How does a Muslim perform the prayer for guidance (istikharah)? And what is its method?
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The questioner : How does a Muslim perform the prayer for guidance (istikharah)?
The Shaykh : When a person intends to do something but the correct course is not clear to him and he has not made a firm decision, he should pray two rak'ahs that are not part of the obligatory prayer. Then, after praying the two rak'ahs, he says: If it becomes clear to him what to do after that, he does it. If it does not become clear, he repeats the prayer for guidance (istikharah) again until what Allah has chosen for him becomes the stronger preference in his mind.
The questioner : May Allah thank you and magnify your reward.
The Shaykh : When a person intends to do something but the correct course is not clear to him and he has not made a firm decision, he should pray two rak'ahs that are not part of the obligatory prayer. Then, after praying the two rak'ahs, he says:
O Allah, I seek Your guidance by Your knowledge, and I seek Your power by Your might, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You know and I do not know, and You have power and I do not. You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter—and he names it—is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affair, or in the immediate or deferred part of it, then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and then bless it for me. And if You know that this matter is evil for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affair, or in the immediate or deferred part of it, then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and decree for me the good wherever it may be, and then make me satisfied with it.
اللهم إني أستخيرك بعلمك، وأستقدرك بقدرتك، وأسألك من فضلك العظيم، فإنك تعلم ولا أعلم، وتقدر ولا أقدر، وأنت علام الغيوب، اللهم إن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر ويسميه، خير لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري، أو عاجل أمري وآجله فاقدره لي ويسره لي، ثم بارك لي فيه، وإن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر شر لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري أو عاجل أمري وآجله، فاصرفه عني واصرفني عنه، واقدر لي الخير حيث كان ثم أرضني بهThe questioner : May Allah thank you and magnify your reward.