Al-Bukhārī has cited this report as proof in the relevant issue.
- The Prayer of Seeking Guidance (ṣalāt al-istikḥārah) is a Sunnah. Whoever intends to undertake a matter should perform two rakʿahs with the intention of istikḥārah and then recite the supplication that we shall mention, God Most High willing. Our Shāfiʿī authorities and other jurists agree that it is recommended, on the strength of the ḥadīth of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him):
“ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to teach us istikḥārah in all our affairs just as he would teach us a surah from the Qur’an. He would say, ‘When one of you has resolved upon a matter, let him pray two rakʿahs other than an obligatory prayer and then say:
O Allah, I seek the best outcome through Your knowledge, I seek ability through Your power, and I ask You of Your immense bounty. You have power and I have none; You know and I do not; and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this affair is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the end of my matter—or he said, in its immediate and future aspects—then decree it for me, make it easy for me, and bless me in it. But if You know that this affair is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the end of my matter—or he said, in its immediate and future aspects—then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and ordain good for me wherever it may be, and make me content with it.’ Thereafter he names his need.”
Al-Bukhārī narrated this ḥadīth in several places of his Ṣaḥīḥ; in some narrations the wording is: “then make me pleased with it.”
It is recommended that, after al-Fātiḥah, one recite “Say: O disbelievers” (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) in the first rakʿah and “Say: He is Allah, One” (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ) in the second, and that he then proceed, after completing the istikḥārah, with whichever option his heart feels opened toward.
- Qāḍī Ḥusayn, the authors of al-Tahdhīb and al-Tatimmah, and al-Ruwayānī—toward the end of the funerals section of his work al-Baḥr—state that the Prayer of Glorification (ṣalāt al-tasbīḥ) is recommended because of the ḥadīth reported about it. This recommendation, however, is subject to scrutiny, for its ḥadīth is weak and the prayer introduces a change to the well-known order of ṣalāh. Therefore it ought not to be performed without a sound report, and that report is not established. The ḥadīth referred to is what Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated:
“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to al-ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him): ‘O ʿAbbās! O uncle! Shall I not give you, shall I not bestow upon you, shall I not confer upon you, shall I not do for you ten deeds? If you do them, Allah will forgive your sins—your first and last, old and recent, accidental and intentional, minor and major, private and public. You pray four rakʿahs, reciting in each rakʿah the Opening of the Book and a surah. When you complete the recitation in the first rakʿah while standing, say “Subḥānallāh, al-ḥamdu lillāh, lā ilāha illā Allāh, and Allāhu akbar” fifteen times. Then bow and say it ten times while bowing; raise your head from the bowing and say it ten times; then prostrate and say it ten times; raise your head from the prostration and say it ten times; then prostrate again and say it ten times; then raise your head and say it ten times. That makes seventy-five in each rakʿah. Do this in four rakʿahs. If you can pray it every day, then do so; if not, then once each Friday; if not, then once each month; if not, then once each year; and if not, then once in your lifetime.’ ”
This was narrated by Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, Ibn Khuzaymah in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and others, and al-Tirmidhī transmitted it as well—from the narration of Abū Rāfiʿ—with the same meaning, and he said