From the Secrets of the Prophetic Supplication

Occasion: A Fajr khatira delivered on 18 June 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Yesterday we began with the adhkār connected with acts of worship, picking out the opening supplication of the prayer, and today we move on to istikhāra. Here the question arises: is istikhāra consultation or seeking permission?

The Supplication of One Who Has a Need

It is narrated in the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā (may Allah be pleased with him)^[1] that the Prophet ﷺ said: «من كانت له حاجة إلى الله سبحانه وتعالى أو إلى أحد من بني آدم، فليتوضأ وليُحسن الوضوء، ثم ليصلّ ركعتين، ثم ليُثنِ على الله سبحانه وتعالى، وليصلِّ على النبي ﷺ، ثم ليقل»

(Whoever has a need from Allah, Glorified and Exalted, or from any of the children of Adam, let him perform ablution and perform it well, then pray two rakʿahs, then praise Allah, Glorified and Exalted, and send blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ, and then say:)

«لا إله إلا الله الحليم الكريم، سبحان الله رب العرش العظيم، الحمد لله رب العالمين. أسألك موجبات رحمتك، وعزائم مغفرتك، والعصمة من كل ذنب، والغنيمة من كل بِرّ، والسلامة من كل إثم. لا تدع لي ذنبًا إلا غفرته، ولا همًّا إلا فرّجته، ولا حاجة هي لك رضًا إلا قضيتها يا أرحم الراحمين».

(There is no god but Allah, the Forbearing, the Generous. Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Mighty Throne. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. I ask You for what makes Your mercy certain, for the firm resolves of Your forgiveness, for protection from every sin, for the gain of every righteous deed, and for safety from every wrongdoing. Leave me no sin unless You forgive it, no anxiety unless You relieve it, and no need with which You are pleased unless You fulfil it, O Most Merciful of the merciful.)

The speaker would pause at the wording of the supplication and repeat «أسألك موجبات رحمتك» and «عزائم مغفرتك» and «العصمة من كل ذنب» and «الغنيمة من كل بر» and «السلامة من كل إثم», and he supplicates Allah: O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Owner, O Omnipotent, O Magnificent One of the heavens and the earth, O Causer of causes.

The Supplication of Istikhāra

On the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him), who said: «كان النبي ﷺ يعلّمنا الاستخارة في الأمور كلها كما يعلّمنا السورة من القرآن، يقول: إذا همّ أحدكم بالأمر فليركع ركعتين من غير الفريضة، ثم ليقل»

(The Prophet ﷺ used to teach us istikhāra in all matters just as he would teach us a sūrah of the Qur'an. He would say: When one of you intends to undertake a matter, let him pray two rakʿahs other than the obligatory prayer, and then say:)

«اللهم إني أستخيرك بعلمك، وأستقدرك بقدرتك، وأسألك من فضلك العظيم، فإنك تقدر ولا أقدر، وتعلم ولا أعلم، وأنت علّام الغيوب. اللهم إن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر خير لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري، أو قال: عاجل أمري وآجله، فاقدره لي ويسّره لي ثم بارك لي فيه. وإن كنت تعلم أن هذا الأمر شر لي في ديني ومعاشي وعاقبة أمري، أو قال: عاجل أمري وآجله، فاصرفه عني واصرفني عنه، واقدر لي الخير حيث كان».

(O Allah, I seek Your guidance through Your knowledge, and I seek ability through Your power, and I ask You of Your immense bounty. For You are able and I am not able; You know and I do not know; and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter is good for me in my religion, my livelihood and the outcome of my affair — or he said: in my present and future affairs — then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and then bless me in it. And if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood and the outcome of my affair — or he said: in my present and future affairs — then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and decree for me the good wherever it may be.)

In his words «فاصرفه عني واصرفني عنه» there is the meaning that I do not think about it afterwards, and that neither my self nor my mind is preoccupied with it, so that I do not remain anxious over leaving it as I was anxious in my eagerness for it.

O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: This ḥadīth of the prayer of need was recorded by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah; there is criticism of its chain, and al-Tirmidhī and a group of scholars graded it weak, so it is mentioned as a report and without certainty of its authenticity. As for the ḥadīth of Jābir on istikhāra, it is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.