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  Translators Note
  Preface
  Chapters
1.

The First Talk
  -   The Importance of Ista-aaza in the Quran & the traditions
  -   Ista-aaza before commencing a prayer
  -   Absolute necessity of Ista-aaza in permissible affairs
  -   Satan at the threshold of the mosque
  -   Saying the Ista-aaza before stirring out of one's house
  -   The prophet of Islam (a.s) exhorted by Allah to do Ista-aaza
  -   Worshipping the Satan the whole life
  -   During Qazawat or deliverence of justice, privacy with na mahram or strange females, while in a frenzy of anger
2. The Second Talk
  -   The Satan's trap or bait
  -   Don't brag after doing charity
  -   Satan sets his sights on the hearts of people
  -   What is Satan? Why has he been created?
  -   What is the use of knowing about Satan
  -   Satan has been created with fire and is a rare creature
  -   Satan can see us
  -   The creation of Satan & the felicity of man
  -   The purpose of creation of Satan is to put man to test
  -   Allah's promise & Satan's promise
  -   Allah's call & the call of Satan
  -   Satan never thrust his will on people forcibly
3. The Third Talk
  -   The Jealous nature of Iblees
  -   Jealous & Proud have nothing to do with heaven
  -   The wish f Iblees fulfilled
  -   The angels too have power of inspiration (Ilhaam)
  -   At the cross-roads
  -   The door for repentance is always open
  -   Allah's blessing is for men till the end
  -   Hassan Basri asks a question & Imam Zain al Abedeen (a.s.) replies
  -   Illness before death is a blessing
4. The Fourth Talk
  -   The only way to safety from Satan is Ista-aaza
  -   The King's tent & the ferocious watch-dog
  -   Ista-aaza should emanate from the heart and merely from the lips
  -   The three types of Ista-aaza
  -   Seeking protection in Allah's obedience
  -   A Satanic book to refute Satan
  -   The politics of the imperialist forces
  -   Ista-aaza is for escape from sins
  -   Keeping the hand in the tiger's mouth and trying to escape from it with one's feet
  -   A true dream and Satan's treachery
5. The Fifth Talk
  -   The meaning should be manifested by the words
  -   Satan runs away from the men of piety
  -   Need for trust on Allah
  -   Satan has nothing to do with the sincere people
  -   Do we have the capability of piety(taqwa) Aand remembrance (Tazakkar) of Allah
  -   Illegitimate sustenance is the biggest impediment in the way of Ista-aaza
      Until the last vestiges of haram are not removed Ista-aaza is not possible
  -   Abstain from doubtful food
6.

The Sixth Talk
  -   We are helpless & powerless
  -   The purity or otherwise of food
  -   Identify the haram morsel of food
  -   The bakers oven & Satanic tune
7.

The Seventh Talk
  -   Be Satan's antagonists
  -   Does Satan sleep
  -   You must remain fortified
  -   Momins arms-mustahebat (the non-mandatory prayers) & tark e mukroohat or abstinence from undesirables
  -   Satan intensifies his attacks in stages
  -   Wadhu or ablution--- the sharp instrument of defence for a Momin
  -   Fasting & charity break the backbone of Satan
  -   I have seen Satan's mother
  -   Penitence-another weapon in the hands of a Momin
  -   Two powerful weapons to defeat Satan
  -   Iblees bites the foot of Imam Syed Sajjad (a.s.)
  -   Warn people against the Satanic subterfuge
  -   Thinner than the hair and sharper than a sword
  -   The hereafter depends on the wordly desires
  -   A difference of three hundred thousand years
  8.  

The Eight Talk
  -   Taqwa the first aspect of Ista-aaza
  -   Abstinence from makroohat or unbecoming
  -   Thorny jungle and the barefoot traveller
  -   The bait and intrigue of Satan
  -   Piety has the faculty of seeking through Satan's bait
  -   Some necessary examples -
The bazaar is Satan's bait
  -   Ista-aaza before entering the bazaar
  -   Satan's trap in the bazaar
  -   Fellow-travellers-a dangerous trap
  -   Recognise yourself
  -   Woman is the most formidable trap
  -   Company of women is the preface to sinning
  -   The tale of barseesa
  9.  

The Ninth Talk
  -   Ista-aaza is effective only with piety
  -   A heart without piety is the abode of Satan
  -   Sumptous food & hungry dog
  -   A sick heart is the eating place of Satan
  -   The majority is entrapped
  -   The thief on the look out
for breaking into the house
  -   Iblees around the heart
  -   Why the suicide?
  -   Why Ista-aaza is not effective?
  -   Remember that death is a reality
  -   Flies buzz around the honey
  -   Satan a stumbling block in the way of penitence
  -   The practice of hazrat Syed e Sajjad (a.s.)
  -   The supplication of Ghareeq
during the absence of the Imam (a.s.)
  10.  

The Tenth Talk
  -   Why Ista-aaza
  -   Good deeds or guidance for evil
  -   Evil through good
  -   To make one miss the mandatories prompting people to busy in optional rites
  -   Losing interest in prayers
  -   O Allah! give us vision in the matters of faith
  -   Satan praying suspended in the sky
  11.  

The Eleventh Talk
  -   Satan the initiator of actions
  -   Satan doesn't even spare the prophets
  -   Hazrat Eesa converses with Satan
  -   Satan attempts to create fears in the mind of
Hazrat Ibrahim(a.s)
  -   Iblees tests the faith
  -   Satan attempts creating doubts in the mind of Ibrahim (a.s.)
  -   Have we too spurned Satan at any time
  -   Who is greater?
  -   Hazrat Ibrahim(a.s.) laments
  12.  

The Twelfth Talk
  -   The reality of Ista-aaza is in this verse
  -   The supplication of Imam Sajjad (a.s.)
      The thief who put off the lamp
  -   A thief in the heart
  -   Refrain from fights even if you are on the right
  -   The patience of Hazrat Dual Kifl (a.s.)
  -   Satan seeks help
  -   Satan knoks at the door
  -   Satan gets frustrated
  -   There will be negative effect of supplication on a heart devoid of piety
  13.  

The Thirteenth Talk
  -   Taqwa or piety is achieved with practice
  -   Shunning doubtful things or mushtabahaat
  -   Shunning of the unbecoming or makroohaat
  -   Shunning the permissible
for shunning the taboo
  -   Saving a coin a day for use
during ramadhan
  -   Travel becomes the reason
for avoiding the mandatory duties
  -   The material capacities
  14.  

The Fourteenth Talk
  -   The thought of sin and remembrance of Allah
  -   Remembrance of Allah relieves from satanic fears
  -   Being proud of one's prayers and supplications
  -   Satanic fears in a state of anger
  -   About Hazqeel
  -   A bed of two hands full of dust
  -   Must visit the cemetries
  -   Hazrat Fatima Zehra (a.s.) at the graveside of her grand uncle
  15.   The Fifteenth Talk
  -   The things that are definitely good- the actions of righteous guidance
  -   The actions that are definitely wrong---
the misleading actions
  -   When there is a doubt about the acts---whether righteous or taboo
  -   care is the guarantee of deliverence
  -   The touchstone
  -   Istekhara, or augury,
gudies in situation of doubts
  -   Some people misunderstand Istakhara
  -   Imam Hussain (a.s.) does Istakhara at the mausoleum of the prophet (a.s.)
  -   Istakhara with the rosary
or through the Holy Quran
  -   Strange stories about Istakhara
  -   The purpose of revelation of the Holy Quran is not for Istakhara
  -   Doing soothsaying from the Holy Quran is not proper
  -   Publications about Istakhara
  -   The types of Istakhara
  -   Clear warnings about Istakhara
  -   Suggestions for removing doubts
  -   The Holy Imams (a.s.) used to take advice
  -   Istakhara through chits
  -   Doing Istakhara for others
  16.   The Sixteenth Talk
  -   Tawakkal or trust in Allah
essential part of practicing monotheism
  -   Dependance on Allah for the success of the tasks that one strives to do
  -   Essential to have a Wakil or attorney
  -   Satan runs away from the Mutawakkil or the one resigned to the will of Allah
  -   Ibn e Zubair's rebellion after the event of Kerbala
  -   Imam Zain al Abedeen
and a saintly personality
  -   Speaking for the tranquility of the heart
  -   Imam Hussain (a.s.)
talks to Hazrat Ali Akbar (a.s.)
  17.   The Seventeenth Talk
  -   Tawakkal is the result of the knowledge, circumstances and the actions of the person
  -   Wisdom and kindness on men
  -   The Prophet (a.s.) never cursed anyone
  -   An example of Godly affection
  -   People themselves seek a place in the hell
  -   Affection on a kitten
  -   What Satan has to do with those who have Tawakkal or dependence on Allah!
  -   Friends of Allah have no anxiety from Satan
  -   Blade of dried grass or straw
  -   Tawakkal on Allah is necessary in the hereafter too
  18.   The Eighteenth Talk
  -   Tawakkal in unity of Allah
  -   Trust of Allah is intellectually binding
  -   How is it possible to be Mutawakkil or resigned to the will of Allah
  -   Belief in practicing-faith on unity of Allah
  -   Observe the act of drinking water
  -   The dress too is provided by Allah
  -   It is Allah who wards of troubles
  -   Physician or killer!
  -   In all matters Allah's will prevails
  -   Intercession too is necessary
  -   Tawakkal comes with knowledge
  -   Naym al Wakil
  -   Mutawakkal doesn't fear other than Allah
  -   One who expects help from other than Allah fails
  -   The circumstances have made us deaf and dumb
  -   Tawakkal has stages
  -   Tawakkal must be perpetual
  19.   The Ninteenth Talk
  -   Sorrows and happiness are from Allah
  -   Without knowledge faith of Tawheed is not practical
  -   The mouth opened but didn't close
  -   The importance of Surat al Tawheed
  -   Hazrat Ibrahim (a.s.) is a source of pride for those who trust on Allah
  -   Have we ever told the truth
  -   A Mutawakkil is never greedy
  -   Dependence on the wakil is necessary
  -   A shop without goods on Allah's support
  -   Idle youth is an enemy of Allah
  -   The learned get sustenance from Ghaib
  -   Tawakkal depends on the circumstances
  -   Talk about weakness of faith
  -   Acquring Tawakkal is mandatory
  -   Tawakkal and Counsel
  -   If there is no Tawakkal there is no faith
  -   Tall claims belittle a person
  -   Don't trust your own intuition
  20.  

The Twentieth Talk
  -   Istakhara and Tawakkal
  -   Everything happens with the wish of Allah
  -   Tawakkal in times of danger
  -   Ignorant Tawakkal
  -   Imam Jafar e Sadiq and the tiger
  -   Other meanings of Tawakkal
  -   The existence of cause is not permanent
  -   Calling someone other than Allah
     

 

 

The Fifteenth Talk
Some people misunderstand Istakhara


Muslims have adopted a bad habit that they started using Istakhara for matters connected with monetary benefit. This, truly, is not istakhara. Istakhara, in fact, is a prayer by virtue of which a person seeks Allah's wish if performance of a particular act would be in his best interest or not.

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