The secret to a life with no regrets!
“Do you believe what you saw yesterday was the answer to your istikhaara?”
Asked my sister a few years ago, as I was trying to get through a really bad day. I gave the question a thought, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Because I could not wrap my head around the fact that a sunnah prayer of 2 rakats had just turned my whole life around. I was living one of my dreams (or so I thought) until the previous day.
After I had prayed the very first istikhaara of my life, I had seen sign after sign that I should get away from it. But with my stubbornness, I held on to it tight as I believed that my life would be ruined if I were to leave it. So I lived through the consequences just so that I could live with that dream of mine. But one day, I was literally dragged out of it in the most unexpected way, and it happened so that I would not be able to go back to it even if I wanted!
So I was going through an utter low at that point in life. Perhaps I even had a resentment towards the istikhaara that I prayed, because of my love towards the thing that was taken away. I hadn’t known the nature of istikhaara then. I thought it was just about something being made available for us if it was good, and something being taken away from us if it was bad. Little had I known.
Just in a matter of time after I was taken away from that thing I loved, out of nowhere I get a blessing similar to the one that was taken away from me. And Wallaahi I see the benefits of that blessing to this day. As I look back, I realize that if I hadn’t been taken away from that which I had loved so much, my life wouldn’t have been as blessed as it is now.
After that experience, I pray istikhaara for every big and small decision in life. Sometimes, what I want is made easy for me and sometimes I’m taken away from it. Whenever I am taken away from something, I always, and I mean ALWAYS find something more blessed than what was taken away from me. And I don’t regret a SINGLE decision I have made after praying istikhaara!
What I am describing right now isn’t just my experience. Its what’s exactly in the dua of istikhaara. After asking Allah to make ease in the decision if its good for us, and to take us away from it if the decision is bad for us, look at these words in the dua.
وَقْدُر لِيَ الْخَيْر حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرضِنِي بِهِ
“And decree for me what is good, no matter where it may be and help me be pleased with it.”
Wallaahi these words bring such peace to my heart with every istikhaara that I pray. These words remind me that I may not even know what ‘good’ is best for me. It helps me acknowledge that its only Allah Who Knows what’s best for me. And its only He Who Will help my heart love the new blessing that He decrees for me. And its He Who Will help me understand to the very core that THIS is no doubt what’s best for me. I tell you this has happened to me with every istikhaara I prayed. Especially the ones where I was taken away from something.
A lot of people ask me this question. Is istikhaara necessary when making a decision? I would say, definitely! If you want to live a life with no regrets! A lot of us have this fear of being taken away from something we love, like myself with my first istikhaara experience. But Wallaahi my dear brothers and sisters, the moment we taste the sweetness of how Allah takes care of our affairs, we would want to pray istikhaara for the smallest of decisions, just to see how Allah guides us.
So today my sister doesn’t even need to ask me. The moment I see a good sign after praying istikhaara, I go ahead with the decision and if I see a bad one, I leave it. And even though leaving might be challenging in some cases, my heart is at ease knowing for sure that something more blessed is coming my way. This is the level of security you reach with istikhaara. Subhaanallah!
