Question:
I heard people saying that istikhara with the Qurʾan has no basis with the Ahl al-Bayt (a), and that it makes a person rely on unseen matters?
Does istikhara with the Qurʾan have a basis?
Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi2 Jumada al-Akhira 1442 AH1,266 views
Translated from Arabic — the Arabic original is the authoritative text.Read the Arabic original
Question
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
There are numerous narrations on khira (seeking the best choice from Allah) in its various kinds, among them istikhara with the noble Mushaf, as has been reported:
From al-Yasaʿ al-Qummi, who said: I said to Abu ʿAbdillah (a): I want something and I seek Allah's choice concerning it, but I am not granted a [settled] opinion on it—until he said: He said: Open the Mushaf and look at the first thing you see, and act on it, if Allah wills. Al-Wasaʾil, vol. 6, p. 233.
As for its making a person rely on unseen matters: faith in the Unseen is among the foundations of a person's creed. Allah the Exalted has described the Godwary in His Mighty Book as those “who believe in the Unseen” (Qurʾan 2:3). So there is no harm in relying on the unseen if the unseen means seeking right guidance and good from Allah the Exalted.
Bearing in mind that the believer resorts to istikhara only in perplexity and when he cannot arrive at an opinion he considers sound on some matter; therefore he resorts to a set of preponderating factors according to religion's guidance for the believer. Religion calls him to thinking and to reflecting on consequences; among [these factors] is resorting to consulting the rational and the wise, among them [resorting] to supplication and seeking intercession (tawassul), and among them [resorting] to istikhara.