Prayer Circles

May you find a path that brings you peace and solace, especially when others question you. May you be guided by what is right for you, not by what someone else thinks is right. With harm to none, so mote it be.

Salaamu alaykum David,

There is an optional prayer in Islam called the Istikhaarah (consisting of two rak'ah) in which you ask Allah (God) to guide you to the proper course in terms of your life, deen (faith) and end. This special prayer is undertaken when one needs to make a major life decision or when they are really, really, really confused as to what is the proper way to go. Although some people choose to do Istikhaaras often (for whatever decision they plan to carry out) it is still a wonderful formal way to ask God to lead you in the right direction when you really want to do the right thing--and it works everytime.

How you find out what the right course of action is not necessarily immediately clear--you have to repeat the Istikhaarahs two or three more times (maybe even more) until the response or the right decision becomes clear in your head. And when it does, everything else is resolved (all the doubts and uncertainties and the what ifs) before you even have the chance to notice that indeed, it is happening: you are treading in the right direction.

To do the Istikhaarah, it is similar to praying the Sunnah prayer (only this time you announce the intention to pray Istikhaarah) which consists of two rakaahs, where you recite two different surahs (chapters of the Qur'an) after the Al-Fatiha (The Opening) in each individual rak'ah.
At the conclusion of the prayer, that's when you supplicate with the specific supplication of Istikhaarah and I've included that in English verbatim here. It goes like this:

"O Allah, I seek your counsel by Your knowledge and by Your power I seek strength and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You know while I do not and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know this affair (and here is where you insert your need or wish or the proper action to take) to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life, and end, then decree and facilitate if for me, and bless me with it, and if You know this affair to be ill for me towards my religion, my life, and end, then remove it from me and remove me from it, and decree for me what is good wherever it be and make me satisfied with such."

Once you have supplicated in this way (the main thing is just to pray and make your intention pure) then Allah assures His believers that they will have no regrets in their decisions. In Chapter 3, Verse 159, of the Qur'an Allah says, "...and consult them in the affair. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah..."

David, I wish you the best of luck in whatever decision you make, and that God guides you through that decision and that ultimately, you are happy and at peace with it. You are at a crossroads in your life but remember that both Christianity and Islam (and indeed all the Monotheistic faiths) teach that there is only One God and that He created us all to worship Him and only Him. We've known him all along, for He created us in the first place--it's just time for us to re-awaken that intrinsic knowledge and rediscover Him.
Good luck,
Your sister in Faith

David I am telling you that islam is a deception from the devil.Allah is the moon god.In noway is their god related to God Almighty who is your creator.He created you to glorify him.Jesus died on the cross so you and other's could be reconciled to God'If you turn away from God he will destroy you.God is a jealous God.Thou shall have no other gods before me.Do you want to end up in the lake of fire.Do you believe in a man,Mohammad who raped his friends 9 year old daughter?Do you embrace a religion that chops off peoples hands if they steal,that rapes women and then blames them for it and stones that women,that hangs you if your gay.Then marry's many wives which in our God's eyes is adultry.Turn back to Jesus and God Almighty to save your soul.Call 1-800-759-0700 they will pray with you.Again would you stand up for a God who can interviene or blow yourself up for something that will put you in a lake of fire for all eternity.Please don't be fooled by the devil.Don't follow the ones who murdered our neighbors on 9/11/01.