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Istikhara (guidance prayer)

الاستخارة

Two rak'as and the istikhara supplication before a decision one wavers over; the Prophet ﷺ taught his companions it as he taught a sura of the Qur'an.

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Worship and the pillarsSpirituality and Sufism

Overview

Two rak'as and the supplication of istikhara before a matter about which a person is undecided; the Prophet taught it to his companions as he taught them a surah of the Qur'an. {1}

People and things also explored

Niyya (intention in deeds)· Dhikr (remembrance of God)· Du'a (supplication)· Prophetic adab (proper conduct)· Prayer in early Islam before the Night Journey· Command, prohibition and capacity· The days of Tashriq· Righteousness (birr)

Sources

  1. Sahih al-Bukhari
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islam.museum contributors. “Istikhara (guidance prayer)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/practice/istikhara/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-18.

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Related

Niyya (intention in deeds)

The purpose and will behind an act; Ibn Rajab notes that intention has two senses in scholars' usage: distinguishing acts of worship from one another and from habits — the sense dominant in the jurists' books — and distinguishing the aim intended by the act, whether for God alone or for other than Him — the sense dominant among the early generations and companion to sincerity; al-Shafi'i is reported to have called the hadith 'actions are but by intentions' a third of knowledge entering seventy chapters of jurisprudence, and al-Bukhari opened his Sahih with it.