How to pray istikhara: the prayer for guidance

What istikhara is, and what it is not

Istikhara is for the wide middle ground of life: decisions that are lawful but uncertain. Which job to take, whether to accept a proposal, whether to move, which course to study, whether to start a business or sign a lease. If both paths are permissible and you cannot tell which is better for you, istikhara is the Sunnah way to hand the choice to the One who knows.

It is not for things Allah has already decided. You do not pray istikhara about whether to pray Fajr or pay zakat; obligations are settled. You do not pray it about something forbidden; no prayer makes a haram choice good. And it is not fortune-telling: it does not reveal the unseen, and it does not replace your own thinking, research and advice.

The Quran pairs the two halves of a good decision in one verse addressed to the Prophet ﷺ himself: consult, then decide, then rely on Allah.

How to pray istikhara, step by step

1. Make wudu. The same ablution as for any prayer. If you need a refresher, our wudu guide covers it step by step.
2. Intend two rak'ah of voluntary prayer for istikhara. The hadith says “two rak'ah other than the obligatory prayer”. Pray them like any two-rak'ah prayer, at a time when voluntary prayer is allowed (see below).
3. Recite al-Fatiha and any surah. No surah is named in the hadith. Imam al-Nawawi recommended al-Kafirun in the first rak'ah and al-Ikhlas in the second; that is a scholar's good suggestion, not a condition.
4. After the salam, say the du'a of istikhara. This is the view of most scholars, since the hadith says to pray two rak'ah and then say it. Ibn Taymiyyah held it may also be said before the salam, in the final sitting. Both are acceptable. Raise your hands if you wish; it is a du'a like any other.
5. Name your matter. Where the du'a says hādha-l-amr, “this matter”, name it plainly, in Arabic or in your own language: “this matter, accepting the job at the hospital”. The hadith ends: “and he names his need”.
6. Then act. Take the next sensible step toward what your reasoning and your advisers suggest, and keep watching how the way unfolds.

The du'a of istikhara: Arabic, transliteration and translation

From the hadith of Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah, in the wording of Sahih al-Bukhari:

Two small notes on the text. In each half the narrator adds “or he said: fī ʿājili amrī wa ājilih”, in my affairs now and later, so either phrase is correct and some people say both. And the final words appear as thumma arḍinī bih in this narration and thumma raḍḍinī bih in the others; both mean “then make me content with it”. You will often see this hadith cited as Bukhari 1162: that is its number in the Fath al-Bari edition, while sunnah.com numbers it 1166. It is the same hadith.

What the du'a is actually asking for

Read it slowly once and its shape opens up. It begins by putting knowledge, power and generosity where they belong: Your knowledge, Your power, Your favour. Then it says out loud what anxiety about a decision tries to hide: You are able and I am not; You know and I do not.

Then it names the matter and asks for exactly one of two outcomes. If it is good for you, three things: decree it, ease it, bless it. If it is bad for you, three mercies: turn it away from me, turn me away from it, and decree the good wherever it is. Notice the second of those. You are not only asking Allah to close a door; you are asking Him to take your heart away from it, so you do not spend years staring at the closed door.

The last line is the one people overlook: then make me content with it. You are not only asking for the right outcome. You are asking for a heart at peace with whatever outcome comes. The Quran describes the gap between what we want and what is good for us:

When to pray istikhara

Pray it whenever the decision is in front of you, day or night, except in the three short windows when voluntary prayer is avoided: from after the Fajr prayer until the sun has risen, at the sun's zenith shortly before Dhuhr, and from after the ‘Asr prayer until the sun has set (Muslim 831, Bukhari 586). If you are in one of those windows, wait a little, or say the du'a on its own for now and pray the two rak'ah later.

If you can, choose the last third of the night. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah descends to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains and says: “Who is calling on Me, that I may answer him? Who is asking of Me, that I may give him?” (Bukhari 1145). Your local prayer times show when Fajr and Maghrib fall, so you can find that last third.

After istikhara: signs, dreams and the heart

This is where most confusion lives, so it is worth being precise about what the sources say.

A dream is not required. The hadith of istikhara says nothing about dreams, and scholars agree that seeing one is not a condition or the expected answer. If you do see a dream, it is not a ruling; treat it at most as one small input among many. Waiting for a dream before acting is the most common misunderstanding about this prayer.

What about the heart's inclination? Imam al-Nawawi wrote that after istikhara a person proceeds with what his heart opens to. Ibn Hajar added a caution worth remembering: an inclination you already had before the prayer, driven by your own wish, is not to be trusted as the answer. Other scholars, such as al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd al-Salam, said simply to proceed with whatever comes easily, since what follows is the choice Allah has made. These views meet in practice: pray, consult, decide sensibly, and then pay attention to how things unfold.

What does an answer look like? Usually like ordinary life. A door opens with unusual ease, or closes firmly despite your best effort. A conversation settles a question. A practical obstacle appears that you could not have foreseen. Feeling uneasy is not, by itself, a “no”: many good paths feel demanding, and many harmful ones feel attractive. Weigh feelings alongside reason, advice and events.

How many times should you pray istikhara?

There is no fixed number. If the matter is still unclear, you may pray it again, and there is no limit. You will sometimes hear that it should be repeated seven times; that comes from a narration in Ibn al-Sunni's collection which al-Nawawi said contains narrators he did not know, and which Ibn Hajar called extremely weak. So repeat it because you still need guidance, not to reach a number. Equally, you do not need to keep praying it once the matter is settled.

Istikhara for marriage

Marriage is the decision people most often bring to istikhara, and rightly so. When the Prophet ﷺ sent a proposal to Zaynab bint Jahsh, she said, “I will not do anything until I consult my Lord,” and went to her place of prayer (Muslim 1428). Pray it, and pair it with the questions the Sunnah tells you to ask. The Prophet ﷺ said a woman is married for her wealth, her lineage, her beauty and her religion, and told the man to choose the one with religion (Bukhari 5090); the same weight belongs on character and faith whoever is choosing. Ask family and trusted people who know the person. Then let istikhara guide the decision you have made with your eyes open.

Istikhara on your period, for someone else, or in English

• During a period, or when you cannot pray. Say the du'a of istikhara on its own. Al-Nawawi stated that if prayer is not possible, istikhara is done with the du'a alone, and contemporary scholars give the same answer for a woman during her period. The prayer and du'a together are better when they become possible.
• For someone else. Istikhara, as taught, is for the person whose decision it is. You can always make du'a for a friend or a child, and parents often pray their own istikhara about decisions that are partly theirs, such as accepting a proposal for their daughter. Encourage the person to pray it themselves.
• In English, or from a phone. Reading the Arabic from a page or screen is fine. If you cannot yet pronounce it, saying the meaning in your own language is still du'a; keep learning the Prophetic wording.

Questions people ask

You are not left alone with the choice. The one who sincerely asks Allah to choose, consults the people who care about him, and then acts, has done everything the Sunnah asks. The rest is His, and the du'a has already asked Him to make you content with it.

Sources

• Qur'ān 2:216, 3:159, 42:38 (quran.com).
• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 586, 1145, 1166 (1162 in the Fatḥ al-Bārī numbering), 5090, 6382, 7390.
• Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 831, 1428.
• al-Nawawī, al-Adhkār, chapter on istikhāra; Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥ al-Bārī, commentary on the istikhāra hadith (including the grading of Ibn al-Sunnī's seven-times narration); Ibn Taymiyya, al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā, on the du'a before the salām.

This guide follows the authentic Sunnah and notes where scholars differ. For a decision with serious consequences, also seek the advice of a scholar and of people with knowledge of the matter.