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Does a strong desire for divorce not to occur contradict seeking Allah's guidance (istikharah), and does istikharah require absolute submission and ceasing supplication and insistence?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

A woman is forbidden from seeking divorce without a legitimate Sharia reason, and divorce is disliked (makruh) except when reconciliation becomes impossible. Istikhara (seeking guidance from Allah) is not performed for forbidden (haram) or disliked (makruh) matters. Therefore, if seeking divorce is without a reason, Istikhara for it is impermissible. However, if there is a reason, Istikhara is permissible unless there is a strong desire to remain. The one performing Istikhara should entrust the matter to Allah and clear their heart from leaning towards either of the two options.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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