Guidance & Decisions

Ihdinaṣ-ṣirāṭal-mustaqīm. Ṣirāṭal-ladhīna anʿamta ʿalayhim ghayril-maghḍūbi ʿalayhim wa laḍ-ḍāllīn.

Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favour, not of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who are astray.

Recited in every unit of every prayer. Allah says: 'I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant in two halves, and My servant shall have what he asks for.' (Sahih Muslim 395)

[ Surah Al-Faatiha 1:6-7 ]

Rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wa thabbit aqdāmanā wanṣurnā ʿalal-qawmil-kāfirīn.

Our Lord, pour upon us patience, make our feet firm, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.

[ Surah Al-Baqara 2:250 ]

Rabbi arinī kayfa tuḥyil-mawtā.

My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.

Said by Prophet Ibrahim ﷺ

[ Surah Al-Baqara 2:260 ]

Rabbanā lā tuzigh qulūbanā baʿda idh hadaytanā wa hab lanā min ladunka raḥmah, innaka Antal-Wahhāb.

Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from Yourself. Indeed, You are the Bestower.

[ Surah Aal-i-Imraan 3:8 ]

Rabbanaghfir lanā dhunūbanā wa isrāfanā fī amrinā wa thabbit aqdāmanā wanṣurnā ʿalal-qawmil-kāfirīn.

Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs, make our feet firm, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.

[ Surah Aal-i-Imraan 3:147 ]

Rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wa tawaffanā muslimīn.

Our Lord, pour upon us patience and let us die as Muslims.

Said by The magicians of Pharaoh

[ Surah Al-A'raaf 7:126 ]

Rabbanā ātinā min ladunka raḥmatan wa hayyi' lanā min amrinā rashadā.

Our Lord, grant us mercy from Yourself and prepare for us right guidance in our affair.

Said by The People of the Cave

[ Surah Al-Kahf 18:10 ]

Wa lā tukhzinī yawma yubʿathūn. Yawma lā yanfaʿu mālun wa lā banūn. Illā man atallāha biqalbin salīm.

And do not disgrace me on the Day they are resurrected, the Day when neither wealth nor children will be of benefit, except one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.

Said by Prophet Ibrahim ﷺ

[ Surah Ash-Shu'araa 26:87-89 ]

ʿAsā Rabbī an yahdiyanī sawā'as-sabīl.

Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the sound way.

Said by Prophet Musa ﷺ

[ Surah Al-Qasas 28:22 ]

Allāhumma Fāṭiras-samāwāti wal-arḍ, ʿĀlimal-ghaybi wash-shahādah, Anta taḥkumu bayna ʿibādika fī mā kānū fīhi yakhtalifūn.

O Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, You will judge between Your servants concerning that over which they used to differ.

The Prophet ﷺ opened his night prayer with these words. (Sahih Muslim 770)

[ Surah Az-Zumar 39:46 ]

Wa ufawwiḍu amrī ilallāh, innallāha Baṣīrun bil-ʿibād.

And I entrust my affair to Allah. Indeed, Allah is Seeing of His servants.

[ Surah Ghafir 40:44 ]

Rabbanaghfir lanā wa li'ikhwāninal-ladhīna sabaqūnā bil-īmāni wa lā tajʿal fī qulūbinā ghillan lilladhīna āmanū, Rabbanā innaka Ra'ūfun Raḥīm.

Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and put no resentment in our hearts toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful.

[ Surah Al-Hashr 59:10 ]

Jabir bin Abdullah (RA) said: The Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach us to seek Allah's Counsel in all matters, as he used to teach us a Surah from the Qur'an. He would say: When anyone of you has an important matter to decide, let him pray two Rak'ahs other than the obligatory prayer, and then say: Allāhumma innī astakhīruka bi `ilmik, wa astaqdiruka biqudratik, wa as'aluka min faḍlika ‘l-`Aẓīm, fa'innaka taqdiru wa lā aqdir, wa ta`lamu wa lā a`lam, wa anta `allāmu ‘l-ghuyūb, Allāhumma in kunta ta`lamu anna hādha ‘l-amra - [then mention the thing to be decided] Khayrun lī fī dīnī wa ma`āshī wa `āqibati amrī - [or say] `ājilihi wa ājilih - faqdurhu lī wa yassirhu lī thumma bārik lī fīh, wa in kunta ta`lamu anna hādha ‘l-amra sharrun lī fī dīnī wa ma`āshī wa `āqibati 'amrī - [or say] `ājilihi wa 'ājilihi - faṣrifhu `annī waṣrifnī `anh, waqdur liya ‘l-khayra ḥaythu kān, thumma arḍinī bih.

'O Allah, I seek the counsel of Your Knowledge, and I seek the help of Your Omnipotence, and I beseech You for Your Magnificent Grace. Surely, You are Capable and I am not. You know and I know not, and You are the Knower of the unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter [then mention the thing to be decided] is good for me in my religion and in my life and for my welfare in the life to come, - [or say: in this life and the afterlife] - then ordain it for me and make it easy for me, then bless me in it. And if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion and in my life and for my welfare in the life to come, - [or say: in this life and the afterlife] - then distance it from me, and distance me from it, and ordain for me what is good wherever it may be, and help me to be content with it.' Whoever seeks the counsel of the Creator will not regret it and whoever seeks the advice of the believers will feel confident about his decisions, for Allah has said in the Qur'an: 'And consult them in the affair. Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah.'

[ Al-Bukhari 7/162. and Aal-'Imran 3:159. Hisn al-Muslim 74 ]

A`ūdhu billāh

(Say: ) I seek refuge in Allah. (Then you should desist from doing what you are in doubt about.)

[ Al-Bukhari, cf. Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 6/336, Muslim 1/120. Hisn al-Muslim 133 ]

Āmantu billāhi wa Rusulih.

Say: I believe in Allah and His Messengers.

[ Muslim, 1/119-20. Hisn al-Muslim 134 ]

Huwa ‘l-Awwalu wa ‘l-Ākhir, waẓ-Ẓāhiru wal-Bāṭin, wa huwa bikulli shay'in `Alīm.

(Recite the Ayat) He is the First and the Last, the Most High and the Most Near. And He is the Knower of all things (in Arabic).

[ Al-Hadid 57:3, Abu Dawud 4/329. Al-Albani graded it good in SahihAbu Dawud, 3/962. Hisn al-Muslim 135 ]