—is better for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affairs— or he may say: in the immediate and the long-term—then decree it for me and make it easy for me. But if You know that it is bad for me in my religion, my livelihood, and the outcome of my affairs— or, again, in the immediate and the long-term—then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and ordain for me whatever good there is, wherever it may be, and then make me content with it.”

When he finishes, if his heart feels at ease with either proceeding or holding back, that is the course he should follow; he acts according to where his chest finds relief. If he feels no such clarity and remains unsure, he repeats the istikhāra a second and a third time. After that comes consultation: if nothing becomes clear to him after performing istikhāra, he consults people of sound judgment and piety, and whatever they advise is the good, if Allah so wills. For sometimes Allah does not incline a person’s heart through istikhāra toward a specific option until he consults, and then Allah inclines his heart after that consultation.

The scholars have differed over which should come first, consultation or istikhāra. The correct view is that istikhāra precedes consultation, because the Prophet ﷺ said: “When any one of you is resolved about a matter, let him perform two units of prayer …” and so on. Therefore, if you have repeated the istikhāra three times and the matter is still not clear to you, then consult, and act on the advice you are given. We say that one performs istikhāra three times because it was the habit of the Prophet ﷺ to