How To Pray Salat-Ul-Istikhara

Source: Fiqh-us-Sunnah, volume 2, number 32 and volume 4, number 141.

Often, we have to make major life-changing decisions: whether to undertake a major project or not, whether to

apply for a promotion or not, whether to change career or not, whether to invest in a certain company or not,

whether to get married or not, whom to get married to, etc.

Istikhara (Arabic) means to ask Allah to guide one to the right thing concerning any affair in one’s life,

especially when one has to choose between two permissible alternatives, e.g. a career choice, getting married,

etc. Similarly, a traveller should consult good righteous persons before setting out on a journey, because Allah

says, “And consult them (O Prophet) in affairs (of moment),” (Qur’an, 3: 159) and one of the characteristics of

the believers is that “they (conduct) their affairs by mutual consultation” (Qur’an, 42: 38). Qatadah said, “Every

people who seek the pleasure of Allah and consult with one another are guided to the best course in their

affairs.” The traveller should also make istikharah and seek guidance from Allah.

Sa’ d ibn Waqas reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Istikharah (seeking guidance from Allah)

is one of the distinct favors (of Allah) upon man, and a good fortune for the son of Adam is to be pleased with

the judgment of Allah. And a misfortune of the son of Adam is his failure to make istikharah (seeking Allah’s

guidance), and a misfortune for the son of Adam is his displeasure with the judgment of Allah.” Ibn Taimiyyah

said, “He who seeks guidance from the Creator and consults the creatures will never regret it.”

Salatul Istikharah is a sunnah. 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:

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For a video on how to recite the Istikhara dua in Arabic, please to the following link:

http://makkah.wordpress.com/2006/12/25/before-any-major-decision-pray-salat-ul-istikhara/

Here are the English transliteration and translation of the above dua:

The Fiqh-us-Sunnah scholars maintain that there is nothing authentic concerning something specific (e.g.

specific qur’anic ayats, etc.) that is to be recited in the prayer nor is there any authentic report concerning how

many times one should repeat salat-ul-Istikhara.

An-Nawawi holds that “after performing the istikharah, a person must do what he is wholeheartedly inclined

to do and feels good about doing and should not insist on doing what he had desired to do before making the

istikharah. And if his feelings change, he should leave what he had intended to do, otherwise he is not

completely leaving the choice to Allah, and would not be honest in seeking aid from Allah’s power and

knowledge. Sincerity in seeking Allah’s choice, means that one should completely leave what he himself had

desired or determined.”

The above duas for salat ul Istikhara was derived from hadiths (referred above in Fiqh-us-Sunnah) and narrated

by Jabir bin Abdullah about Salat-ul-Istikhara in Sahih Bukhari (volume 2, hadith number 263 and again

volume 9, hadith 487).

“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 he should

mention it) 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.”

‘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 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 alkhaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi

How to pray Salat-ul-Istikhara step-by step:

1. Perform Wudu (the ablution) if you do not have it already.

2. Pray 2 raka’at either with the intention of praying Istikhara separately by itself or jointly with 2 rakat of,

for example, tahajjud.

3. Immediately after you have completed the 2 rakats, recite the abovementioned Istikhara Dua.

4. Name the deed you wish Allah to provide you with guidance about.

5. Follow An Nawawi’s advice on how to interpret Allah’s guidance (again see above).

6. There is no limit on the number of times you can pray Salat-ul-Istikhara.

If you have questions about Salat Istikhara, its applicability in specific circumstances or its interpretation, here is a link that may help you Insha Allah: the Islamonline website. This website is excellent because you can ask

some of the leading scholars in the Islamic world a specific question about your situation if you do not find an

answer in their fatwa bank.