“I swear by God that I ask pardon of God, and repent before Him more then seventy times daily.
“O men, repent and turn to God, for verily I repent before Him one hundred times a day.” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. iii.)
ISTIḤĀẒAH (استحاضة). The issue of blood of women; during which time they are ceremonially unclean. (Vide Mishkāt, book iii. ch. xvi.)
ISTIḤSĀN (استحسان). Lit. “Approving.” A term used in the exegesis of the Qurʾān and of the Ḥadīs̤. It implies the rejection of Qiyās [[QIYAS]], and the admission of the law of expediency.
For example, it is a law of Islām that everything that is washed must be squeezed like a cloth; but, as it is impossible to squeeze a vessel, it is evident that it must be cleansed without squeezing. (Nūru ʾl-Anwār, p. 208.)
ISTIK͟HĀRAH (استخارة). Lit. “Asking favours.” A prayer for special favours and blessings, consisting of the recital of two rakʿah prayers. (Mishkāt, book iv. ch. xl.)
Jābir says: “The Prophet taught the Istik͟hārah, as he also did a chapter of the Qurʾān; and he said, ‘When anyone of you intends doing a thing, he must perform two rakʿah prayers expressly for Istik͟hārah, and afterwards recite the following supplication: O God, I supplicate Thy help, in Thy great wisdom; and I pray for ability through Thy power. I ask a thing of Thy bounty. Thou knowest all, but I do not. Thou art powerful, and I am not. Thou knowest the secrets of men. O God! if the matter I am about to undertake is good for my faith, my life, and my futurity, then make it easy for me, and give me success in it. But if it is bad for my faith, my life, and my futurity, then put it away from me, and show me what is good, and satisfy me. And the person praying shall mention in his prayer the business which he has in hand.’ ”
This very simple and commendable injunction has, however, been perverted to superstitious uses.
Mr. Lane, in his Modern Egyptians, says:—
“Some persons have recourse to the Qurʾān for an answer to their doubts. This they call making an “istikhárah,” or application for the favour of Heaven, or for direction in the right course. Repeating three times the opening chapter, the 112th chapter, and the fifty-eighth verse of the sixth chapter, they let the book fall open, or open it at random, and, from the seventh line of the right-hand page, draw their answer.