Can I Reinterpret My Istikhara Signs as My Feelings Change?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I wanted to return to my family’s house for two years. I performed istikhara to determine whether I should return to my family’s home.
Two of the three adults agreed, but one did not agree to two years and only agreed to six months. At the time, I interpreted this as a sign from Allah that it would be too stressful for me to move and then have to move again so quickly.
However, I’d be content with six months because my current situation is even more stressful. Would it be against Allah if I moved back to my family’s house for six months, or would it be okay because my feelings have changed? I don’t want to go against Allah.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Changing your mind and moving in for six months would be fine. Istikhara is to seek guidance, you did and were guided to two years initially, and now you are guided and inclined to six months. This is from Allah Most High.
Reality of Istikhara
Istikhara, looking deep into the words, is seeking goodness in the action that one’s inclination has decided to do, unto the Will of Allah Most High to put goodness (khayr) in it and trust Him in all matters in the future, at the beginning, middle, and end of the action. The outcome, in the end, is a person’s destiny and fate. [Abu Usama, Istikhara in Light of the Sunnah; Keller, Sea Without Shore]
Related:
Istikhara: The Prayer of Seeking Guidance
Istikhara Archives
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
