Dear Allah,

I don’t know if this is a good idea. 

I’m lost, I need Your Help. 

My heart wants it, is yearning for it. 

My mind tells me it's a good idea.

But I know, 

my heart yearns for things not good for it, 

and my mind is limited in knowledge.

So Ya Aleem (The Most Knowing), 

If this thing I really want is good for me, 

in this life and my hereafter,

Then Ya Fattah (The Opener) please open the doors, 

and please shower it with barakah.

But if this this thing is not good for me, 

and I know You know better than I will ever be able to

then please remove it from my heart, and take it far far away from me.

-from Your servant standing at a crossroad

— 

A dua for a crossroad

Recently I’ve been faced with a lot of decision-making and I’ve been praying for guidance about what choice to make whenever I get a chance.

The other day, as I sat making dua, I found myself whispering these lines I shared with you above (a little less articulately though!) again and again.

I caught myself in between because I realised these words I was whispering, although they were just my own babblings, sounded familiar.

Thats when it hit…I’m basically making the dua of istikharah.

The dua of istikharah

And I honestly, it made me fall in love with that dua all over again.

Isn’t it beautiful that we have been given a step by step by Allah and His Prophet (s) about what to do when faced with a daunting decision?

Sometimes you look at the choices in front of you, the job offer, the marriage proposal and you just have no idea if this is a good idea or not.

You can do all the research you want, all the background checks possible, but at the end of the day, there’s always that bit of uncertainty.

You really have no idea what the unknown consequences of your choice will be.

And that’s the beauty of istikharah.

To pray the two rakaahs and to recite the dua.

The Power of the Dua of Istikhara

Because in that dua we accept that we really don’t know what’s best. And so we turn to the All Knowing to guide us to whats best.

To guide our intellect, our emotions, yourself to the choice that is best for you.

The power of making decisions with istikharah by your side is that you go forward with your decision with certainty now. 

The unknown disappears.

Because you stopped relying on your own limited judgement and instead relied on the One with limitless knowledge and insight.

Isn’t that powerful, subhanallah.

—

💌 If you would like the full dua of istikharah and its meaning, click here!

🌻 And if you would like a post about how to perform istikharah, comment below or give this post a like.

Until next time,

Thasneema