check these links:

SALAT AL-ISTIKHARA

prayer for guidance

Here is a very enlightening lecture by AbdulBary Yahya. Hes an Instructor at AlMaghrib http://www.almaghrib.org

He Loves Me, He Loves Me NOT - By AbdulBary Yahya

thnx AlBaraa
i ve just checked these 2 links...
in the 2nd one it says..
* After doing salat-l-istikhara, you may feel more inclined toward a decision one way or the other.

cant get it... i ll obviously feel inclined toward the decision I want to take
how wd i know wot Allah miyan wants me to do
its confusinnggggg...

wot abt the other method,, with Quran pak ??
can someone help..

SALL:

in the 2nd one it says..
* After doing salat-l-istikhara, you may feel more inclined toward a decision one way or the other.

cant get it... i ll obviously feel inclined toward the decision I want to take
how wd i know wot Allah miyan wants me to do
its confusinnggggg...

wot abt the other method,, with Quran pak ??
can someone help..

The whole purpose of Istikharah is to be guided to what is BEST for you.

Ive attended a few lectures and talked to a few students on knowledge on the subject on istakhara. Here is my take on it...

When making a decision (about anything) the first one to consult is Allah. After that people, then making the decision. Istakhara is the act of consulting Allah. You are asking Allah (swt) to guide you to what is BEST for YOU.

After Istakhara you do Istisharah, which is consulting people. You go to peopel and seek thier advise on the decision you want to make. Once you have done that you make your decision.

An Example i can give you from my life:

Toward the end of 2004 i was to attend a conference in Texas. I was undecided to go there by plane or car. I told my travel partner to do istikhara on the matter and so did I. After making istikhara i was leaning toward the plane trip. I consulted some of my friends and parents and they suggested that i take the plane. So me took the plane. Allah (swt) guided me to take the place b.c that was the best for me

In a lecture on Istakharah a sister came up to the sheikh and told him that she did istikhara concerning her Husband, whether to marry him or not. Everythign leaned toward getting married to him and so they got married. She found out that he was a monster, and a hypocrite. The sheiks response to her was that Istakharah leads people to that decision that will be best for them. Perhaps if she got married to a practicing man she herself would have become weak on deen.

THe entire purpose of Istakharah is to lead up to what is BEST for us. There isnt suppose to be a dream or a light from the sky or a deep voice in the middle of the night. Just that you will be leaning toward a certian decision or the bad option will become hard to get.

Wallahu Alam...hope this helped

AlBaraa:

In a lecture on Istakharah a sister came up to the sheikh and told him that she did istikhara concerning her Husband, whether to marry him or not. Everythign leaned toward getting married to him and so they got married. She found out that he was a monster, and a hypocrite. The sheiks response to her was that Istakharah leads people to that decision that will be best for them. Perhaps if she got married to a practicing man she herself would have become weak on deen.

THe entire purpose of Istakharah is to lead up to what is BEST for us. There isnt suppose to be a dream or a light from the sky or a deep voice in the middle of the night. Just that you will be leaning toward a certian decision or the bad option will become hard to get.

Wallahu Alam...hope this helped

thnxx AlBaraa
it s quite clear to me now..
just one thing,,,
it s said that ""jo bhi hota hai Allah miyan ki marzi se hota hai,,, aur ussi mei behtari hoti hai""
to phir ishtekhara ki kya zaroorat hai ?¿

sorry but i ve a lot of such questions,, if u dont wanna answer it s ok

Istekhara is for situations when choices / options in halal actions are available and one finds difficulty in picking one. Just like in the dua of istekhara, we acknowledge that Allah knows and we don't and that we seek his guidance in making choices. We ask Allah to draw us closer to the option that is better for us in this life and the hereafter, better for our life and death, better for our families and provisions; and draw it closer to us and make us satisfied with it.

Also, we ask Allah to draw us farther from the option that is bad for us in this life and the hereafter, harmful for our life and death, bad for our families and provisions; and draw it farther away us and replace it with one that will satisfy us.

This is the only method known from the practice of the prophet. For other methods, I have not seen any evidence in Hadith.

You make make istekhara as many times as you want. Allah opens the ways for you to choose the option that is good for you and ways to the alternative become difficult.

I hope you would make use of it and will find it beneficial.

yarr,,, yeh samajh aa gai
but see,,, ALbaraa said
"""Just that you will be leaning toward a certian decision or the bad option will become hard to get"""

par yehi kehte hein k sahi rasta hamesha mushkil hota hai
mushkil beshak aati rahe but have faith in Allah,, hopelss kabhi nahi ho

to phirr,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
istkhara..
im not saying anything against it,, but i wanted to do it and i need to understand it first

SALL:

it s quite clear to me now..
just one thing,,,
it s said that ""jo bhi hota hai Allah miyan ki marzi se hota hai,,, aur ussi mei behtari hoti hai""
to phir ishtekhara ki kya zaroorat hai ?¿

sorry but i ve a lot of such questions,, if u dont wanna answer it s ok

Of course every thing happens by the will of Allah (swt). That is why you are aksing Allah (swt) to guide you in the right direction. Only He can do that and no one else. RasulAllah (saw) taught and advised his companions to do istakhara on all matter whether it be big or small. He taught Istakharaah to them like he woudl teach the quran to them. That is how important it is.

People ask why do a certian thing, when Allah (swt) is the one who has the final take on it. The thing is we still need to do our part. That is our duty as Muslims. We need to ask Allah (swt) for help and guidance. only then will we be on the right path. If you ask Allah (swt) to guide you in the right direction then inshaAllah He will.

SALL:

par yehi kehte hein k sahi rasta hamesha mushkil hota hai
mushkil beshak aati rahe but have faith in Allah,, hopelss kabhi nahi ho

The right path is not the hardest. Its hard only when you make it out to be. If you know why you are doing a certian action and that reason you are doing a certain action is because its to please Allah (swt) then there shoudl be no difficulty.

Belal radiAllahu Anhu, when his master used to torture him and drag his through thr streets b.c he was a slave that accepted Islam, all he would say was "Ahadun Ahad". Why? Because it angered his opressors more and he felt the sweetness of eman not the pain. He knew he was doing it for Allah (swt).

The thing that empowers somone to do somethign is commitment. Our commitment is Islam, and our duty to Allah (swt). How is commitment power? Its power because no matter what comes in the way whether it be bad weather, bad people, problems, opposition, anythign that opposeing...none of it stops you from your duty to Allah (swt). If that isnt power than what is?

Again as i said before our duty is to Allah (swt). Hes the All Mighty, All Powerful, All Knowing, and All praises are due to him. Whom better to ask for guidance that Allah (swt)? THat is what Istakhara is and that is why its soooo important in making decisions. You are making dua', and asking Allah (swt) for his help, support and guidance. Its the way RasulAllah (saw) did it and its the way he taught the sahaba to do it. What better way than to follow the sunnah of RasulAllah (saw).

Allahu Alam i hope this helped.

Eid Mubarak!

hmmmm...
thnx AlBara