if a person wants to travel after รข��Asr prayer. But if the matter is not immediate and the prayer can be delayed until after the time.
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