extreme Waswas

the best thing i can advise is to try your utmost best not to base your worship based on doubt. dont repeat an act of worship unless you are postive that you have nullified it (extremely important) in addition to this, i would advise you to seek knowledge as knowledge extinguishes doubts and i would also advise you to make dua that allah cures you from these whispers.

How to overcome Waswas (shaythans whispers) in worship


Bismillahirahmaaniraheem

Waswas can become a very serious issue and it may take away the pleasure in worship and instead replace it with constant worry whether a person did Wudu or Salaah properly. It can become a very serious issue as a person will feel overwhelmed by paranoia with regards to theri worship and will always feel a sense of inadequacy.

In worship terms Waswas means always have doubts about ones worship and not be sure of anything relating to worship as there is always a doubt there and this serious disease and illness is caused by shaythan.


What are some of the symptoms of waswas?

-You pray and then be not sure if you did.

- You waste too much water and long time in wudu and ghusl.

- You pray more than the number of rakats and do the sahu sujud every time. Even you pray more than once.

- you are not sure if your clothes are clean and every moment change your clothes.

- You follow the tiny things that are not even seen by eyes to clean them and remove them.

- You worry too much and feel your worship is not complete.

- You ask strange questions that people feel amazed about and show strange behavior for example: someone walks with shoes on the carpet until the spot where she prays just because she is not sure if the land is clean.

- You spend a very long time in the bathroom, just washing.

- You are not sure of any worship you did is complete.

And many other strange things that can tell you are suffering form waswas.


Waswas can become a serious problem especially if a person suffers from it constantly. Shaythan keeps putting doubts in ones mind and keeps telling the person that their prayer or wudu ghusl etc are not valid and that you have missed something out or not done it proprly and so you should do it again.

Your clothes are not clean, wash them again and so on. The person keeps falling for this and by this time shaythan knows that this has become the persons weakness so shaythan is able to attack the person in many different angles.


Eventually shaythan will go onto more serious matters of faith until he tries to convince a person that "Are you sure Allah exists"? Or shaythan tries to cast doubts in the mind of a person by convincing them that they had shirk thoughts and so they must do the shahada again because they have now become a kaafir and are out of the fold of Islam.

Here are some real stories of people having waswas problem:

A woman said: For 16 years, I everyday have shower and take shahada because I suddenly feel I am not sure, I am Muslim.

A guy said: For years I pray and think I did not until I stopped praying at all.

A woman said: I used to pray the prayer and keep repeating it until the next prayer.


The best way's to resolve Extreme cases of waswas are:


1. Waswas can occur with pretty much any practising Muslim particularly if they do not have sufficient knowledge of Islam and matters pertaining to fiqhi rulings.


They care so much about wanting to worship right and please Allah and get so worried whether their deed has been accepted or not by Allah but the fact is they just do not know enough about Islam especially fiqhi matters.

So it is VERY important to learn about Fiqh and various other aspects of Islam. Knowledge is key to eradicating this problem from your life!

Join some fiqh classes face to face or online. Learn about other important aspects of Islam to. keep learning, learning and learning and you watch how these evil thoughts dissapear inshallah.


2. JUST IGNORE shaythans whispers. He will keep telling you your worship is incorrect or you have missed out something in your salaah then you must NOT repeat the Salaah again.


When you have done Wudu and something tells you that you have missed out something or have not done it properly then IGNORE those whispers.


If shaythan tells you to do ghusl again because you never did it properly then IGNORE and NEVER obey these evil and deceptive whispers!


If shaythan tries to tell you that you have attributed partners with Allah and that you have done shirk then IGNORE IT. He wants you to lose your faith and think that you have committed blasphemy when you have not done anything of the sort. if the mind wanders sometimes then that is fine all of our minds wander.


Sayyiduna Abu Haraira (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that once a group of people came to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) and asked: “We experience such evil thoughts that it is impossible to bring them on our lips”. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Do you really experience these thoughts? Yes, they replied. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “They are clear signs of faith”. (Sahih Muslim).


So these are signs of faith and ultimately, we are not held to account for these thoughts. However, we will be held to account if we act on these thoughts.


Shaythan will then try to make you think that you did act on these feelings when all you did was involuntarily wandered about them in your mind. Even if they did linger in your mind it does not mean you acted on it. Almost all of us have random thoughts and absurdities going on in our minds all of the time it does not mean we necesserily believe what we thought of.

Do NOT ever give in to these thoughts for shaythan is just trying to be clever but knowledge will give on the upper hand!

Whenever you get these whispers then just think: IT IS SHAYTHAN TRYING TO DECIEVE ME AND PUT ME OFF MY WORSHIP!


3. Once you have completed Wudu then move on and ignore whatever shaythan tells you regardless of how serious it sounds. You have completed it and there is no need to think of it anymore. Once you have completed your Salaah then move on and continue with the next one or get on with whatever you are doing with your day or evening. Do not think about it and ignore any thoughts associated with the worship you have just done.


Whatever you have completed is done and is over and there is NOTHING more you can do about it so do not think back that you could have done this or that or whether you need to repeat it etc. These doubts will not affect the prayer or wudu etc which you have completed so disregard and reject the whispers that tell you otherwise.


These are all tricks of shaythan and you need to realise what his angles are. You need to play him at his own game and that way you will have the upper hand everytime!


Just think of what you need to do to please Allah and do not be extreme in religion.


4. Who decides whether your worship will be complete or not? Shaythan or Allah? So by listening to the whispers of shaythan then you are simply obeying Shaythan over Allah! Therefore we must ignore his evil whispers and realise that ONLY Allah can accept our deeds so we should obey Allah and ignore these waswas.



5. If you get waswas then recite the following:


A'udhu billaahi minashaythanirajeem


and


La Hawla Wala Quwatha Illah billahil aliyyil Adheem



Also recite the four Quls Morning and evening and Ayatul Kursi Morning, before going to sleep and after every prayer.

If shaythan whispers to you in prayer then look lft and spittle and recite A'udhu billaahi minashaythanirajeem


thank Allah, wholeheartedly, for enabling you to overcome your desires and shaytan [saying, Alhamdulillah (‘All praise is due to Allah’)]; this makes Shaytan despair, and strengthens one’s resolve.


The following verse of Surah al-mu’minun may also be beneficial:


“Rabbi inni a’uzu bika min hamazat ashayatin wa a’uzu bika rabbi an yahdurun”


Trans: O my Lord! I seek your protection from the instigations of devils and I also seek your protection from that they (ever) come to me.



6. Why disobey Allah and listen to shaythans whispers? By constantly repeating wudu, salaah and wasting so much time then we are going against Allah and instead listening to shaythans evil whispers. The fact is Allah wants you to reject the waswas but shaythan wants you to accept them, then who will you listen to? The choice is yours...

A desert Arab came to Allah's Apostle http://muttaqun.com/graphics/saaws-long.gif and asked him about ablution. He demonstrated (washing each part of his body) thrice, and then said: That is (the method) of the ablution. And he who does more than this has done wrong, transgressed the limit and has oppressed (himself). (Tirmidhi #417 , Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and Abu Dawud)

This hadith proves that one does NOT need to keep repeating the wudu over and over for no reason just because shaythan is telling us to repeat it. We would then transgress and oppress ourselves by doing so! Sameway one does not have to repeat the ghusl or prayers again and again for no reason just because shaythan tells us to. We are praying for Allah so shaythan has NO say in it and NEVER has!

7. It is unlikely that you will not be able to conquer waswas overnight. Shaythan will not give up so easily for he will try and make you feel like you just don't care anymore about your worship or shirk etc but again this is just one of his many tactics that he uses to try and put off Allah's worshippers and so know that you know the different angels then you are now more equiped to fight these evil whispers.


There are many more different angles that the shaythan will use but they will all be similar in nature, so if you follow these tips then eventually you will be able to eradicate this disease out of your life FOREVER! and start to enjoy your worship of Allah again Inshallah.


So countract all of these negative thoughts that you get after worship with positive thoughts and realise that ONLY Allah can accept your deeds and knows what is in your heart not Shaythan for he is just a deciever!


Allah Most High has promised,

“As for those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths, and lo! Allah is with the good.” [Qur’an, 29.69]



And Allah knows best in all matters

^where did you get that from? i mean who wrote that article?

Salaam -

Hamza brother you have just described me - i am exactly like that -

I say to myself i am not goin to repeat my salah whlist im reading it - but then thorugh out the salah even though i try so hard to concentrate somehow i just cant - i feel like there is something stopping me from concentrating like i have control - i even try to picture the words im saying in my head in english to try and concentrate and through out the salah im telling my self im not going to repeat - so my whole salah is me telling my self or the waswas that im not going to repeat,

I then feel like all i did was fight witht these waswas throughout my salah which then feels like i didnt even do any kind of worship so then i repeat it again

sometimes i cant say the words out properly from surat Fatiha (i cant say the Thoy properly - i feel like im saying teh all the time) so i say that line over and over again until i think ive said it propery - sometimes im repeating my ayats or the whole surats so much that i feel like ive just runied my salah and then read it again -

I dont know what to do - Im sad to say that Salah has become the most stressful times of my day - i feel scraed before reading it - anxcious whilst reading it and releaved at the end if i managed to read it once and miserable and depressed most of the time
I should be enjoying my worship but im not - ive treid to fight these thoughts - but i feel like a failure and just doomed forever!!!!!!!!!


I f i dont repeat my salah i feel miserable for the whole day but i cant seem to stop thiking about it -
BTW ive been suffereing from these extremem waswas on/off for nearly a year now - ever since ive become practicing -

The main reason why i repeat my slaah is because i cant pronounce the thoy properly - sometimes im perfect at it but other times i dont know why but i cant say it - i even go to tajweed classes

And if your not saying the letters properly then your changing the meaning which means you have to repeat dont you???

Asalaamu alaikum, I wrote it myself as i know a couple of people with this problem and i think an article like this was needed and Allah gave me the inclination to write it to benefit others. Please forward to others so that they may benefit to inshallah so that we can all conquer these evil whisperings of shaythan.

My dear sister we can only try our best to pronounce the words as best we can and it is more difficult for those whos mother tongue is not Arabic but you must NOT keep repeating your Salaah just because you think you are saying one word not exactly in the right way. Allah looks at a persons intentions and sees if they are trying their best to do things the right way which you clearly are but you are falling for shaythans whispers everytime when after completion he tells you to repeat it and tries to tell you what mistakes you are "apparently" making.

So fromm now on if you want to obey Allah and NOT obey shaythan then ONLY recite every word in the Salaah ONCE no matter how much you feel like repeating it and do NOT repeat the Salaah again. When you have finished your Salaah then make dua and TOTALLY forget about it! You do NOT need to think about it again but you will say: I TRUST MY WORSHIP TO ALLAH NOW FOR SHAYTHAN HAS NO SAY IN MY IBAADAH. You do that for every Salaah today then shaythan will say : "Do you not care for that you do not want your worship accepted"? You say: " ONLY ALLAH CAN ACCEPT OR DECLINE ANY WORSHIP I DO FOR YOU SHAYTHAN HAVE NO SAY WHATSOEVER IN THE MATTER!

Now if Allah wants you to ONLY repeat every word ONCE and NOT repeat the Salaah after praying it but shaythan wsnts you to repeat every word again and again and keep making you repeat the Salaah then who will you listen to? Your lord or the evil shaythan? You make this decision at every Salaah from now on!

Try what i have said for all of the Salaah today and let me know how you feel at the end of the day. Let this be the day you ginally begi to conquer and reject shaythans input into your worship of Allah with which he has ABSOLUTLY NO SAY WHATSOEVER!

May Allah make it easy for you to conquer waswas once and for all. Ameen

And Allah knows best in all matters

salaam

Just an update of how im doing - not that great but better than before - inshaAllah i will carry on improving

I dont repeat my salah becuase of the words or letters i think i cant pronounce but i feel like doing this - i have to stop myself - which i do
but now i keep thinking i didnt make the right intention, i try to ignore this too but it takes over me and then i repeat -

Ill try and do better tomorrow InshaAllah

format_quote Originally Posted by anonymous

salaam

Just an update of how im doing - not that great but better than before - inshaAllah i will carry on improving

I dont repeat my salah becuase of the words or letters i think i cant pronounce but i feel like doing this - i have to stop myself - which i do
but now i keep thinking i didnt make the right intention, i try to ignore this too but it takes over me and then i repeat -

Ill try and do better tomorrow InshaAllah

Asalaamu ALaikum, intention coems from the heart. Does shaythan know what is in your heart or does Allah? ONLY Allah knows what is in the hearts so do not ever let shaythan tell you what you feel in your heart because he does not know. He will always try different methods to try and get at you but if you truly believe in Allah then you will NEVER let shaythan tell you if there is something deficient in your heart because he does not know.

So from now on you do NOT repeat your Salaah regardless of what shaythan says to you. You read it in the best of your ability ONLY for the pleasure of Allah with full concentration and once you have read it then ask Allah to forgive you of any shortcomings in your Salaah then completly forget about it and move on.

You will get there inshallah so be determined to beat this and continue to persever for this is your test which you must pass. Also learn knowledge of the fiqh of Salaah and other matters of worship for knowledge will eradicate this problem.

And Allah knows best in all matters

but now i keep thinking i didnt make the right intention, i try to ignore this too but it takes over me and then i repeat -

if it isnt the right intention, what intention did you make? does that intention nullify your prayer?

salaam

I am trying my best brother Hamza

Ive just realized that sighing can invalidate your salah - now i fear i have done this during my salah in the past -
I was aware of this ruling but out of forgetfullness i may have done so - i have just relaized now that i mught have been doing this

for eg - i may have whispered 'uh' an then start the ayat or surat again -

This is another thing that is now stressing me out -

Do i have to repeat all of my prayers -

No i dont mean Yawning - i mean sighing - you know when you sigh out of annoyance

And i keep thinking i may have done this

i have never heard that sighing can invalidate prayers. i do know that laughing out loud in prayer not only invalidates the prayer but also the wudoo.

stop worrying about what you think you may have done. just don't do it and if you do, then repeat the prayer, etc. Remember that Allah is most merciful and He knows about our weaknesses. He knows that we can't be perfect. we must only try our best not to do something wrong on purpose, for example laughing in prayer or breaking fast , etc.

wiswas are related to fear and worry. shaytan takes the benefit of a person's fears and makes matters worse to tire him out so that he will fail in worship and give up. so if you get thoughts like you may have done something but don't remember whether you have done it or not, then don't worry about it and just say that Allah is most merciful and will forgive you. but if you are absolutely sure that you have done something, then make up for it.

format_quote Originally Posted by anonymous

salaam

I am trying my best brother Hamza

Ive just realized that sighing can invalidate your salah - now i fear i have done this during my salah in the past -
I was aware of this ruling but out of forgetfullness i may have done so - i have just relaized now that i mught have been doing this

for eg - i may have whispered 'uh' an then start the ayat or surat again -

This is another thing that is now stressing me out -

Do i have to repeat all of my prayers -

^ do you mean talking in your prayer?

No it likes when you tut - but you say 'uh' and just whisper it really low -
its like when you get annoyed and your like 'uh'

I understand what you mean. im asking are you sure you arent getting "sighing in your prayer" confused with "talking in your prayer." i mean are you sure you arent mixing any rulings up.