Is It Permissible to Do Istikhara for Another Person?

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Assalam aleykum

A previous post on Seekershub provides the dua which is to be read when doing istikhara. When doing istikhara for someone else, should the wording of this dua be amended, and should the other person’s name be mentioned in it for whom one is doing the istikhara?

Answer: assalamu alaykum

It is permissible to do istikhara for another person and there is no harm in it as it falls under supplication for others.

When doing so, you should change the personal pronouns to refer to the person for whom you are performing the istikhara by mentioning his/her actual name and rendering the pronouns in the third person. For example, if one were performing such a supplication on behalf of Zayd, it would be rendered as:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلَا أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِزيدٍ فِي دِينِه وَمَعَاشِه وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِه فَاقْدُرْهُ لَه وَيَسِّرْهُ لَه ثُمَّ بَارِكْ له فِيهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لَه فِي دِينِه وَمَعَاشِهِ وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِه فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنْه وَاصْرِفْه عَنْهُ وَاقْدُرْ لَه الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ أَرْضِه

Transliteration: Allâhumma inni astakhiruka bi ilmika wa astaqdiruka biqudratika wa as’aluka min fadlika al-azimi, fa innaka taqdiru walâ aqdiru wa ta’lamu walâ a’lamu wa anta allamul ghuyubi. Allâhumma in kunta ta’lamu anna hâdhal amra khayrun li-zaydin fi dinihi wa ma`âshihi wa aqibati amrihi faqdir-hu lahu wa yassir-hu lahu thumma barik lahu fihi wa in kunta ta’lamu anna hâdhal amra sharrun lahu fi dinihi wa ma`âshihi wa aqibati amrihi fasrifhu annhu wasrifhu anhu waqdir lahu al-khayra haythu kâna thumma ardih.

In the case of a female, the pronouns beginning from فِي دِينِه will become a ها, such as:

فِي دِينِها وَمَعَاشِها وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِها

[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studies Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir.