| Subject: Istikhaarah....The Seeking of Divine Guidance |
Author:
shazB
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Date Posted: 13:52:04 06/30/01 Sat
Guidance from Allah
I want to tell you about a beautiful habit of Nabi Kareem. In the life of a person it is very important to consider ones future. Islam is such that if you acquire the right knowledge, it is possible to receive guidance about that future, and thereby to know whether something will be good or bad for one. In other words many things that are written in your fate or life cannot be disclosed at all, but Islam teaches you through the example of Rasoolullah, that you can get a message about an outcome and thereby receive a forecast about the future. The Muslim will not be deprived of anything.
For example, I want to do something but I don’t know whether it will be good or bad for me. Say I want to study for a degree. I cannot tell whether this degree will be good or bad for me. Likewise if I want a certain job - I don’t know whether it will be good for me or not. I want to get married but I don’t know if whether this marriage will be right for me. Who knows? No one can tell you the answers for no one has the knowledge, but Islam teaches that you can receive the right message from Allah about what is good for you and what is bad. See how great it is! There is no solution anywhere except, Alhumdulillah, for the Muslim, who can find out whether something will be good for him or not. Should you travel to Scotland or not? Is this career move correct? The answer to every decision in your life can be made known by Allah to the individual. I would like to teach you this way of seeking divine guidance.
This is an aspect of the Sunnah and Islam is incomplete without the Sunnah, the way of Nabi Kareem. For Islam is not only about belief in Allah. No, you also have to believe in Nabi-e-Kareem, and you have to put the practical teaching of Islam into your life. If you take away the Sunnah then there is no Islam. Islam is a complete package, and when a Muslim embraces Islam he should believe in both parts of the kalima, ‘Laailaha illallah’ and ‘Muhammadur Rasoolullah’. We have not realised this if we are thinking that it is not necessary to follow the Sunnah. That is not Islam at all. Islam means that you have to practise both parts of the kalima.
I will now tell you how we can make our life easy by not having any confusion about decision making - and life is full of decisions that we all have to make. At each and every step in your life you need guidance, and what greater guidance can there be than the guidance of Allah. There is a hadith, “Makhaaba ministikhaara wa la nazambin istikhaar”. This was stated by Nabi-e-Kareem. Nabi-e-Kareem tells us how to get advice from Allah Ta’ala. In Arabic it is called ‘Istikhaarah’. It is a very well known word, but unfortunately although many people are aware about istikhaarah, they don’t practise it. This is due to weakness in our Imaan.
Success through Istikhaarah
Rasoolullah has stated that the person who does not do istikhaarah in his life is an unfortunate person. He is very unsuccessful in his life. Look how important it is, yet we still ignore it. Rasoolullah stated “There is great good fortune for a person who performs istikhaarah”. If a person asks Allah for advice he is lucky. If he does not seek advice from Allah, then he is very unlucky. These ahadith tell us that it is to our benefit to do istikhaarah, but because we are in such a hurry in our lives, we do whatever comes into our minds.
Sometimes we may think something is of benefit to us but in reality there is harm in it. Another hadith concerns those people who make istikhaarah. It states that if they put into practise the guidance of their istikhaarah, Allah promises that they won’t be unsuccessful in their lives. They won’t get any harm or loss. A Muslim should do istikhaarah at each and every step of his life - such is the importance of istikhaarah.
Now I will tell you the context for istikhaarah. Firstly it is from the Qur’an, so it is not a superstitious thing. The dream that Allah showed to Yusuf is like istikhaarah. This is the example from the Qur’an, when Yusuf saw the eleven stars and so on. Istikhaarah is about taking away the doubts in a choice that you have before you. There is always doubt when the question arises as to whether a thing is good or bad for you. If you are considering getting to get married, you wonder: is this girl good or bad for me? A job - is it good for me or bad? Travelling - shall I go from Manchester to Ireland and back again?
Who can tell these things? Sometimes it can be deceiving when a proposition looks attractive. Say you find a job in London. You see no harm in it, so you move without delay. But you didn’t do istikhaarah, and later it turns out to be a backward step in your life. We should firmly resolve that whatever step we take in our lives, we will definitely make istikhaarah. It is not a long task and it is good for us.
We should think that unless Allah gives us favourable advice, we will not take this step. When a person wishes to remove all doubts, he should make istikhaarah and Allah will remove these doubts and leave him with a clear decision. He will get the right feeling in his heart.
It is through istikhaarah that we can know whether something is bad for us or good for us, whether there is benefit or harm in it. If we do istikhaarah we may even be guided towards something that seems bad, but insha Allah it will be better for us, and definitely you will receive the benefit from it in the future. Put into practise the advice of istikhaarah.
Suitable Questions for Istikhaarah
Now we should be aware of the categories of things on which we can make istikhaarah - this is an important point.
Take for example the question ‘shall I pray or not?’ You shouldn’t make istikhaarah about prayer. ‘Shall I go for Hajj or not?’ You can’t make istikhaarah for this sort of thing. ‘Shall I keep the beard or not?’ You can’t make istikhaarah for things that are compulsory for you. In these things there is no choice - we have to do it. If Hajj is incumbent on a Muslim and he has the means to go, then he does not need to make istikhaarah for going. He should go straight away for Hajj. If the time of prayer comes, you don’t make istikhaarah to decide whether to pray. So there is no need to make istikhaarah for the things which are obligatory. No, we make istikhaarah on those things that are not fardh for us. If you have to go for hajj then you can’t make istikhaarah for going, because there is no choice. But you can make istikhaarah as to whether to go by air or by sea. ‘Which route should I take?’ For this you can make istikhaarah, to find out which will be better for you. You can also make istikhaarah on whom to go with. If there are two groups then which should one go with? Ask, ‘O Allah please advise me as to which group is better for me to go with?’ InshAllah if you act according to the istikhaarah you will not be harmed by the group which you choose.
So in things which are compulsory there is no istikhaarah, but in matters where there is a choice we should make istikhaarah. You do not make istikhaarah over something that is certain, like things that are haraam in Islam such as drinking alcohol. You can’t ask whether to leave it or not, for all prohibited things are to be abstained from. There is no choice, so you cannot ask, ‘Shall I gamble or not?’
There is no need for making istikhaarah to choose whether or not to do haraam things. If something is haraam then it is haraam, it is forbidden.
‘Shall I take interest or not?’ is not a suitable question, for it is haraam. If the Quran says something is haraam then it is haraam and you have no choice but to abstain from it.
Istikhaarah is to be made only for those things where you have to make genuine decisions in your life. Before marriage there might arise some confusion as to which girl to marry. You might see a girl who is not practising Islam properly and think to yourself that you should not marry her. Another available girl is practising Islam, so you go ahead and marry her. This is not the right thing to do. You should make istikhaarah, for maybe the girl who was not practising Islam would become good for you and the other girl become bad for you. You should always take advice from Allah Ta’ala. If two jobs come before you, again you should make istikhaarah. In my personal life, many things like that have happened, so you make istikhaarah and then choose the alternative that is indicated. Now shaytaan may put doubts in your mind, so that after your selection you start feeling bad and thinking that you may have made the wrong choice. But in the hadith it is stated that if you practise according to istikhaarah it will never cause you harm, and you will not lose out. Even if it takes three or four years, you will come to realise that it was the right decision. I have seen this for myself many times in my life. If I want to go anywhere or do anything I always do istikhaarah. Even if you want to make a friend, you should make istikhaarah to find out whether they will be good for you or not. Allah might tell you that it will not be good for you, so then you should leave him. I want to convey to you how important it is to do istikhaarah in your life. Whatever step you take you should go to Allah for advice. Allah also says, “I don’t like those people who do not take advice from Me. They take advice from so and so person - why don’t they come to Me? The muslims should come to Me, for I am very close to them”. Just ask and Allah will surely tell you what to do.
How to make Istikhaarah
The way to perform istikhaarah is as follows.
After Ishaa (night) prayer, make two rakah salaah with the intention of istikhaarah. Do this not at the mosque but in your house. You can only do it in the mosque if you are sleeping in the mosque. Offer these two rakahs at the location where you intend to sleep. Offer these two rakat nawaafil, reciting any surah you like, but make the intention of istikhaarah.
When you have finished, sit down and recite durood shareef on Nabi-e-Kareem (any durood which you remember).
Thereafter recite Surah Fatiha seven times.
Then there is a special du’a for istikhaarah which you can recite in Arabic - though if you can’t read Arabic you can recite it in English (the arabic is given to the right).
If you don’t have the du’a, after the salaah recite durood shareef, thereafter seven times Surah Fatiha, then recite Surah Ikhlaas three times, then durood shareef, and then make dua, saying, “O Allah give me guidance as to what is best for me”, whilst thinking of the matter in question.
Thereafter, without speaking to anybody, go to sleep. Sleep according to the Sunnah, which is to sleep on your right side.
There are different ways that the message may come to you. Sometimes you will see a dream about that specific matter. But remember, do not interpret the dream yourself, but take it to someone who has knowledge of the deen. If it is a clear answer then you can act upon it. Sometimes it will not come in your dream, but directly to your heart. Sometimes you will get hints that the matter is good for you. If you don’t get anything in the first night then do it again the second night, and you can repeat this pattern for seven consecutive nights. Definitely you will receive one of these conditions - either you will see a dream, or you will feel it in your heart. So when your mind tells you, say ‘Bismillah’ and act upon the guidance.
Do not Ignore the Message Received
This is the way of istikhaarah. This is the way to get the message from Allah - and you can then plan accordingly. And proceed with tawakkal (trust) in Allah Ta’ala, for in this way your life will be filled with blessings. Rasoolullah used to do istikhaarah himself, and the Sahaabah also used to do it. How beautiful it is to have confidence in every step of your life.
Sometimes, often in respect of marriage, your parents try to force you to do something. You make istikhaarah and it gives different guidance from that of your parents - but they don’t want to listen. This is very harmful, for if a person goes against istikhaarah, having taken advice from Allah and knowing that it is right, then only loss can be expected to follow. I have witnessed such things. One person whom I knew some twenty years ago when I was a student, was a doctor and he wanted to come for further studies to London. His mother said make istikhaarah. I was about twenty five years old at the time. So he did istikhaarah and saw that it was not good for him to travel to London for further studies. He told his mother, but because they wanted to send him to London, they said it was alright for him to go - and the whole family persuaded him to go. So he bought the ticket for London. When the aeroplane came in to land at the airport it crashed, and himself and the other passengers inside the plane all died instantly. The relatives of the man knew that what they had done was wrong.
When you consult Allah, then there is no need to worry. Even if it appears bad, the result will be good. It increases the confidence of a person and removes doubts. Don’t listen to any other sources after you have sought guidance from Allah. We constantly have problems and decisions before us, and istikhaarah is the best way to resolve these matters. May Allah bless you and me, and I hope and pray that we follow the life of Nabi Kareem in every way. Istikhaarah was the habit of Rasoolullah, and he told us to do it when we have decisions to make in our lives. May Allah Ta’ala bless you and me. (Ameen)
By Hadhrat Shaykh Asif Hussain Farooqui
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