and the way forward remains uncertain, he should perform istikhāra (the prayer for guidance): he is to pray two rak‘ahs that are not part of the obligatory prayers and then recite the well-known supplication:

“O Allah, I seek Your counsel by Your knowledge, I seek strength by Your power, and I ask You of Your immense bounty. You know and I do not know; You are able and I am not; You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter”—here he names it—“is good for me in my religion, my worldly life, and the end of my affair—or, he may say, its immediate and future consequence—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 worldly life, and the end of my affair—or, he may say, its immediate and future consequence—then turn it away from me, turn me away from it, and decree good for me wherever it may be, and make me content with it.”

After offering istikhāra, if Allah causes the matter to proceed, it is good for him; he should go forward and rely on Allah. If Allah turns his resolve away from it, that is a sign it is not good for him. As for drawing lots with divining arrows, taking omens from birds, and similar practices, none of them contains any good.

1673 – Abū Masʿūd al-Badrī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute, and the payment given to a soothsayer. Agreed upon.

[Commentary]
This hadith is the final narration in this chapter—the chapter prohibiting the visitation of diviners, astrologers, and the like. In it the Prophet ﷺ forbade taking the price of a dog and the earnings of a prostitute