ocd/waswas and anxiety making it incredibly difficult for me to pray. Please help i d

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah

It is Satan who is causing these wasawis. To combat these wasawis, you should recite the following as much as possible:



أعوذُ باِللهِ مِنَ الشَّيطَانِ الرَّجِيم

“I seek refuge in Allah from the rejected devil.”



لاحول ولا قوة إلا بالله

“There is no power and no strength except with Allah”



اَللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ وَسَاوِسَ قَلْبِىْ خَشْيَتَكَ وَ ذِكْرَكَ وَ اجْعَلْ هِمَّتِىْ وَ هَوَايَ فِيْمَا تُحِبُّ وَ تَرْضَى

“O Allah! Convert the whisperings of my heart into Your fear and rememberance and divert my will and courage to the performance of deeds that please You.”


Until you can see impurity on your body then assure that you are paak. With regards to these Masa’il Galabah Zan is enough.

There is a maxim in jurisprudence

اليقين لا يزول بالشك
Certainty is not dispelled by doubt.
So as it is certain for your body to be paak then just by mere doubts you will not become impure


Completely ignore these doubts and suspicions. Never allow this to have the better over you. In spite of these thoughts occupying your mind just execute the obligations of that time. Don’t ever delay the obligation on account of any thought, no matter how serious it may be. After having practiced this for some time, by the grace of Allah Ta`ala, you will find some form of ease.


Thoughts/ Wasaawis are like Guests

They are like guests. If one made a guest feel welcome, the guest is inclined to visit again and the more welcome he is made to feel the more he will be inclined to visit. However when a guest is made to feel unwelcome he may visit once or twice and then at the continuous cool reception no self respecting person will visit again.



Similarly unwanted thoughts/Wasaawis will continue to come if attention is paid to them. If ignored they may persist for a while but eventually they will cease Insha Allah. (From the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Dhorat).


There is a whole section on OCD and wasawis on this forum:
http://www.islamicteachings.org/foru...-ocd-wasaawis/

Do read the advices given and completely stick to them.

Never ever leave Salah. You can write on here every time you feel the need. We are here to help you out of this situation inshaAllah.

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Limit Your Indulgence, Say the Ta`awwudh, and Move On

In addition to implementing the professional advice and guidance of a counselor, you can also try to reduce the wasawis in the following manners:



1. Establish clear limits and stick to them: 1 shower a day for 5 minutes max, 1 wudhu per prayer for 1 minute max (5 seconds on each limb), 10 seconds for washing your hands max, and so on and so forth. Once the timer is up, you stop the action, assume cleanliness, and move on.



2. Say the ta`awwudh (a`udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim) when you hear the whispers calling you to redo an action. You can also recite surat al-Nas, which is also a dua for protection against wasawis.



3. Leave the washing area immediately and do NOT look back. Go straight into your prayer (after wudhu) or continue with your day. In other words, busy yourself and your mind before Shaytan tries to take over.



4. Trust in Allah that your prayer and purity are accepted. Remember that the sahaba and the Prophet (peace be upon him) all had less water than we do now, and without a doubt their prayers were accepted. So there is no doubt that we, who use (and waste) so much more water than they ever did, are performing our wudhu in a matter acceptable to Allah.

http://www.islamicteachings.org/foru...-purification/

May Allah ta'ala cure you completely and grant you relief and may He protect us all from wasawis. Ameen

Thank you both so much for this. This is super helpful!! Y'all are awesome mashallah

format_quote Originally Posted by cinnamonrolls1

Thank you both so much for this. This is super helpful!! Y'all are awesome mashallah

Do update us of your situation after acting on these advices inshaAllah.