Salat al-Istikharah

"Lord creates and chooses whatever He wills—the choice is not theirs. Glorified and Exalted is Allah above what they associate ˹with Him˺!"

"Narrated by Hazrat Jabir ibn Abd-Allah al-Salami, he said, The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to teach us the rules of reciting Istikharah regarding our actions with the same importance as he would teach us a Surah of the Holy Quran. He used to say, "When one of you intends to do something (and is worried about its consequences), he should first pray two rak'ahs of voluntary prayer, then supplicate thus: O Allah, I choose You with Your knowledge and I seek Your guidance with Your ability, and I ask You of Your bounty, for You are the Knower of the unseen, O Allah, if You know that this is الأَمْرَ تسم تسميه بعينه خَيْرا لِي فَاجِلِ أَمْرِي وَآجِلِهِ قال او فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاقْدُرهُ لي وَيَسِرهُ لي ثُمْ بَارِك لي فِيهِ, ALLAH وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّه شَرٌّ لي في ديني وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي أَوْ قَالَ في عَاجِلِ امري وَآجِلِهِ, فَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ عَنِّى], And He has ordained for me good, as He was, and then He has pleased me with it. Pronunciation: Allah-humma ibi astakhiruka biilmika a astakdiruka bi qudratika a asaluka min fazbalikal azeem, faynaka taqdiru ala aqdiru ata'lamu ala a'lamu a anta Allah-mul-guyub. Allah-humma in kunta talamu anna ha-zal amar ( ) khairul li li deeni a maashi a aqibati amri a a-jilihi a a-jilih, faqdurhu li, a yassirhu li, summa ba-rik li fih. O Allah! I ask You for goodness with Your knowledge. I ask You for strength and Your grace with Your power. For You have the power; I have no power. You know, I have no knowledge, and You are fully aware of the unseen. O Allah! In Your knowledge, this matter of mine (will list my needs) for my present and future life, or if it is good for my religion, livelihood, and actions, then decree it for me. Make it easy for me and bless it. O Allah! And if, in Your knowledge, this act of mine is harmful to my religion, my livelihood, my actions, or to my present and future, then turn me away from it and keep it away from me. Ordain for me good in all things and make me content with it.”"

"Good things must be asked of Allah with all diligence, bad things cannot be asked of, and in all matters that have the potential or possibility of both good and bad, one must make istikhara."

"Sulát-ul-Istikhára.—Prayers for success or guidance. The person who is about to undertake any special business, performs two rakʾat prayers and then goes to sleep. During his slumbers he may expect to have "ilhám," or inspiration, as to the undertaking for which he seeks guidance!"

"I didn't talk much to Dadajan. He used to listen to the news on the transistor all the time. Sometimes he would go to the residence of a Pir Saheb named Hamid Qutubi, three miles away. He became a disciple of this Pir. When he couldn't hear the transistor, he would chant the prayers given by the Pir Saheb. Dadajan was terrified. His terror increased every day. He couldn't sleep at night. He would sit on a wicker chair on the veranda all night. One night, to know the future, he made istikhara. During istikhara, he saw a huge white bird with bright red eyes, come down from the sky, bite my hair and fly up into the sky. I was screaming, save me! save me! Dadajan, save me. Dadajan took a helicopter to save me. That helicopter was again being flown by a Pakistani pilot. He was shooting the bird with a pistol, as if he was flying a helicopter. No bullet hits the bird. It hits Avanti's cheek. Dadajan's Pir Hamid Qutubi interpreted the dream. Dadajan did not tell me what the interpretation was, but he became even more restless. All sorts of terrible news started coming from all sides. The military was bringing gunboats, burning houses, killing people indiscriminately, taking away young girls, all this. At one point, the military came to our area...."

"Miru put the sari on Auntie's head. Sultana said in a choked voice, will you marry Nasser? There is no need to say yes. If you remain silent, I will understand that you do not agree. - Auntie, sleep. So you have an opinion? Alhamdulillah. Miru said, you said if you remain silent, you will understand that I have an opinion. But I did not remain silent. I spoke. I said, Auntie, sleep. Sultana said, whether you like it or not, you will marry Nasser. I got this thing by praying Istikhara. - How did you get this thing? - Praying Istikhara. A method of knowing the future in dreams by reading prayers. - What did you see in your dream? In your dream, I saw you two eating rice from one plate. A big plate made of Chinese clay. - Does eating rice from one plate mean marriage? - Dreams of praying come like symbols. Symbols have to be interpreted. This is what comes in my interpretation. What is your interpretation? - My interpretation is that you sincerely want me to marry Nasser Sahib. You saw this thing in your dream because you want it. Wishful thinking to wishful dreaming. Aunty, did you fall asleep? Sultana did not answer. She really fell asleep."

"There is a way to ask the dead. This is called Istikhara. You have to go to sleep after reciting prayers and supplications. You have to sleep in the north-south direction, keeping your face pure. Your face should be turned towards the Kaaba."

"Sobahan's father arrived the day after his son's wedding. There was no way to recognize him. A full beard and moustache. Long Babri hair reaching to his neck. When he combed it with a comb, lice would fall out from there. The size of those lice was also huge. He became very enthusiastic about killing lice. He started keeping track of exactly how many lice he had killed. For example, one day, a total of seventy-seven lice had died. This was the biggest record. He shared this news with a smile, as if it were his. A great success. He also expressed great enthusiasm about the marriage of his eldest son. He kept saying countless times that the girl was a very auspicious sign. He is said to have come running after learning about this marriage by praying for blessings. He was seen chatting with his daughter-in-law from time to time. He stayed for almost a year, then left again and was never found again. Farid Ali passed IA. He got admitted to the BA class and failed the BA exam on time. Sobahan passed the IA. He started trying to get a job in Dhaka city. He got admitted to college and eventually passed the BA without any further studies."

"Istikhara (prayer for guidance) led me to Arsenal."

"Shadab’s family sent the proposal, and it all happened in few days since I had decided to marry off my daughter early according to the religious teachings. Shadab’s mother came with marriage proposal and said she won't leave my house until I say yes and that even if someone is a beggar or a king, he has to find his daughter's match and get her married; it is also Allah's will. You do Istikhara (seek guidance from Allah through prayers) and I will also do Istikhara. Besides, Shadab always offers his prayers five times a day. I had closely observed him. He used to gather all of us for namaz, It took me two days to decide and I said yes to them within two days and the rest is history. I consider myself fortunate because I solemnized my daughter’s Nikah and that too on the day when there was complete blackout in Pakistan.”"

"Imran did not woo the lady with romantic words or gestures like a conventional proposal. Reham was quite taken aback when Imran asked her what her parents names were and explained that he would like them to read the Istakhara or the special prayer before their wedding."