Salaat-ul-Istikhaarah
Encyclopedia
Salaat-ul-Istikhaarah is a prayer recited by Muslims when in need of guidance on an issue in their life. The Salah is a two raka'ah Salah performed to completion followed by the supplications Salaat-ul-Istikhaarah.
“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to teach his companions to make istikhaarah in all things, just as he used to teach them soorahs from the Qur'aan. He (saw) said: ‘If any one of you is concerned about a decision he has to make, (or in the version narrated by Ibn Mas'ood as: ‘if any one of you wants to do something…) then let him pray two rak'ahs of non-obligatory prayer
A translation of the supplication is as follows Insha'Allah
:
"Oh Allaah, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge and I seek Your assistance by Your power and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You are able while I am not, and verily You know while I do not, and You are the knower of the Unseen. O Allaah, if You know this affair ( mention affair here ) to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life and aftermath, my present and future, then decree it and facilitate it for me, and bless me with it, and if You know this affair to be ill for me concerning my religion, my life and end, my present and future, then remove it from me and remove me from it, and decree for me what is good, whatever it may be, and make me satisfied with it."
Another Translation is as follows:
O Allaah, 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 Allaah, if in Your knowledge, this matter (then it should be mentioned by name) is good for me both in this world and in the Hereafter (or: in my religion, my livelihood and my affairs), 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.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa'i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad)
before entering into any Salah and so ablution must be performed before doing Salaat-ul-Istikhaarah.
Ibn Hajr said, commenting on this hadeeth:
“Istikhaarah 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."
Performing the Salah the intention should be made in ones heart and should be to perform two raka'ah
supererogatory al-Istikhaarah.
With the Salah completed one should immediately say the supplications al-Istikhaarah.
With the supplications completed one should have no doubts that Allāh
will answer their supplication, believing and relying on Allāh.
Description of the supplication Istikhaarah
The description of Salaat al-Istikhaarah was reported by Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah al-Salami who said:“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to teach his companions to make istikhaarah in all things, just as he used to teach them soorahs from the Qur'aan. He (saw) said: ‘If any one of you is concerned about a decision he has to make, (or in the version narrated by Ibn Mas'ood as: ‘if any one of you wants to do something…) then let him pray two rak'ahs of non-obligatory prayer
A translation of the supplication is as follows Insha'Allah
Insha'Allah
Insha'Allah is an Arabic term to indicate hope for an aforementioned event to occur in the future. The phrase translates into English as "God willing" or "If it is God's will", sometimes spoken as DV; the Latin abbreviation for Deo volente or simply "God willing"...
:
"Oh Allaah, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge and I seek Your assistance by Your power and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You are able while I am not, and verily You know while I do not, and You are the knower of the Unseen. O Allaah, if You know this affair ( mention affair here ) to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life and aftermath, my present and future, then decree it and facilitate it for me, and bless me with it, and if You know this affair to be ill for me concerning my religion, my life and end, my present and future, then remove it from me and remove me from it, and decree for me what is good, whatever it may be, and make me satisfied with it."
Another Translation is as follows:
O Allaah, 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 Allaah, if in Your knowledge, this matter (then it should be mentioned by name) is good for me both in this world and in the Hereafter (or: in my religion, my livelihood and my affairs), 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.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa'i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad)
Conditions of this Salah
One must perform ablutionWudu
Wuḍhu is the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body using water often in preparation for formal prayers...
before entering into any Salah and so ablution must be performed before doing Salaat-ul-Istikhaarah.
Ibn Hajr said, commenting on this hadeeth:
“Istikhaarah 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."
Performing the Salah the intention should be made in ones heart and should be to perform two raka'ah
Raka'ah
Rakaʿah are the prescribed movements and words followed by Muslims during salah .After turning to God in mind and ritual cleansing , the worshipper will stand quietly while reciting the first verses of the Qur'an. The second part of the rak'ah involves bowing low with hands on knees, as if...
supererogatory al-Istikhaarah.
With the Salah completed one should immediately say the supplications al-Istikhaarah.
With the supplications completed one should have no doubts that Allāh
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
will answer their supplication, believing and relying on Allāh.