Istikhārah means to turn to Allāh ta‘ālā and seek goodness from Him. This is because Allāh ta‘ālā
knows what we do not know. As Allāh ta‘ālā is fully aware of the end result and consequence of every
matter and we merely speculate, we should ask Allāh ta‘ālā to guide us towards goodness in our
endeavours or tasks that we are about to embark on. It should be understood that istikhārah is simply a
du‘ā like any other du‘ā. However, it has more chance of acceptance in the Court of Allāh ta‘ālā as it
has been specifically taught by Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam to his Ummah. It is a prayer
offered to Allāh ta‘ālā before embarking on a particular course of action or choosing from a number of
options, asking Him to guide us towards goodness and the correct and better choice, and to save us
from that course of action or choice if goodness lies elsewhere.
