The blessed concept of istikharah in Islam and the philosophy of seemingly contradictory dreams

Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), MA (1893-1963)

Among the countless mercies of Islam, one very great mercy is the blessed system of istikharah [seeking divine guidance concerning what is best], through which the Holy Prophet (sa), may my soul be sacrificed for him, bound the members of his Ummah to the mantle of the mercy of Allah, the All-Knowing and All-Powerful, by means of a wondrous spiritual bond in every important matter of faith and worldly life. Our master, the Holy Prophet (sa), says that whenever a Muslim is faced with some matter which does not fall among those prescribed time-bound obligations laid down by Allah, His Messenger (sa) and those in authority, for in the case of fixed obligations there is no question of istikharah, but is instead a matter whose adoption or abandonment or whose form and timing, have been left to each person’s reason, understanding and circumstances, then on such an occasion they should turn to Allah the Exalted in istikharah, seeking His help, guidance and good. They should pray: 

“O my heavenly Master, guide me concerning this matter which is presently before me. Should I undertake it or leave it? Should I carry it out in the form that is presently in my mind or should I fulfil it in some other way? Should I do it now or defer it to some later time? For, O my All-Knowing and Holy God, You alone know in what form and at what time this matter will prove more beneficial and more blessed for me with respect to my religious and worldly welfare, both immediate and ultimate.”

This prayer, which in technical usage is called the prayer of istikharah, has been taught for every such matter in which there exists no fixed command from Allah, His Messenger (sa) or those in authority. That is to say, where there exists no command directing that a certain act must necessarily be performed at a specified time and under specified conditions. For example, the five daily prayers, the fasts of Ramadan or the obligation of paying zakat once a person’s qualifying wealth has remained in their possession for a full year, are all binding duties. In such fixed and definite commands, there is no question of istikharah. Indeed, the person who seeks istikharah in such matters makes a mockery of religion, because despite the existence of a clear and time-bound command, they seek, under the cover of istikharah, to render the divine command doubtful and to postpone it. But apart from such commands, in all other matters, however outwardly beneficial and righteous they may appear, the teaching of istikharah has been given. And this teaching is so filled with blessed and spiritual bounties that through it every true believer has been attached to the mantle of divine mercy in every matter and their lap has been kept perpetually spread for the reception of divine favours.

This system of istikharah contains a twofold blessing: First, through it, a person repeatedly and abundantly finds occasion to turn towards God and to knock at His door. Whether or not any other outward result appears, the prayer of istikharah nevertheless becomes a means of extraordinary blessing, purification of the self and humble turning to Allah. Secondly, frail human beings, whose knowledge is deficient and whose power is deficient, derive benefit from the limitless knowledge and limitless power of Allah, the All-Knowing and All-Powerful and thus are saved from innumerable stumbles and missteps in life. These two magnificent benefits of istikharah are so certain and so definite that no person of faith can deny their blessings. This is why the saints and great righteous ones of the Ummah of Muhammad (sa) have, in every age, made istikharah their way and have not allowed any movement or repose of life to remain deprived of the blessing of istikharah. The Promised Messiah (as) also practised it very frequently. Therefore, it is the duty of our Jamaat to strive to derive full benefit from this blessed system in all its affairs and to establish the habit of istikharah so firmly that it is never neglected in any important matter. Indeed, one should include not only oneself in it but also one’s wife, children and friends as well.

The prayer of istikharah and its method

The prayer of istikharah is narrated from the Holy Prophet (sa) in the following words:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاقْدُرْهُ لِي وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ، وَاقْدُرْ لِي الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرْضِنِي بِهِ

“O my God, I seek from You what is best [khair] by virtue of Your knowledge and I ask You to grant me strength and ability [and divine enabling in my affairs] by virtue of Your power. And I ask You out of Your immense bounty, for You have power and I have no power and You know and I know not and You are the Great Knower of all hidden things [and of what is yet to come]. O my God, if in Your knowledge this matter [which is presently before me] is good for me with respect to my faith, my worldly life and the ultimate outcome of my affairs, then ordain it for me [that is, grant me the ability to undertake it], make it easy for me and then place blessing in it for me. But if in Your knowledge this matter is not good for me with respect to my faith, my worldly life and the ultimate outcome of my affairs, then keep it away from me and keep me away from it. And ordain for me the good, wherever it may be [and grant me the ability to attain it], then make me content with it [bestowing tranquillity and cheerfulness upon my heart through it].” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab ad-da‘wat, Bab ad-du‘a’i ‘inda l-istikharah)

The prescribed method of istikharah is that at night, before going to sleep, a person should offer two rak‘at of voluntary prayer. During those two rak‘at they should make the above supplication. At that time, they should produce in their heart the certainty that God is watching me and I am watching God and that at this moment I am standing before my Creator and Master, seeking from Him good and blessing, right direction and guidance. This prayer should be offered with such pain, fervour and presence of heart as though one had melted one’s heart and placed it before God. Thereafter, without occupying oneself in any other matter, one should go to bed and lie down. Even while falling asleep, one should keep one’s attention fixed upon the purport of this prayer. The Promised Messiah (as) used to say that whoever does not remember the prescribed prayer of istikharah may still pray in their own tongue and in their own words, provided the substance remains that of istikharah. He also used to say that while going to sleep, one should recite the following brief prayer as well:

يَا خَبِيْرُ أَخْبِرْنِي يَا بَصِيرُ أَبْصِرنِي يَا عَلِيمُ عَلّمنِي

“O my All-Aware Master, inform me of Your will. O my All-Seeing God, grant me insight in this matter. And O my All-Knowing Creator and Master, bestow upon me knowledge from Yourself.” [Sirat-ul-Mahdi, narration 682, p. 629]

This form of istikharah should be continued for seven consecutive nights. If such an opportunity is not available, then it should be continued for at least three nights. And if, because of some necessity, even that is not possible, then one night alone may suffice. Indeed, the Promised Messiah (as) would even say that in a case of urgent necessity, where even a single intervening night is not available, istikharah may also be performed during the day, because istikharah is, after all, a prayer and لَا یُکَلِّفُ اللّٰہُ نَفۡسًا اِلَّا وُسۡعَہَا “Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity.” [Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2, V.287]

Four possible outcomes of istikharah

The result of istikharah may manifest itself in four possible ways. 

1. First, Allah the Exalted may disclose His will through some revelation [ilham] or dream, whether He discloses it to the person performing istikharah themselves or to some elder, relative or friend of theirs, for, as the Holy Prophet (sa) says: [الرُّؤْيا الصَّالِحةُ يَراها المؤمنُ، أو تُرَى لَهُ] that is, sometimes a believer is himself shown a dream and sometimes a dream is shown to another on his behalf. (Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Kitab ar-ru’ya’, Bab qawluhu ‘lahumu l-bushra fi l-hayati d-dunya’) 
2. Secondly, no revelation or dream may be vouchsafed, yet the heart of the person performing istikharah may become settled upon a particular course, because the will of God is at times manifested in this manner as well, that no verbal answer is received, yet the heart attains satisfaction. 
3. Thirdly, the person performing istikharah may receive from their relatives or friends some such counsel as accords with the will of God, for this too is an indirect form of tura lahu. 
4. Fourthly, it is also possible and our friends should know this aspect as well; otherwise, they may stumble, that in the mode of prayer’s acceptance, no outward result of istikharah may appear at all. Rather, out of some wisdom, Allah the Exalted may leave the person performing istikharah free to exercise their own reason. For God is in no way subject to His servants. Just as He can accept their prayers, so too, on account of some wisdom, He may reject their prayer or remain silent. Yet even in that case, the person performing istikharah will at the very least receive the spiritual blessing of prayer. And the Gracious and Merciful God will surely be pleased that My servant called upon Me, taking Me to be the One who disposes of their affairs. It is probably with all these aspects before him that the Promised Messiah (as) wrote the following verses:

تجھے دنیا میں ہے کس نے پکارا کہ پھر خالی گیا قسمت کا مارا
  تو پھر ہے کس قدر اُسکو سہارا کہ جس کا تو ہی ہے سب سے پیارا

“Who is there in this world that has called upon You and then gone away empty, stricken by misfortune? 

“How great, then, is the support granted to the one to whom You are dearest of all.” [Durr-e-Sameen [Urdu], Qadian: 2002, p. 35]

In the first couplet, ordinary people are being spoken of, whose prayer, even if apparently rejected, nevertheless produces some aspect of mercy. And in the second couplet, the Promised Messiah (as) has spoken of himself, for all that he had belonged to God and the whole mercy of God cast its shade over him. This is why he says elsewhere, “Your mercy is the central beam of my house”, meaning that my entire enterprise rests solely upon the support of Your mercy. [Ibid., p. 34]

The philosophy of seemingly contradictory dreams

Now I take up one aspect of the question of istikharah, which becomes a cause of distress for many people who are unfamiliar with it. Indeed, such a situation has recently arisen even within my own household. Some time ago, in connection with a private matter, I wrote to certain friends and elders asking them to perform istikharah. The replies that I received from various friends were, for the most part, outwardly contradictory. That is to say, one friend wrote one thing as the outcome of his istikharah, while another friend offered altogether different advice. Some also related their dreams, which outwardly appeared to negate one another. By the grace of God, I understood the philosophy behind this apparent difference, but some of my dear ones became greatly troubled and said, “What kind of strange situation is this, that in one and the same matter, different elders who have performed istikharah are seeing different, indeed contradictory, dreams? For example, one friend says that as a result of his istikharah, he saw a dream in favour of Zaid; another says that in response to his istikharah, Umar appeared preferable; and a third friend says that upon performing istikharah, Khalid seemed to have precedence” and so forth.

Since this doubt may arise in the hearts of many people, friends ought to understand its answer properly. But before giving the actual answer, it is necessary to explain one point of principle. That point is that, as the Promised Messiah (as) has written, it is the established way of Allah the Exalted that, for the training of believers and the trial of opponents, He keeps over tidings of future events a certain veil of concealment and, except in special circumstances, does not grant complete disclosure. This wise divine practice extends so far that it applies even to Prophets, let alone ordinary people. Accordingly, even in the prophecies of Prophets there remains, to a greater or lesser degree, a veil of concealment. Matters are not disclosed in such a way as may be likened to the rising of the sun. The Promised Messiah (as) has illustrated this hiddenness by the example of moonlight on such a night in which, alongside the moon, there are also some clouds. There is light, but not such intense light that no distinction remains between those who see and those who do not see. (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part V, p. 60) Or it is like the case of a pregnant woman, about whom one may say that she is going to bear a child, yet one cannot say whether that child will be a boy or a girl. (Izala-e-Auham, Part 1, p. 308) Thus, when even the spiritual disclosures vouchsafed to Prophets are attended by a veil of hiddenness, how can it be expected in the case of the dreams and revelations of ordinary people that their dreams will in every instance be as bright as the noonday sun?

After this explanation in principle, it should be remembered that when outwardly contradictory dreams arise as the result of istikharah, there are generally three reasons for them.

Three reasons for seemingly contradictory dreams

1. The first reason is that, in keeping with His law of concealment, Allah the Exalted shows to different people performing istikharah different aspects of the matter under consideration. For example, if the question concerns a marriage and one has to choose one person out of several prospective brides or bridegrooms, then at times Allah the Exalted shows to one person in a dream the religious aspect of the boy or girl, makes another aware of their means of livelihood, indicates to another something concerning their health, shows another a scene connected with future offspring and discloses to yet another the matter from the point of view of the future harmony and affection between husband and wife and so on. Such disclosure generally occurs in accordance with the personal inclination of the one performing istikharah. And in showing these varied scenes, the purpose of Allah the Exalted is as though to say: “Behold, We have shown you the different aspects of the matter before you. Now employ your own intellect and reflection and decide for yourselves which match is the more suitable.” It is obvious that in the matter of marriage, there are many factors which affect the married life of husband and wife and which may brighten or darken domestic happiness. At times, there is affection between husband and wife, but the husband is not religious. At other times, the husband is religious, but his health is poor. Or his health may be sound, but there may be financial difficulty. Or there may be no financial difficulty, but as a consequence of a particular match, troubled offspring may be destined and so on. Therefore, in a case where one aspect of future life appears bright and another dark, Allah the Exalted, by showing different aspects to different people, indicates for the training of the human mind that the various sides of the picture have now been placed before you. So use the reason We have given you, think for yourselves and decide.
2. The second reason is that at times the interpretation of different dreams is wrongly understood. In reality, there is no contradiction, but people, owing to their lack of understanding, imagine the dreams to be contradictory and become distressed, whereas, according to their true interpretation, there is no contradiction at all. In truth, the science of dream interpretation is exceedingly subtle and delicate. Sometimes weeping is seen in a dream, yet laughter is intended by it. And sometimes laughter is seen in a dream, yet weeping is intended by it. Or in one set of circumstances, the interpretation of weeping may be joy, while in another set of circumstances, the interpretation of weeping may be sorrow. In the same way, in certain cases, seeing certain blessed personages in a dream may outwardly signify a life of grief. For example, seeing Hazrat Fatima (ra) in a dream sometimes carries the interpretation that the person who saw the dream will face some grief in life, even though Hazrat Fatima az-Zahra (ra) is a crown among the believing women. Thus, another reason for apparently contradictory dreams arising from istikharah may be that either the dreamer or those hearing the dream make a mistake in its interpretation out of unfamiliarity and begin to regard the dreams as contradictory, whereas in terms of their true interpretation, no contradiction exists.
3. A third possible reason is that sometimes, even in the dreams of righteous people, there may enter an element of the lower self or of satanic influence. Indeed, the truth is that, apart from Prophets and certain elect friends of God, in the dreams of all other people there remains, to a greater or lesser degree, open to some influence of the self or of Satan. Thus, in his well-known book Izala-e-Auham, [Part 1, p. 439], while speaking of istikharah, the Promised Messiah (as) says that sometimes when a person performs istikharah while fixing some particular thought firmly in the heart, the influence of the self enters their dream or revelation and with the exception of Prophets and muhaddathin [those spoken to by God], the spiritual disclosures of all others may be affected by such influence. I do not mean in any way, God forbid, that the revelations or dreams of all other righteous people are therefore doubtful. Far from it. What I mean is only this, that although most of their revelations and dreams are indeed from God, it is nevertheless possible that in some dream or revelation there may have entered the influence of the heart’s own desire or the inclination of the self. Therefore, one possible explanation of contradictory dreams arising from istikharah must also be remembered to be this: one friend’s dream may be divine, while in another’s dream, there may have become mingled the effect of their personal opinion or psychological inclination.

Different kinds of dreams

It is also necessary, by the way, to mention here that, as is stated in the hadith, dreams are generally of three kinds: rahmani [divine], nafsani [psychological] and shaytani [satanic]. 

A rahmani dream is one that comes from God. Even if a veil of hiddenness or an error of interpretation is involved, there remains no doubt concerning its truth. A nafsani, or more precisely, a psychological dream, is one in which the personal condition or personal inclination of the dreamer becomes mixed in. And a shaytani dream is one in which there is included the influence of Satan or of satanic thoughts arising within a person. These three kinds of dreams are recognised by their signs, just as thousands of different kinds of trees are recognised by their fruits. 

But to what extent shall one weep over the state of the intellect of today’s Muslims, who beat their heads in admiration over Sigmund Freud’s so-called discovery that the psychological condition of man enters into dreams, yet remain oblivious to the magnificent intellectual benefaction of that Unlettered Prophet, may my soul be sacrificed for him, who was born in the deserts of Arabia and who, 1400 years ago, by explaining the three kinds of dreams, brought about a veritable revolution in the science of dreams. Sigmund Freud drew but a single bucket from that very fountain and even that, after muddying it with various impurities, he presented before the world as only one-third of the actual reality. Yet the world, having forgotten its greatest benefactor, continues to raise cries of praise for the incomplete discovery of this 20^th-century inventor. How astonishing! Indeed, how astonishing!

Concluding remarks

To sum up, the system of istikharah in Islam is a most blessed and wondrous system. And although some of its subtle aspects may cast those unfamiliar with it into error or anxiety, this in no way diminishes its magnificent blessings. Rather, like a treasure buried in the hidden depths of the earth, its worth and dignity are increased all the more. Therefore, our friends should cultivate the habit of istikharah in all their affairs, whether they pertain to the field of religion or to the field of worldly life and should adopt the way of turning to their heavenly Master in every matter. Then, if as a result of istikharah they receive any guidance, they should act upon it and be grateful to God. And if no guidance is received, they should be patient and regard istikharah as a prayer and a remembrance of Allah, thereby taking their share of its blessings. And if, as a result of istikharah, outwardly contradictory dreams arise, they should not become troubled by them, for such dreams come in order to illuminate your minds, to create within your hearts a search for true knowledge and to open for you new treasures of wisdom. I am astonished at the intelligence and understanding of the person who runs after the advice of Zaid and Bakr and ‘Umar in matters of faith and worldly life, yet does not turn to that All-Knowing and All-Powerful God whose knowledge and power know no limit and whose love and compassion are far greater even than those of one’s own mother. Alas, a hundred alas, that مَا قَدَرُوا اللّٰہَ حَقَّ قَدۡرِہٖۤ “They do not make a just estimate of Allah.” (Surah al-An‘am, Ch.6: V.92)

وَاٰخِرُ دَعۡوٰنا اَنِ الۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰہِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِیۡنَ

[“And the conclusion of our prayer shall be, ‘All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.’”]

(Written on 21 November 1954; published in the Daily Al Fazl, Lahore on 28 November 1954; later published in Mazamin-e-Bashir, Vol. 3, pp. 183-191; translated into English by Syed Adil Ahmad, USA)