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Salaah
al-Istikharah - The Prayer for seeking Guidance
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Explanation
of the Meaning of the Du’aa al-Istikharah
“O Allah, I
seek Your counsel by Your knowledge”
Seeking
help by the Absolute Knowledge of Allah and seeking a means of approach by it,
is very appropriate, since the need of seeking guidance is connected with the
Unseen and Allah Alone is the one, with Eternal knowledge that extends over
everything and nothing escapes from it and verily, He knew all that which
occurred, what will occur and all that which did not occur:
“Verily,
Allah is All-Knower of everything”
[(8): 75]
And
Indeed, nothing escapes His Knowledge:
“And
that Allah surrounds (comprehends) all things in His Knowledge”
[(65): 12]
And
“With Him are the keys of Ghaib (all that is hidden) none knows them but
He. And He knows whatever there is on the earth and in the sea; not a leaf
falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth nor
anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.” [(6): 59]
==================================
“And
I seek Your assistance by Your Power and I ask you from Your immense favor,
for verily you are Able and I am not”
Meaning
I request from You in that which You have decreed for me, and I seek means of
approach to You by Your Power.
Here,
the slave of Allah requests His Lord to make Him content with His choice by
His Power, Ability and Immense Favor, since, the slave’s ability is from the
Ability and Power of Allah, otherwise he is weak. Making matters easy is from
the Ability of Allah and the Great Favor from Him that He has bestowed upon
His slaves, if He doesn’t make things easy for His slave, they will turn
difficult and he may dislike what Allah chooses for him, unaware of the good
that is placed in it for him. So, he requests Allah from His immense Favor
keeping in view the following statement of Allah:
“And
it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a
thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not.”
[Soorah Baqarah (2): 216]
One
of the manifestations of this great fact is the treaty of Hudaybiyah. The year
of Hudaybiyah, when the pagan Arabs of Quraish tribe prevented the Prophet
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) and his Companions (radhi allahu anhu) from
entering Makkah to perform Umrah. Instead of the severe conditions imposed by
the Mushriks and great dislike of the treaty by his Companions, Prophet
Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) accepted them, being confident that
Allah would not abandon him and that He will grant him victory. Allah knew
that the treaty of al-Hudaybiyah was the beginning of victory. On the way back
to Madinah Allah revealed the verse:
“Verily!
We have given you (O Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam)), Fathan Mubeen, a
manifest victory.”
[(48): 1]
And
indeed, due to the treaty, many good things regarding the manifestation of
Deen and retreat of Kuffr took place. People came nearer and entered
discussions with each other, Muslims could speak about Islam with proofs and
evidences. There came in the fold of Islam as many people as the people who
entered before. And regarding this treaty Allah says in His Book:
“He
knew what you knew not, and He granted besides that a near Fathan
(victory).”
[(48): 27]
====================
“And
verily You know and I do not, and you are the Knower of unseen”
“Say:
None in the heavens and the earth know the unseen except Allah.”
[Soorah an-Nahl (27): 65]
So
not a soul knows anything from the Ghaib (unseen), except by His permission:
This
permission is of two types:
1.
Permission through Revelation – Particular to the Prophets and Messengers:
“(He
Alone) the All-Knower of the Ghaib, and He reveals to none His Ghaib. Except
to a Messenger whom He has chosen (He informs him of unseen as much He likes),
and then He makes a band of watching guards (angels) to march before him and
behind him.”
[Soorah Al-Muzzammil (73): 26-27]
And
similar was the case with the Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam),
the information of the future in his prophecies were the little that he was
told of the future through the Angel Jibreel (alaihis-salaam) and not a result
of his own knowledge. Allah made him manifest to this when He said:
“Say:
I have no power to bring good to myself nor avert harm, but it is only as
Allah wills. If it were that I know the unseen, I would have multiplied the
good and no evil would have touched me.”
[Soorah al-A’raf (7: 188]
2.
Permission through the creation of the universe – Knowledge of the way
Allah’s creation operate and its scientific discoveries – whatever a
believer or a disbeliever comes to know from the knowledge that was previously
unknown, like the discovery of electricity etc…
========================
“O
Allah if You know this affair to be good for me in relation to my religion, my
life and end (or he said my present and my future), then decree and facilitate
it for me and bless me with it. And if You know this affair to be detrimental
for me concerning my religion, my life and end (or he said my present and my
future), then remove it from me and remove me from it and decree for me what
is good wherever it be and make me satisfied with it.”
Here,
the slave asks Allah for His Blessings in his affair because if Allah guides
him due to His Knowledge, helps him due to His Ability and Power, then he
needs Allah’s help to preserve it and His Blessings in it so that his matter
becomes firm and grows.
Precisely,
Istikharah is dependant on three things:
1.
The Absolute Knowledge of Allah
2.
Allah’s Ability and Power of decreeing
3.
Allah’s Blessings, which does not diminish, and His generosity, which
is not repelled.
For
theses reasons, it is appropriate to start the Du’aa with seeking a means of
approach by His Knowledge in choosing what is good for him, then follows that
which is required for his choice to be attained, by seeking help through His
Power – the ability to enact the action. Then, because the affair requires
the blessing of Allah and His favors so that the choice is blessed and so is
the benefit from it – it is appropriate that he asks Allah for His
blessings, which encompass everything.
Then,
since the slave is short-sighted, his affairs unsettled, not being pleased
with what is given to him and not content with what is ordained for him, it is
appropriate that he should end his Du’aa by asking for contentment in what
will be ordained for him.
