Istikhara
Actually, that is not the question. It is evident from the corpus of traditions available to us that the practice of Istikhara is a very desirable practice, and one that should be employed at every occasion. In a Prophetic tradition narrated in Bihar al-Anwar, the Prophet of Allah states: “Among the felicities of the children of Adam is that he performs an Istikhara and his pleasure in that which Allah has decreed for him. And among the misfortunes of the children of Adam is abandoning the Istikhara and not being pleased with what Allah has decreed.” (Translation of the tradition was copied from the text Istikhara: Seeking the Best from Allah, available online.)In another tradition, Amir al-Mu’mineen (peace be upon him) states in his last will to his son Imam al-Hasan (peace be upon him): “And perform a lot of Istikharas.” In fact, those who abstain from Istikhara are harshly reprimanded in certain traditions: “Perform the Istikhara and do not select (based on your own opinion). How many a person selected an affair which was the cause of his doom.”
Such traditions are a plenty, and we therefore observe the impact of such traditions on the thinking of our scholars as well. Many of them have highly recommended the practice of Istikhara in all our life affairs, including buying and selling, travelling, marrying and various other occasions.
The question is thus not whether we should do an Istikhara or not; rather, it is how we should be doing it. In this era, the word Istikhara evokes in the mind the practice of divination and foretelling with the Qur’an or a rosary. This however was not the general understanding of our scholars nor of the practicing believers who lived during the times of the Imams or shortly thereafter.
In order to grasp the common understanding of Istikhara in that era, one needs to refer to the Arabic lexicographers. They unanimously indicate that the three letter root for the term Istikhara is khayr, which means goodness. Hence, the word Istikhara is best translated as seeking goodness, much as istighfar is translated as seeking forgiveness. The famous lexicographer, al-Raghib al-Isfahani, in his Mufradaat notes the following: “The servant performed an Istikhara, and so his Lord destined goodness for him: that is, he sought goodness from Him and so He granted it.”
The authors of Majma’ al-Bahrayn and Lisan al-Arab also concur with the same definition. Given that this is the root meaning of the word, it becomes evident that there are various ways of seeking goodness from Allah. Below, we shall describe a few of the more popular ways of doing Istikhara, according to the traditions of the Holy Infallibles (peace be upon them all).
