How does the one seeking guidance in the prayer of istikharah know what is best for him?
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The questioner: All right, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: In the prayer of istikharah, how does the one seeking guidance know, I mean, what is best for him?
The Shaykh: Is it in istikharah that one should know? No?
The questioner: No, it is not.
The Shaykh: So where did this question come from?
The questioner: All right, and when one asks Allah (Mighty and Majestic)
The Shaykh: Where did the question come from?
The questioner: Can I repeat my question, perhaps?
The Shaykh: No, why would you repeat it? I gave you the answer, didn't I?
The questioner : How?
The Shaykh: And I repeated the answer to you?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: All right, I am repeating the question to you.
The questioner: I want to repeat the question in a different way because perhaps my idea is not clear.
The Shaykh: Do you mean it should be a verbal disagreement or a conceptual one?
The questioner: No, no, my idea is perhaps not clear.
The Shaykh: Good, if Allah wills, go ahead.
The questioner: When a person prays istikharah, after the prayer he supplicates to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and says, "O Allah, if You know that there is good in this matter..."
The Shaykh: ...and so on.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: So what is the result of the prayer?
The Shaykh: Abu Faris.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh: You have made us unnecessary.
The student: No, Shaykh, but we are talking about this same issue.
Another student : It became, Shaykh, there is a Shaykh there, hehehe.
The Shaykh: Yes, after the istikharah.
The questioner: What is the result of the prayer of istikharah?
The student: Abu Faris, sit down, may Allah have mercy on your parents.
The Shaykh: The result is mentioned in the introduction, in the introduction of the hadith. What does it say:Sahih al-Bukhari 1166, and it mentions the supplication. The result is that you proceed to your work after the istikharah, and that is all, and the rest is up to Allah. Now, did you ask the question well, or did you express your question well?
The questioner: All right, excuse me.
The Shaykh: Like this, now we need to speak objectively.
The questioner: How? No, no.
The Shaykh: Answer the question, may Allah guide you.
The student: Say yes.
The questioner: What is the question? I did not understand.
The Shaykh: Hehehe.
The questioner: You asked two questions, saying you understood and you did not understand.
The Shaykh: This is the problem with all groups; when they ask a question, they do not pay attention to the one answering and what he says. So I am asking a question; I am asking a question just as you ask a question of me, do I have the right or not?
The questioner: Go ahead, go ahead.
The Shaykh: All right, when I am the one answering, my duty is to understand the question correctly. And when you are the questioner, you will one day be the one answering, so your duty is also to understand the question. All right, I have now told you, after you refined the question, did you refine it? You refined the question and I gave you the answer. Did you feel that you asked the question well?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: All right, and did you get the answer?
The questioner: There remained a simple question about it, I mean, the answer is not complete.
The Shaykh: Also, adjust it a little now.
The questioner: No, I understood your answer, O Shaykh, but there is another question, I mean, on the same topic.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: Does the prayer of istikharah require that if you go to the work for which you sought guidance from Allah (Mighty and Majestic)...?
The Shaykh: That is the meaning of the statement, may Allah guide you. I told you, after the istikharah, proceed to the work. I told you, and perhaps you remember, "the rest is up to Allah." What does "the rest is up to Allah" mean? If Allah knows that this work for which you sought guidance is good, He will make it easy for you. And if He knows otherwise, He will hinder it for you.
The questioner: So can we say, O our Shaykh,
The Shaykh: Excuse me, you finally got your point.
The questioner: Praise be to Allah, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: All right.
The student: O our Shaykh, can we say that the hindering of the work is that Allah does not want it for you? Do you, the one seeking guidance, know that this means Allah was not pleased with it for you? Yes, this is its sign. It is not like what they say, "O our Shaykh, he sees a good dream or something," from this empty talk. Yes.
The Shaykh: In my time, a case happened to me that was strange. I traveled for the first time to the Hijaz and then to Riyadh by a cargo truck. It broke down on the road, and the radiator started boiling. Every time it boiled, we poured water in until the water ran out to cool it. But because of how often it broke down, we ran out of water. The radiator got hot, and we had no more water. The truck stopped, and we were with a caravan, and it turned out that we...
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: In the prayer of istikharah, how does the one seeking guidance know, I mean, what is best for him?
The Shaykh: Is it in istikharah that one should know? No?
The questioner: No, it is not.
The Shaykh: So where did this question come from?
The questioner: All right, and when one asks Allah (Mighty and Majestic)
The Shaykh: Where did the question come from?
The questioner: Can I repeat my question, perhaps?
The Shaykh: No, why would you repeat it? I gave you the answer, didn't I?
The questioner : How?
The Shaykh: And I repeated the answer to you?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: All right, I am repeating the question to you.
The questioner: I want to repeat the question in a different way because perhaps my idea is not clear.
The Shaykh: Do you mean it should be a verbal disagreement or a conceptual one?
The questioner: No, no, my idea is perhaps not clear.
The Shaykh: Good, if Allah wills, go ahead.
The questioner: When a person prays istikharah, after the prayer he supplicates to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and says, "O Allah, if You know that there is good in this matter..."
The Shaykh: ...and so on.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: So what is the result of the prayer?
The Shaykh: Abu Faris.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh: You have made us unnecessary.
The student: No, Shaykh, but we are talking about this same issue.
Another student : It became, Shaykh, there is a Shaykh there, hehehe.
The Shaykh: Yes, after the istikharah.
The questioner: What is the result of the prayer of istikharah?
The student: Abu Faris, sit down, may Allah have mercy on your parents.
The Shaykh: The result is mentioned in the introduction, in the introduction of the hadith. What does it say:
If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say
إذا هَمَّ أحدكم بالأمر فليُصَلِّ لله ركعتين من غير الفريضة ، ثم ليقُلْThe questioner: All right, excuse me.
The Shaykh: Like this, now we need to speak objectively.
The questioner: How? No, no.
The Shaykh: Answer the question, may Allah guide you.
The student: Say yes.
The questioner: What is the question? I did not understand.
The Shaykh: Hehehe.
The questioner: You asked two questions, saying you understood and you did not understand.
The Shaykh: This is the problem with all groups; when they ask a question, they do not pay attention to the one answering and what he says. So I am asking a question; I am asking a question just as you ask a question of me, do I have the right or not?
The questioner: Go ahead, go ahead.
The Shaykh: All right, when I am the one answering, my duty is to understand the question correctly. And when you are the questioner, you will one day be the one answering, so your duty is also to understand the question. All right, I have now told you, after you refined the question, did you refine it? You refined the question and I gave you the answer. Did you feel that you asked the question well?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: All right, and did you get the answer?
The questioner: There remained a simple question about it, I mean, the answer is not complete.
The Shaykh: Also, adjust it a little now.
The questioner: No, I understood your answer, O Shaykh, but there is another question, I mean, on the same topic.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: Does the prayer of istikharah require that if you go to the work for which you sought guidance from Allah (Mighty and Majestic)...?
The Shaykh: That is the meaning of the statement, may Allah guide you. I told you, after the istikharah, proceed to the work. I told you, and perhaps you remember, "the rest is up to Allah." What does "the rest is up to Allah" mean? If Allah knows that this work for which you sought guidance is good, He will make it easy for you. And if He knows otherwise, He will hinder it for you.
The questioner: So can we say, O our Shaykh,
The Shaykh: Excuse me, you finally got your point.
The questioner: Praise be to Allah, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh: All right.
The student: O our Shaykh, can we say that the hindering of the work is that Allah does not want it for you? Do you, the one seeking guidance, know that this means Allah was not pleased with it for you? Yes, this is its sign. It is not like what they say, "O our Shaykh, he sees a good dream or something," from this empty talk. Yes.
The Shaykh: In my time, a case happened to me that was strange. I traveled for the first time to the Hijaz and then to Riyadh by a cargo truck. It broke down on the road, and the radiator started boiling. Every time it boiled, we poured water in until the water ran out to cool it. But because of how often it broke down, we ran out of water. The radiator got hot, and we had no more water. The truck stopped, and we were with a caravan, and it turned out that we...
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.