Sunan an-Nasa'i 3253

Translation

"The Messenger of Allah used to teach his Companions to perform Istikharah in all matters, just as he used to teach them Surahs from the Qur'an. He said: 'If any one of you is deliberating about a decision he has to make, then let him pray two Rak'ahs of non-obligatory prayer, then say: Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi 'ilmika wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika wa as'aluka min fadlika, fa innaka taqdiru wa la aqdir, wa ta'lamu wa la a'lam, wa anta 'allam al-ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal-amra khayrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa aqibati amri faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li thumma barik li fihi. Allahumma, wa in kunta ta'lamu annahu sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri fasrifhu 'anni wasrifni 'anhu waqdur li al-khayr haythu kana, thumma radini bihi. (O Allah, I seek Your guidance (in making a choice) by virtue of Your knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not. You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if in Your knowledge, this matter (then it should be mentioned by name) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood and my affairs (or: both in this world and in the Hereafter), then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge it is bad for me and for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs (or: for me both in this world and the next), then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and ordain for me the good wherever it may be and make me pleased with it.)"

Grades by grader

What scholars said about it

In their own words, as Hadith Unlocked records them. They are shown, not summarised into a grade.

• Dāraquṭnī

  غريب من حديث عبد الرحمن بن أبي الموالي عن محمد عن جابر وهو صحيح عنه

  machine translationGharīb (strange) from the hadith of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī al-Mawālī, from Muḥammad, from Jābir, and it is sound (ṣaḥīḥ) from him. Report a problem

  in سنن النسائي, p. 3255
• Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal

  هو منكر ليس يرويه غيره لا بأس به

  machine translationIt is objectionable (munkar); no one other than him narrates it. There is no harm in him. Report a problem

  in سنن النسائي, p. 3255
• Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal

  منكر

  machine translationRejected (munkar) Report a problem

  in سنن النسائي, p. 3255

Same hadith, other wordings

• Hisnul Muslim 74قال جابر بن عبد الله رضي الله عنهما: كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، يُعلمنا الاستخارة في الأمور كلها كما يعلمُنا السورة من القرآن، يقول: إذا هم أحدكم بالأمر فليركع ركعتين من غير الفريضة، ثم ليقل: "اللهم إني أستخيرك بعلمك، وأستقدرك بقدرتك
• Jami at-Tirmidzi 480كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ يُعَلِّمُنَا الاِسْتِخَارَةَ فِي الأُمُورِ كُلِّهَا كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ يَقُولُ إِذَا هَمَّ أَحَدُكُمْ بِالأَمْرِ فَلْيَرْكَعْ رَكْعَتَيْنِ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْفَرِيضَةِ ثُمَّ لْيَقُلِ اللَّهُمَّ
• Shahih Muslim 403bكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ يُعَلِّمُنَا التَّشَهُّدَ كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ
• Shahih al-Bukhari 1166كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ يُعَلِّمُنَا الاِسْتِخَارَةَ فِي الأُمُورِ كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ يَقُولُ: «إِذَا هَمَّ أَحَدُكُمْ بِالأَمْرِ فَلْيَرْكَعْ رَكْعَتَيْنِ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْفَرِيضَةِ ثُمَّ لِيَقُلِ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّ
• Misykatul Mashabih 1323عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ: كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُعَلِّمُنَا الِاسْتِخَارَةَ فِي الْأُمُورِ كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ يَقُولُ: " إِذَا هَمَّ أَحَدُكُمْ بِالْأَمْرِ فَلْيَرْ
• Sunan an-Nasa'i 1278كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ يُعَلِّمُنَا التَّشَهُّدَ كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ
• Shahih al-Bukhari 6382كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ يُعَلِّمُنَا الاِسْتِخَارَةَ فِي الأُمُورِ كُلِّهَا كَالسُّورَةِ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ: «إِذَا هَمَّ بِالأَمْرِ فَلْيَرْكَعْ رَكْعَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ، وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ،

Other narrations of this report

Sahih al-Bukhari 7390Sunan Ibn Majah 1383al-Sunan al-Kubra (al-Nasa'i) 5557al-Sunan al-Kubra (al-Nasa'i) 7701

Narrators

1. 1
   Jābir b. ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAmr b. Ḥarām al-Anṣārī

   Companion (ṣaḥābī)d. al-Haytham b. ʿAdī said, and Khalīfah b. Khayyāṭ in some reports from them: 68 AH. Abū Sulaymān b. Zabr said: 72 AH. Muḥammad b. Saʿd said, and al-Haytham b. ʿAdī in another report: 73 AH. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā b. Ḥabbān said: 77 AH. Abū ʿAwn al-Madanī and others said: 78 AH. Abū Nuʿaym and Khalīfah b. Khayyāṭ in another report said: 79 AH
   جَابِرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ حَرَامٍ الْأَنْصَارِيُّصحابي
   عن
2. 2
   Muḥammad b. al-Munkadir

   trustworthy (thiqah), excellent (fāḍil)d. 130 AH, or 131 AH
   مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْكَدِرِثقة فاضل
   عن
3. 3
   ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī al-Mawāl

   truthful (ṣadūq), who sometimes erredd. 173 AH
   ابْنُ الْمَوَالِصدوق ربما أخطأ
   حدثنا
4. 4
   Qutaybah b. Saʿīd

   trustworthy, precise (thiqah thabt)d. 240 AH, or: 241 AH
   قُتَيْبَةُثقة ثبت
   أخبرنا
5. 5
   al-Nasāʾī

   the preserver (al-Ḥāfiẓ)d. 302 AH, or 303 AH
   النَّسَائِيُّالحافظ

Who each narrator was and how reliable, from hdith.com

Latin names and English verdicts with a dotted underline are machine translations, not reviewed.