When is the supplication for guidance (istikharah) performed?

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Question:
Regarding the supplication for guidance (istikharah) — His Eminence the Shaykh — this questioner says: When is the supplication for guidance (istikharah) performed? Is it during prostration or after the closing salam of the two-unit prayer? And is it necessary for that supplication to begin with praise and eulogy of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him)?

Answer:
This is the best, without a doubt. This is the best: beginning with the prayer and blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh: Repeat his question.
The presenter: When is the supplication for guidance (istikharah) performed? Is it during prostration or after the closing salam of the two-unit prayer? And is it necessary for that supplication to begin with praise and eulogy of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The Shaykh: It is performed after the salam, and it begins with praise and eulogy. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

If any one of you is deliberating about a decision he has to make, then let him pray two Rak'ahs of non-obligatory prayer, then say: Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi 'ilmika

إذا هم أحدكم بأمر فليركع ركعتين من غير الفريضة، ثم يقول: اللهم إني أستخيرك بعلمك..

Sunan an-Nasa'i 3253Sahih (Darussalam)

to the end of it. So the Sunnah is to raise one's hands and supplicate after the two units, supplicating and raising one's hands, beginning with praising Allah and sending prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); because of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):

When any of you prays, he should begin with the glorification of his Rabb (Lord) and praise Him; he should then invoke blessings on the Prophet (ﷺ); thereafter he should supplicate Allah for anything he wishes.

إذا دعا أحدكم فليبدأ بتحميد ربه، والثناء عليه ثم يصلي على النبي ﷺ ثم يدعو بما شاء

Bulugh al-Maram 2:207

So the one who seeks guidance first: prays two units at a time of prayer... in the morning, or at night, or after the midday prayer. Then, when he says the salam, he raises his hands and seeks guidance, praises Allah, and sends prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then he says:

O Allah, I seek Your guidance by Your knowledge, and I seek Your power by Your ability, and I ask You of Your immense bounty. For You know and I do not know, and You have power and I do not have power, and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter — and he names it by its name — O Allah, if You know that this matter

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 باسمه - اللهم إن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر

— meaning: that this marriage to so-and-so, or my purchase of such-and-such property, or my travel to such-and-such place, he specifies it —

good for me in my religion or my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter - or he said: for my present and future - then make it easy for me, then bless me in it. If You know that this matter

خير لي في ديني ودنياي ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري فيسره لي ثم بارك لي فيه، وإن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 480Sahih (Darussalam)

— and names it by its name —

is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affair, 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 content with it.

شر لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري فاصرفه عني واصرفني عنه، وقدر لي الخير حيث كان ثم أرضني به

Sahih Ibn Hibban 7:282

This is how it came in the authentic hadith regarding istikharah. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.

Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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