Is istikharah permissible? In which matters? Should it be performed by a specific person at a specific time?
“Istikharah” means asking for goodness from Allah. It is Sunnah to perform it before every important matter; as it has been authentically narrated from Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari that he said: «كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُعَلِّمُنَا الْإِسْتِخَارَةَ فِي الْأُمُورِ كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ، يَقُولُ: إِذَا هَمَّ أَحَدُكُمْ بِالْأَمْرِ، فَلْيَرْكَعْ رَكْعَتَيْنِ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْفَرِيضَةِ، ثُمَّ لِيَقُلِ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ، وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلَا أَقْدِرُ، وَتَعْلَمُ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ، وَأَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ، اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي -أَوْ قَالَ: عَاجِلِ أَمْرِي وَآجِلِهِ- فَاقْدُرْهُ لِي، وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي، ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ، وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي -أَوْ قَالَ: فِي عَاجِلِ أَمْرِي وَآجِلِهِ- فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي، وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ، وَاقْدُرْ لِي الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ، ثُمَّ رَضِّنِي بِهِ»[1]; “The Messenger of Allah taught us to perform istikharah in all matters as he taught us a Surah from the Quran. He said: When anyone of you has an important matter to decide, he should perform two rak‘ats prayer other than the obligatory prayer. Then he should say: ‘O Allah! I seek the counsel of Your Knowledge, and I seek the help of Your power, and I beseech You for Your Magnificent Grace. Surely, You are Capable and I am not, 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 and in my life and for my welfare in the life to come -or say: in this life and the afterlife-, then ordain it for me and make it easy for me, then bless me in it, and if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion and in my life and for my welfare in the life to come -or say: in this life and the afterlife-, then distance it from me, and distance me from it, and ordain for me what is good wherever it may be, then have me be content with it.’” Undoubtedly, istikharah in this sense is a practice with which there is nothing wrong, but rather it is one of the righteous deeds; because it is calling upon Allah, and He has said: ﴿ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ﴾[2]; “Call upon Me, I will respond to you.” However, there is another practice among Shias that they call istikharah and turn to, in this way that when they want to do something, they take the Quran and open it, then they look at the first verse on the first page; if it is a command or a good news, they do it, and if it is a prohibition or a warning, they leave it. Some of them do the same with prayer beads; they take and hold it, then count two by two; if one bead remains, they do it, and if two beads remain, they do not do it. However, this is not istikharah at all, but rather it comes under the same heading of “istiqsam” that was common in the pre-Islamic era and then Islam invalidated and forbade it; as one of our companions informed us he said:
«اسْتَشَرْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ فِي بَعْضِ أَمْرِي، فَقَالَ: لَا عَلَيْكَ أَنْ تَفْعَلَهُ، فَقُلْتُ: سَوْفَ أَسْتَخِيرُ لِذَلِكَ، قَالَ: وَكَيْفَ تَسْتَخِيرُ؟ قُلْتُ: آخُذُ الْمُصْحَفَ فَأَفْتَحُهُ، فَأَنْظُرُ فِي أَوَّلِ سَطْرٍ مِنَ الصَّفْحَةِ الْيُمْنَى، فَأَفْعَلُ إِذَا كَانَ أَمْرًا أَوْ بِشَارَةً، وَأَتْرُكُ إِذَا كَانَ غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ، فَقَالَ: لَيْسَ هَذَا مِنَ الْإِسْتِخَارَةِ، وَلَكِنَّهُ مِنَ الْإِسْتِقْسَامِ»; “I consulted Mansoor about one of my affairs. So he said: ‘There is nothing wrong with you doing it.’ Then I said: ‘I will perform istikharah for it.’ He said: ‘How do you perform istikharah?’ I said: ‘I take the Book and open it; then I look at the first line of the right page. So I do it if it is a command or a good news, and I leave it if it is something else.’ So he said: ‘This is not istikharah, but rather it is istiqsam (which is not permissible).’”
Istiqsam is seeking to know benefit and harm through divining arrows, meaning to seek good omens through them. In the pre-Islamic era, people had three arrows; it was written on one, “Do it,” on another, “Do not do it,” and the third was blank. Also, it has been said that it was written on one, “My Lord commanded me,” on another, “My Lord forbade me,” and the third was blank. When they wanted to travel, get married, or do something important, they would take the arrows and draw them. If the commanding arrow came out, they would do it, if the prohibiting arrow came out, they would leave it, and if the blank arrow came out, they would repeat the draw. Then Allah sternly forbade them from doing this; as He said after mentioning some of the prohibitions: ﴿وَأَنْ تَسْتَقْسِمُوا بِالْأَزْلَامِ ۚ ذَلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ﴾[3]; “And (you are forbidden) to make the division by means of divining arrows. That is a sin,” and said: ﴿إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنْصَابُ وَالْأَزْلَامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ﴾[4]; “Indeed, wine, gambling, idols, and dividing arrows are abominations of Satan’s doing. Avoid them so that you may be successful.” It appears that the reason for forbidding it is that it is a type of soothsaying and fortunetelling; because it is seeking to know the unseen through things, which is one of the greatest sins in Islam. Rather, it has been narrated that whoever engages in it has disbelieved in what Allah has revealed to Muhammad [5]. In addition, expecting evil and refraining from an act when something appears from the Quran or prayer beads is a clear example of “tiyarah,” which refers to considering things as evil omens and is also one of the pre-Islamic superstitions that Islam invalidated and forbade; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿أَلَا إِنَّمَا طَائِرُهُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾[6]; “Indeed, their evil omens are only with Allah, but most of them do not know,” and it has been narrated from the Prophet
that he said: «الْعِيَافَةُ، وَالطَّرْقُ، وَالطِّيَرَةُ مِنَ الْجِبْتِ»[7]; “Indeed, iyafah (letting birds fly to foretell events), tarq (drawing lines on the ground to predict events), and tiyarah come under the heading of magic,” and said: «مَنْ رَدَّتْهُ الطِّيَرَةُ فَقَدْ قَارَفَ الشِّرْكَ»[8]; “Whoever is prevented (from doing something) by tiyarah has committed polytheism,” and said: «مَنْ رَدَّتْهُ الطِّيَرَةُ مِنْ حَاجَةٍ فَقَدْ أَشْرَكَ»[9]; “Whoever lets tiyarah stop him from doing something has become a polytheist,” and said: «الطِّيَرَةُ شِرْكٌ، وَمَا مِنَّا، وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُذْهِبُهُ بِالتَّوَكُّلِ»[10]; “Tiyarah is polytheism, and none of us are free from it, but Allah removes it by trust (in Him).” Strangely, Shias attribute this abhorrent act, which is equivalent to polytheism, to the Ahl al-Bayt; as al-Kulayni (d. 329 AH) has narrated in al-Kafi with a very weak chain of narrators from Abu Abdullah Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq
that he said: «إِذَا أَرَدْتَ أَمْرًا فَخُذْ سِتَّ رِقَاعٍ، فَاكْتُبْ فِي ثَلَاثٍ مِنْهَا: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، خِيَرَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ لِفُلَانِ بْنِ فُلَانَةَ، افْعَلْهُ، وَفِي ثَلَاثٍ مِنْهَا: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، خِيَرَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ لِفُلَانِ بْنِ فُلَانَةَ، لَا تَفْعَلْ، ثُمَّ ضَعْهَا تَحْتَ مُصَلَّاكَ، ثُمَّ صَلِّ رَكْعَتَيْنِ، فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَاسْجُدْ سَجْدَةً وَقُلْ فِيهَا مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ: أَسْتَخِيرُ اللَّهَ بِرَحْمَتِهِ خِيَرَةً فِي عَافِيَةٍ، ثُمَّ اسْتَوِ جَالِسًا وَقُلِ: اللَّهُمَّ خِرْ لِي وَاخْتَرْ لِي فِي جَمِيعِ أُمُورِي فِي يُسْرٍ مِنْكَ وَعَافِيَةٍ، ثُمَّ اضْرِبْ بِيَدِكَ إِلَى الرِّقَاعِ، فَشَوِّشْهَا، وَأَخْرِجْ وَاحِدَةً، فَإِنْ خَرَجَ ثَلَاثٌ مُتَوَالِيَاتٌ افْعَلْ فَافْعَلِ الْأَمْرَ الَّذِي تُرِيدُهُ، وَإِنْ خَرَجَ ثَلَاثٌ مُتَوَالِيَاتٌ لَا تَفْعَلْ فَلَا تَفْعَلْهُ، وَإِنْ خَرَجَتْ وَاحِدَةٌ افْعَلْ وَالْأُخْرَى لَا تَفْعَلْ فَأَخْرِجْ مِنَ الرِّقَاعِ إِلَى خَمْسٍ، فَانْظُرْ أَكْثَرَهَا فَاعْمَلْ بِهِ وَدَعِ السَّادِسَةَ، لَا تَحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهَا»[11]; “When you want to do something, take six pieces of paper and write on three of them: ‘In the name of Allah the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. It is to ask from Allah the All-Mighty, the Wise what is good for so and so the son of so and so, “Do it,”’ and on the other three: ‘In the name of Allah the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. It is to ask from Allah the All-Mighty, the Wise what is good for so and so the son of so and so, “Do not do it.”’ Then keep them under your prayer rug and perform two rak‘ats prayer. When you are finished, prostrate yourself and say one hundred times: ‘I ask Allah, through His mercy, to choose what is good and safe.’ Then sit straight and say: ‘O Lord! Pick and choose for me in all matters with ease and safety.’ Then mix the pieces and take out one. If three times consecutively it comes ‘Do it,’ then you may do what you wanted to do. If three times consecutively it comes ‘Do not do it,’ then do not do what you wanted to do. If one comes ‘Do it,’ and the other comes ‘Do not do it,’ continue taking out up to five pieces, then see which side is more, then act on it and ignore the sixth piece.” He has also narrated without a chain of narrators that «أَنَّهُ قَالَ لِبَعْضِ أَصْحَابِهِ وَقَدْ سَأَلَهُ عَنِ الْأَمْرِ يَمْضِي فِيهِ وَلَا يَجِدُ أَحَدًا يُشَاوِرُهُ، فَكَيْفَ يَصْنَعُ؟ قَالَ: شَاوِرْ رَبَّكَ، فَقَالَ لَهُ: كَيْفَ؟ قَالَ لَهُ: انْوِ الْحَاجَةَ فِي نَفْسِكَ، ثُمَّ اكْتُبْ رُقْعَتَيْنِ فِي وَاحِدَةٍ: لَا، وَفِي وَاحِدَةٍ: نَعَمْ، وَاجْعَلْهُمَا فِي بُنْدُقَتَيْنِ مِنْ طِينٍ، ثُمَّ صَلِّ رَكْعَتَيْنِ وَاجْعَلْهُمَا تَحْتَ ذَيْلِكَ، وَقُلْ: يَا اللَّهُ إِنِّي أُشَاوِرُكَ فِي أَمْرِي هَذَا، وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ مُسْتَشَارٍ وَمُشِيرٍ، فَأَشِرْ عَلَيَّ بِمَا فِيهِ صَلَاحٌ وَحُسْنُ عَاقِبَةٍ، ثُمَّ أَدْخِلْ يَدَكَ، فَإِنْ كَانَ فِيهَا نَعَمْ فَافْعَلْ، وَإِنْ كَانَ فِيهَا لَا لَا تَفْعَلْ، هَكَذَا شَاوِرْ رَبَّكَ»[12]; “one of the Imams from the Ahl al-Bayt said to one of his companions, who asked him about an issue that he wanted to do but did not find anyone to consult: ‘Consult your Lord.’ The man said: ‘How should I do that?’ He said to him: ‘Keep in your mind what you wish to do, then take two pieces of paper and write “Yes” on one and “No” on the other. Place them inside two balls of clay, then perform two rak‘ats prayer and place them under your furnishing and say: “O Allah! I consult You in this matter of mine, and You are the Best Consultant and Advisor. So guide me toward what is good and has a good outcome.” Then take out one of the papers; if it is “Yes,” then do what you wanted to do, and if it is “No,” then do not do it. This is how you consult your Lord.” Al-Tusi (d. 460 AH) has narrated in Tahdhib al-Ahkam from an unknown man called “al-Yasa‘ al-Qomi” that he said: «قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ -يَعْنِي جَعْفَرَ بْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ الصَّادِقَ- عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: أُرِيدُ الشَّيْءَ، فَأَسْتَخِيرُ اللَّهَ فِيهِ، فَلَا يُوَفَّقُ فِيهِ الرَّأْيُ، أَفْعَلُهُ أَوْ أَدَعُهُ؟ فَقَالَ: انْظُرْ إِذَا قُمْتَ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ، فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ أَبْعَدُ مَا يَكُونُ مِنَ الْإِنْسَانِ إِذَا قَامَ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ، فَانْظُرْ إِلَى شَيْءٍ يَقَعُ فِي قَلْبِكَ، فَخُذْ بِهِ، وَافْتَحِ الْمُصْحَفَ فَانْظُرْ إِلَى أَوَّلِ مَا تَرَى فِيهِ، فَخُذْ بِهِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى»[13]; “I said to Abu Abdullah -meaning Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq-
: ‘I want to do something, so I ask for goodness from Allah regarding it, but my mind does not get anywhere. Should I do it or leave it?’ So he said: ‘Look when you stand up for prayer, for Satan is the farthest he can be from the human being when he stands up for prayer. So look at what comes into your heart and act on it. Then open the Book and look at the first thing you see in it, then act on it, Insha’Allah.’” Undoubtedly, these narrations are false and have no basis; because their chains of narrators are weak, and they contradict the Book of Allah and the proven Sunnah of the Prophet
while it has been narrated from the Ahl al-Bayt that they said: «مَا أَتَاكُمْ عَنَّا مِنْ حَدِيثٍ لَا يُصَدِّقُهُ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ بَاطِلٌ»[14]; “Whatever hadith comes to you from us that is not confirmed by the Book of Allah is false.” Also, the Hadith of al-Thaqalayn has been widely transmitted from the Prophet
indicating that the Ahl al-Bayt will never separate from the Quran until they go to him by the Pond. Therefore, it is not possible for them to command people to practice istiqsam, which the Quran has explicitly forbidden! Rather, this act is more similar to that of their unjust and hypocritical enemies; as it has been narrated that Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik al-Umawi opened the Quran one day to seek good omens through it, and he came across the word of Allah Almighty: ﴿وَاسْتَفْتَحُوا وَخَابَ كُلُّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ﴾[15]; “They sought victory, and every rebellious tyrant failed.” He aimed at it and shot arrows until he tore it up, then he said: «أَتُوعِدُ كُلَّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ ... فَهَا أَنَا ذَاكَ جَبَّارٌ عَنِيدٌ ... فَإِذَا لَاقَيْتَ رَبَّكَ يَوْمَ حَشْرٍ ... فَقُلْ يَا رَبِّ خَرَّقَنِي الْوَلِيدُ»[16]; “Do you frighten every rebellious tyrant?! Then I am that rebellious tyrant! So when you meet your Lord on the Day of Gathering, say: ‘O Lord! Walid tore me up!’” For this reason, it can be said that seeking good omens through the Quran is one of the practices of the house of Umayyah, not one of the practices of the family of Muhammad
; as it has been narrated from the family of Muhammad
that they prohibited it and said: «لَا تَتَفَأَّلْ بِالْقُرْآنِ»[17]; “Do not seek good omens through the Quran.”
As a result, istikharah in the sense of asking for goodness from Allah before every important matter is a good and prescribed-as-Sunnah act. However, istikharah in the sense of practicing istiqsam through the Quran, prayer beads, or other objects is a polytheistic, pre-Islamic, and superstitious act that has no basis in Islam, and Satan has made it fair-seeming to Shias until it has become one of their common customs practiced regularly by their ignorant ones and their scholars alike. Rather, their ignorant ones even go to their scholars to do it for them, and some of their scholars even charge a fee for it! ﴿كَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ﴾[18]; “This is how what the extravagant ones are doing has been made fair-seeming to them!” Undoubtedly, this is a manifest error from them, and they must repent of it. This is just one of their many errors that have been made fair-seeming to them and they are occupied with. His Eminence Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has explained many of them in his great book Return to Islam, as well as in his other books and pure words. Therefore, they should refer to them and read them with an eye of fairness and understanding so that they may be guided.