Istikharah How To & Why - Formatted Khutba

Timing Restrictions

The only thing I will add in here is that according to the opinion of the majority of the scholars, there are small small differences of opinion.

I'm basically going to go ahead and tell you what the majority of the scholars say. Because in istikharah, in salat al istikharah, there's not like some very very like major differences of opinion. There's a few minor opinions here and there that differ from the vast majority.

I'm just gonna go ahead and share the majority opinion. Because it's an overwhelmingly majority opinion. And the overwhelmingly majority opinion is, the only thing you gotta watch out for is, again, what you watch out for other prayers.

And that is, make sure you don't pray istikharah at the times when prayer is forbidden. At the times when prayer is forbidden. And those are three basic times of the day.

While the sun is rising, during the rising of the sun. When the sun is at its peak, at its zenith. Alright, which literally lasts for a minute or so.

A couple of minutes is playing it safe. And then the setting of the sun. Those three times of the day when we are told not to pray, that same, again, so it's the same requirements of salat, same requirements for istikharah.

That's it. So that is the prerequisites of istikharah.

The Procedure of Istikharah

Now what is the procedure of istikharah? What is the sequence of events, the procedure? So obviously, once you fulfill the prerequisites, you will stand up and you will pray two rakahs, two units of prayer, two units of prayer, two rakahs of salat, with a nafl, with a voluntary, supererogatory intention.

Two rakahs, two units of nafl prayer, optional, voluntary prayer. Alright, that is istikharah. Why am I emphasizing and specifying that it needs to be two rakahs of a voluntary prayer? When we read the text of the hadith together inshaAllah, at that time you'll see, it's mentioned explicitly within the text of the hadith by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

So no debate, no question there. What that basically means is you can't like pray salatul isha, and just make the supplication of istikharah, two for one, all done. Can't do that.

Alright? Istikharah, the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ exclusively said, you gotta invest two more extra rakahs of prayer that are voluntary, that are optional. That's the first thing.

How to Pray the Two Rakahs

The second thing, so you pray those two rakahs of prayer, there is nothing different about those two units of prayer.

You pray them as you would pray any other two units of prayer. Or actually, let me kind of backtrack that just a little bit, you pray those two units of prayer as you should pray any other salat. Alright? There's obviously room for improvement in my prayer, and I'm pretty sure everybody feels that there's room for improvement within their prayers.

So aside from that entire discussion, basically you pray istikharah like you would pray any other prayer, any other salat. Which is two rakahs, qiyam, ruku, two sujood, qiyam, ruku, two sujood. Just like that.

And then you sit at the end, the tashahhud, salawat on the Messenger, supplications, salam, salam, taslim. That is the procedure of the istikharah. There's no extra special surah that should be recited here.

There's nothing that's authentically narrated from the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that he would recite this in the first rakat, he would recite that in the second rakat. Nothing of that nature, nothing of that sort. You just recite two, you pray two rakahs of prayer.

Reciting the Dua

Once you finish these two rakahs of prayer, which means assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah, taslim. You then at that time recite the exact supplication taught to us by the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in the Arabic language. You read it in Arabic.

Now again here, the vast overwhelming majority of scholars are of the opinion that the supplication of istikharah is to be done after the prayer. There are just a couple of opinions here and there, where they say to do it before the taslim. However, the vast overwhelming majority, and again, if you analyze the text of the hadith, which I'm going to point out to you, when we do read the text of the actual hadith from the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَyou'll see that the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ mentions a word, which makes it very clear that the supplication is meant to be after the prayer is complete.

Okay? So now at this point you recite the supplication, and again I'm saying you read the supplication in Arabic. You read it in Arabic. Why am I explicitly saying that? Again, the hadith very clearly mentions that fact.

What If You Don't Know Arabic?

Now a question comes up here. What if I don't know, I don't have it memorized? Read it off of a piece of paper. Fuqaha have stated that very clearly.

If somebody needs to read it off of a piece of paper, that's okay. Read it out of the book, read it off of a piece of paper, photocopy it, do what you gotta do.

But nevertheless, read the actual Arabic of the supplication.

Don't kind of read the summarized English translation and say, I'm going to paraphrase and do it on my own. No. When we read the text of the hadith, you'll see the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ explicitly said, read it as I've taught it to you.

Alright? So that's the next thing. The other thing, and I'd like to go ahead and state this because, just in case anybody is watching the video or is listening to the lecture, then what if somebody can't read Arabic? Somebody doesn't yet have the ability to read Arabic, inshallah they're learning how to read Arabic. Alright? Then use a transliteration or something of that nature to try to do the best of your ability.

But of course, somebody recently took shahada, somebody just recently kind of came into connection with their deen and started learning. There's always an exception to the rule. We do not give enough consideration to people who have had a major turning point in their life, whether we're talking about people who might have been born in Muslim families but just not raised with the deen, and they come to practice the deen later on in their lives, or we're talking about converts or reverts, people who took shahada, accepted Islam later in life.

Consideration always should be given to them, and it should be understood that they're doing the best that they can, and they should make an effort definitely to try to learn Arabic as much as possible, as quickly as possible, but until and unless they get to that point, they are completely capable of practicing their deen to the best of their ability, and that is, it's okay for somebody like that to read it in English, or even read the translation of it. That is a very, very specific situation, and consideration should be given to those type of cases.

Nevertheless, going back to the procedure, so we talked about you pray two rakahs, you complete the prayer, you then read the supplication in Arabic to the best of your ability, and then that is basically the procedure of istikharah.

You read the supplication in Arabic, and that is done. Then you don't have to make some extra dua after that. The supplication, the Arabic that you read, is the supplication itself.

It is the dua itself, alright? So there's no other extra procedure after that. Once you're done with reading the supplication, you are done.

The Outcome of Istikharah

Now, the next issue I'd like to address is what is the outcome of the istikharah.

Again, I can start by telling you what is not the outcome of the istikharah. You will not wake up in the middle of the night and have a 3D vision of what you should do. I can tell you that much, that's not going

to happen, alright? It's istikharah, not avatar, alright? That's just not how it works, okay? So that's one thing we need to be clear on.

And while it might seem like a joke or silly to some people, sometimes people just don't know, alright? So the outcome of the istikharah is nothing out of this world like that.

The Primary Outcome

The primary outcome of the istikharah is that clarity of mind that I was talking about, that confidence to make the decision you need to make that I was referring to earlier, that I alluded to. You feel confident in making a decision, you feel good about making a decision.

So you are already leaning towards one option, option A, alright? And there is another option on the table, but you're a lot more confident about option A, or maybe you've kind of come to a decision on option A, but you just need that extra little confidence. So you do your istikharah, you'll naturally start to feel more confident, you'll feel more clear, you'll feel ready to make that decision. That is the outcome of your istikharah.

So the outcome of the istikharah is to reflect internally, to be a bit introspective, to just take a look inside and see if you feel good, you feel confident about making your decision. And how do you know that maybe the istikharah, the outcome is that maybe this isn't the best decision for you? You'll naturally feel down, you'll feel conflicted, you'll feel doubtful, you'll feel very, very scared, or anxious, or hesitant, or apprehensive about making your decision. Then at that time, at that point, that is basically your response of the istikharah, your outcome of the istikharah, that maybe this isn't the best decision for you, alright? And that's how simple and easy istikharah is.

That's how simple and easy istikharah is. The reason why istikharah has also become complicated for us a lot of times is because we're looking for something out of this world, something supernatural, something that's really, really far out. So we look for something crazy like that, and when we don't find it, then we feel unfulfilled.

But if we learn to just think a bit internally, we learn to just be a little bit more reflective and introspective, naturally you'll find the response of your istikharah to be a lot more facilitated for you. You're just thinking internally, and you naturally feel confident in your decision. So that's the outcome and that's the result of the istikharah.

About Dreams

The question always comes up, well what about dreams? The issue of dreams is one thing that needs to be understood. We don't completely dismiss dreams altogether. Authentic narrations of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ tell us that dreams are something that a believer derives inspiration from.

Listen to the words very carefully. Dreams are something that a believer can derive, can take inspiration from. But by no means, even the greatest of scholars, like Ibn Sirin from the Tabi'un, even great scholars of interpretation of dreams, one of the first things they would say, or the first things that they taught their students, was that dreams are not a basis of making decisions.

Decisions should not be made based on dreams. They were the first and foremost to tell their students, even though these were scholars of the interpretation of dreams, nevertheless they said, at the most, it's inspiration, it's motivation, it's encouragement. That's all it is.

It's not something that you base a decision on. And so that's, I'd like to clarify that right here. If you have a dream and it kind of inspires you and motivates you, alhamdulillah, don't read too much into it, because you're not supposed to.

Now that's the outcome of the istikharah.

Miscellaneous Issues

And that basically... Now there's two miscellaneous issues that I'd like to explain. Two extra little issues here at the end that I'd like to add on to this discussion.

What If You Still Don't Feel Confident?

The first issue is kind of related to the outcome. What if I make istikharah and I just still don't feel comfortable or confident in my decision? You know, I still don't feel confident, I still don't feel clear, I'm not comfortable making a decision, and I made istikharah and I followed the procedure properly, I still just don't feel comfortable. What do I do at that time? The course of action at that time is, do it again.

Do it again. And it doesn't work again, then do it again. And still I'm not comfortable, do it again.

Keep doing it until you feel confident and comfortable in making a decision. That's it. There's even a narration from Abdullah bin Jubair رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا one of the companions of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and also one of, probably Aisha رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهَا's best and brightest student.

He says, there's a little incident about his life, he talks about this. He says that, I made istikharah with Allah three times.

And then I was comfortable and confident in making my decision.

So he actually explicitly mentions, while explaining to his students, he says, if you gotta do istikharah multiple times, you gotta do istikharah multiple times. That's okay. He says, I had to make istikharah three

times one time to make a decision.

But that's alright. So, don't be afraid of repeating the istikharah multiple times. And a lot of times it's just a matter of, and this is kind of a tragedy of our times, but sometimes we become kind of spiritually numb in that sense.

So we're not very introspective, we're not very reflective. Right? Sometimes the superficial nature of the culture that we live in, or our activities and things like that make us a little spiritually dull or numb. And so we might have to just do istikharah a few times to kind of break through the surface or crack through the shell.

And that's okay. Alright?

Can Someone Else Do Istikharah for Me?

The next, the last issue I wanted to mention here that is associated with istikharah is that there's one very commonly asked question, one issue that comes up quite often. And that is, can I ask someone, can I have somebody else do istikharah for me? Alright? There is no precedent, there is no religious verification for having someone else do istikharah for you.

There's no precedent, there's nothing mentioned within the hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) There's no precedent of this within the generation of sahaba. None of the classical, in fact the classical fuqaha have explicitly stated that istikharah is meant to be done by the individual him or herself. Istikharah is meant to be done by the individual him or herself.

And that is a rule. That's it. A person has to do their istikharah themselves.

Now, there's a very honest sincere question, a concern that's in the minds of people who ask this question. And that question or that concern is often, you know, I'm not a very good person. I don't even pray five times a day.

I have a lot of sins, a lot of issues in my life. I feel very... I feel distant from Allah maybe. Or I don't know if I make istikharah then it will be clear or won't be clear.

And so I want to ask someone to make istikharah who's a lot more righteous and pious. And someone who's a lot better person than I am. And that's just a concern that a lot of people have.

But I'd like to answer that concern by first saying that maybe part of the reason that you feel that way about your relationship with Allah is because of this mentality and this approach that you have. Where you don't feel like you're good enough to talk to Allah. You feel like you don't have access to Allah.

So the first thing that you have to get over is the simple fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is just as available. Allah is just as accessible to the sinful person as He is to the most righteous and pious person.

Allah is accessible and available to everyone.

We all can pray to Allah. We can all ask Allah for whatever we need. We can all do istikharah with Allah.

And the second answer to that concern is if you do... You are feeling a bit guilty. You are feeling a bit self- conscious about the fact that you are distant from Allah and you're not praying and maybe that's why you shouldn't be doing istikharah. Then why then put another barrier between you and Allah? Why not fix the problem? Why not say, I have a situation.

I need to do istikharah. I don't pray five times a day and that's why I don't feel comfortable doing istikharah. Well, it's time for salatul maghrib right now or it's time for salatul isha right now.

Why don't I go ahead and take that first step? Why don't I go and make wudu, stand up, pray salatul isha, then pray two rakats and do my istikharah? Let's get it out of the way. Let's get it done. And so that's the answer to that question.

So there is no validity to having somebody halfway across the world in some village somewhere doing istikharah on your behalf and that person didn't even know who you are and what's going on with you. And by the way, as a little side note, just a little word of advice, if that person is charging you, it's probably a scam, alright? Just a little note of caution, alright? The person charging you, right? Dollar, dollar, bill y'all. Then there's a problem there, okay?

Then you need to stay away from that entire situation, okay? So just a little note of caution, okay? But nevertheless, I did want to address that in a serious issue, in a serious manner, that there is no validity, there is no precedent, there is no... there is absolutely no authenticity to having somebody do istikharah on your behalf.

The person, him or herself, that person, whatever situation they're dealing with, they need to be doing their own istikharah. They need to do their own istikharah. There might be situations, and as a side note, there might be situations where a decision affects multiple people.

Then everybody involved in the situation makes their own istikharah. If I will be implicated by this decision, then we all make our own istikharah. But nevertheless, it's not kind of like, okay, we need to do a business deal.

So myself, Obeid and Middat are gonna get into a little business together. All right? I wouldn't get into business with Obeid, I don't trust him. But nevertheless, so all of us, all right, so... I don't know who these people are.

So, with a couple of people, I'm getting into a business with them. And I need to, we need to come to this decision, is this a good decision or not? So we decide, you know what brothers, we've looked at the facts,

we've crunched the numbers, we've spoken to a couple of people, we got some consultation, we need to do istikharah. So we say, all right, ini mini ma'ani mo, you do istikharah.

Doesn't work that way. Let everybody go and do their own istikharah. So even when it is a joint decision, everybody should be doing istikharah.

But definitely when it is your personal decision, make your own istikharah. Don't put it off on someone else. Nobody else can do your istikharah, you do your own.

And then that little concern that is there, I'm not good enough, I'm not pious enough, I'm not righteous enough, doesn't make any sense. Allah is Allah, and He's accessible to you. All you gotta do is go get clean, go make wudu, (فَاسْتَقِدْلًا اللهُ أَكْبَرُ - fastaqidla Allahu Akbar), and you're talking to Allah.

Done deal. Secondly, if you do feel like you're distant from Allah, then fix the problem, don't create another problem. Don't create another problem, but rather fix the problem, repair the relationship, fix the issue.

What We Don't Make Istikharah For

And it obviously goes without saying that we don't make istikharah for anything that is impermissible. So there is no istikharah for, you know, should I drink alcohol? Of course that's very bad. You know, should I gamble? What should I put my money on? Should I put my money on this race or this horse? It goes without saying, it's common sense, we do not make istikharah about things that are impermissible.

Also, we do not make istikharah about things that are obligatory. So there's no making istikharah of, should I pray salatul isha or not? That goes without saying, things that are obligatory, things that are a part of the deen, things that we're supposed to do, like fasting in Ramadan. There's no making istikharah, should I fast in Ramadan or not? And similarly, we do not make istikharah for things that are impermissible.

And of course that's common sense, but I just wanted to mention that.

The Hadith of Istikharah

Now, let's go ahead and discuss the supplication of istikharah itself. I'll go ahead and read the hadith to you.

And this is a hadith from Sahih Bukhari. This narration is in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari.

An-Jabirin رضي الله عنه qal, Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, he is a very eminent, knowledgeable companion of the Prophet of Allah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1162)

He says, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, he regularly would remind us and teach us to do istikharah in all of our affairs and our issues.

In all issues, in all decisions, in all affairs.

Just like he would teach us a surah from the Quran.

Just like he would teach us a surah from the Quran. What does that mean? He's drawing a parallel. And this is, by the way, this is the same type of verbiage that's used to talk about the tashahhud in the prayer.

That he would teach us a tashahhud like he would teach us a surah from the Quran. And it's also said here about istikharah. This means two things, that has two implications.

Implication number one, he emphasized the importance of memorizing it. Just like we memorize a surah from the Quran, similarly, he emphasized the importance of memorizing the supplication of istikharah. The second implication of this is that to read it in the Arabic language, like we read a surah in the Arabic language.

When we read a surah from the Quran in our prayer, we read it in Arabic. Correct or not everyone? Yes. And again, there's that rare exception that I talked about.

Nevertheless, the general rule is that we read the supplication in Arabic. Similarly, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught us to read the supplication of the Istikharah in Arabic, just like we read a surah in Arabic. Okay.

He then goes on to say:

He would say, when anyone of you is concerned with an issue or a matter.

When anyone of you is concerned or dealing with or is concerned or dealing with or thinking about an issue, a decision, a matter.

Then he should pray two rakahs of optional prayer.

So he should pray two rakahs of prayer.

Aside from the fard obligatory prayer. Other than the fard obligatory prayer.

So this is where I was explicitly saying that it has to be voluntary optional prayer. Because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explicitly in the hadith, in the narration says, it must be voluntary optional prayer.

says: صلى الله عليه وسلم Then the Prophet

In the Arabic language, in classical Arabic, the Quranic and prophetic language.

In classical Arabic, the word (ثُمَّ - thumma) is to basically say what we would say afterwards, after that, then afterwards. Alright, so it states that this occurs after the previous thing has been completed or concluded. So based on this, the vast overwhelming majority of the scholars are of the opinion, the supplication of istikharah is to be read after the prayer has been completed, after the taslim.

Now the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم reads this supplication for us and teaches us this supplication. So I'm going to explain the meaning of this supplication.

The Dua of Istikharah

Allah, most definitely I seek that which is good from You (بعلمك - bi ilmika) by means of Your knowledge.

Because, oh Allah, You know what's good for me, I don't know what's good. Like the ayah of the Quran says:

You might like something initially and it turns out to be good for you, you might dislike something initially and it turns out to be bad for you. So based on that, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one who knows what's good for me.

So that's why I'm saying, Allahumma, O Allah:

O Allah, I seek that which is good from You by means of Your knowledge.

And I seek the ability to do what I need to do by means of Your power and Your ability. Meaning I'm weak, I'm incapable, but I seek the ability to make my decision and to do what I need to do by means of Your ability and Your power.

And I ask You to grant me from Your great majestic benevolence. That Your blessing that is so great, I ask You to bless me from Your blessing. To grant me some from Your blessing.

And now this is personally my favorite part of the supplication. Extremely beautiful. And this kind of states the mentality behind istikharah.

Because most definitely you are fully capable and I am completely incapable.

And you know everything, and I don't know anything.

And O Allah, you are علام Allam). Allam, this is the exaggerated form of the word, the hyperbolized noun. This basically means the complete knower of الْغُيُوب )Al-Ghuyub(.

Ghuyub is the plural of the word Ghayb. All those things that are unseen, all those things that are hidden, all those things that are unknown. That you are the complete knower inside out of all those things that are unseen and unknown and hidden.

The Crux of the Supplication

Now here comes the crux of the supplication:

O Allah, you know. O Allah, you know that this issue, this decision, this matter:

In my deen, in my religious affairs,

And in my worldly affairs,

And in the end of my affairs.

In the end of my affairs. What does that mean, the end of my affairs? What do you think that's referring to? The akhira, the life of the hereafter. So if you know, O Allah, that this decision that I'd like to make, that I've been kind of struggling with, you know, O Allah, that if this is good for me in my deen, in my religion, in my worldly matters and issues, and if this is good for me in the akhira, another narration of this same supplication, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

In my short term and in the long term.

In my short term and in the long term. What do you think short term refers to, everybody? Dunya, life of this world, this life. And آجله ajilihi) the long term, makes reference to akhira, the life of the hereafter.

That, O Allah, you know that if this is good for me in the short term and long term, dunya and akhira, what do I request to you, O Allah?

Make it possible for me. Make it possible for me, make it happen for me.

Make it possible for me, make it happen for me.

But that's not it. Now we get to see the real beauty, the magnificence of the supplication.

Don't just make it possible and available to me.

Make it easy, facilitate it for me. Facilitate it for me. Make it simple, make it easy and accessible for me.

And we're still not done.

Remember I told you the meaning of ثُمَّ )thumma(, ثُمَّ means that after the fact. After what fact? After I have achieved it.

Put blessing in it for me. We're going for the premium package here. Premium package.

I want the works. All the options. I want it to be possible for me, O Allah.

I want it to be easy and simple and accessible, facilitated for me, O Allah. And then after I have it, I want بركة )barakah) and blessing in it, O Allah. What a comprehensive supplication.

What a beautifully comprehensive supplication.

If It's Not Good

It then goes on, Allahumma, O Allah:

And O Allah, you know that this issue, this matter, if this is bad for me in my deen, in my worldly matters, and in the end of my affairs, in akhira, in the hereafter. Another narration again says:

In my short term and in the long term, meaning in my dunya and my akhira.

Then what? Now here we get to again see the beauty and the eloquence of the supplication. The prophetic eloquence on full display. Let me break down the words to you here.

The word صرف )sarf) means to turn something. There are two entities here. There is you and what you are making istikharah for.

So the first part, the supplication says, if this is bad for me in my dunya and akhira, then:

Turn it away from me.

And turn me away from it. Turn it away from me and turn me away from it.

You see the eloquence within the supplication? The visual it provides? Imagine you and what you are making istikharah for. There Allah, if this is bad for me in my dunya and my akhira, then I want nothing to do with it. So don't just turn it away from me, but turn me away from it.

Want nothing to do with it. I got no business with it. If there is no khair, then what would I want with it? So this is what the supplication teaches us to say.

The Alternative

But that doesn't solve the problem, does it? That doesn't solve the problem. There is still an issue left. What's the problem? A brother still got to get married, right? Brother still got to get married, right? Whatever it is that you are making istikharah for, your need, your necessity, your situation, your decision is still not complete.

Fine, you made istikharah, you realize that this is not good for me, you felt uncomfortable, you felt hesitant, or you felt apprehensive about the decision, and you backed away. Done. But your need still remains.

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم doesn't leave his ummah hanging here. Completes the supplication.

And then make possible for me that which is good.

So this particular situation wasn't good for me. So I ask Allah, Allah turn it away from me, and turn me away from it. I want nothing to do with it.

But Allah (al-khayr):

Make that which is good, possible for me. But the problem is, I don't know where, I don't know how, I don't know when, I don't know anything about it. I don't know who she is, where she lives.

I don't know nothing. Where do I start?

Wherever and however that good may be.

Wherever and however that good may be.

So make that which is good, possible for me whenever, wherever, however it may be.

I leave it to you O Allah. I'll still do my due diligence.

I'll still stay at work, trying to find the right option, trying to make the right decision. But O Allah, make that good possible for me. Meaning lead me to that khair.

I stumbled here, no worries, no problem, I was saved from شرّ )sharr). But make something good possible for me down the road. And this is like a consolation at the end of supplication.

This situation don't work out, that's actually good. That means there wasn't khair. You're asking Allah for khair and Allah will make khair possible for you.

That yaqeen), that conviction, needs to be there when you make supplication. Particularly good. Allah will make that which is good possible for you.

I just gotta keep sticking to what I do. And I gotta keep my hopes high in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Final Request

So make that which is good possible for me wherever and however it may be.

And then, meaning once I have gotten that which is good for me:

Make me pleased, make me satisfied with it.

In another narration, the Prophet says the words:

Then make me satisfied with it. Make me content or satisfied, fulfilled with it.

Make me pleased with it. Now again, kinda sounds like the same thing, right? We have alhamdulillah here, at the lecture here, we have plenty of Arabic students. And even somebody who doesn't have any formal background in Arabic studies, you can hear the difference.

And the other one is:

I guess I'll end with this. I actually forgot I'll end with this one last hadith mentioned in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad narrated by Sa'd bin Abi Waqas رضي الله عنه. He says that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

Arabic

Reference: Musnad Ahmad 1547

That from the blessing of the son of Adam is the ability to seek good from Allah do istikharah with Allah.

Arabic

And also from the blessing of the son of Adam the children of Adam is that they are pleased with whatever Allah has decreed for them.

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And from the wretchedness of the children of Adam, the human being is that when he leaves doing istikharah with Allah.

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And also from the wretchedness of the human being is that when that human being is displeased with what Allah has decreed for him.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us all to do istikharah and to be pleased with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's decree and decision in our affairs and issues.

Closing

Arabic

Translation: May Allah reward you with good. Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.