🔵 Narrated Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah: ❝The Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach us the way of doing istikhara in all matters, as he (ﷺ) taught us the surahs of the Qur’an.❞ [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1166]
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This hadith shows how important istikhara is – it’s as important as learning the Qur’an!
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Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide us to the right decision that is good for our religion, dunya, and hereafter. So for example, let’s say I’m planning to buy a car. I’ve done my research, and consulted with those who are experts in cars. I’ve narrowed it down to 2 choices and I am just slightly leaning towards the Corolla, but I’m still unsure on which of the two cars I should ultimately get.
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At this point one should make istikhara. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
🔵 ❝When one of you has a matter of concern, let him perform two raka’at of prayer, besides the obligatory prayers.❞ [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1166]
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So first, pray 2 raka’at of voluntary prayer. Then at the end of the prayer, recite the istikhara du’a (please refer to the image for the du’a). One scholarly opinion is to make the du’a before the tasleem (i.e. the salaam at the end of the prayer).
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In the istikhara du’a, we mention the choice that we’re slightly leaning towards. So I recite the du’a and include: “If You know that the Corolla is good for me…” and complete the rest of the du’a.
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Alhamdulillah, I’ve done my istikhara. Do I now wait for a dream?
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No. There is nothing that we’re aware of in the shari’ah that says dreams are the responses of our istikhara. So, what do we do afterwards?
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We proceed with the choice that we’re slightly leaning towards, the one that we mentioned in our istikhara. If everything goes smoothly, and we got our Corolla, then that is what is best for us. But if there were restrictions and difficulties in attaining the Corolla (for example, it was sold out), then we move on to our second choice. Allah will guide us to the choice that is khayr.
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This is how we do proper istikhara, and I encourage everyone to memorize the du’a.
