What Is Istikhara & How To Do Istakhara ?

Istikhara (Seeking Guidance from Allah)

The actual meaning of `Istikhara’ is “asking what is best and proper from Allah, the Merciful” which in itself is a form of supplication. Reliance (upon Allah ), leaving all of one’s affairs (to Allah ) and having a good or favorable opinion of Allah are the requirements before one performs any supplication. This means that in all of one’s affairs, the person supplicates to Allah and sincerely, asks Him to make his path easy and to have a good outcome.

Praising and Glorying Allah coupled with modesty and humility towards Him; and asking one’s needs and requests from the One who is completely needless. Having good thoughts about Allah and that He only prefers and accepts that which is good for His servants. However, the most important thing is that one will have peace of mind and a sound heart when performing any action.

Istikhara by Seeking Advice from Others:

When a person needs to find what is truly the best for him, he asks advice from the believers who are capable of providing this advice to him. However, this must be performed after supplicating and asking Allah for the best and asking Him to guide him where prosperity lies. He too only wishes what is truly the best and only He knows what is good and bad and is able to have His answer come from the mouth of His servants.