Acting Contrary To A Response After Istikhaarah

Hadrat Thanvi Rahimahullah has written that there is no guarantee that a person will be successful withcertainty in his objective after performing Istikhaarah. The result of success or failure after Istikhaarah remains doubtful just as one was doubtful prior to his performance of the Istikhaarah. Hadrat Thanvi Rahimahullah further explains that we haven’t been promised success in our objective by performing Istikhaaarah rather we have been promised goodness whether the goodness manifests itself externally or internally.

Ulema have written that a person that intends commencing some business should not invest his capital until he attains some experience in that particular business field. Some people invest their funds in a particular business without having the relevant experience and end up in a loss within a short period of time. Thereafter they comment by saying, “We had performed Istikhaarah but we have suffered a loss.” This loss was due to their misunderstanding, and the firm intention and desire of undertaking a particular business venture which was not beneficial for them, yet their firm intention never changed even after Istikhaarah as they had considered their desire and intention to be inspiration from the side of Allah Ta’aala.

Coming to your query, if a person did not act upon the Istikharah but contradicted his positive or negative response that he had received, then too there is a possibility of success or failure in his objective, as there is no guarantee of success even after Istikhaarah.

Yes, if a person isn’t certain in his decision after performing Istikhaarah, then he may perform Istikhaarah again for a maximum period of seven days or if an answer is required urgently then Salaatul Istikhaarah should be performed seven times over one or two days. His heart will then incline towards that which is beneficial, Insha’Allah.

 There is no harm if one discards his decision after performing Istikhaarah, irrespective of whether he had done so due to external influence or otherwise. It is possible that Allah  is protecting him from harm therefore made him change his mind in that particular matter.