Whispers about Prayer and Ablution
Fatwa No: 381201

Question

Assalam i have a grave case of ocd and waswas which make me angry tired and cry cause i dont like missing salah or delaying it,to think of it makes me sad and i used to be a devout worshipper until i saw these fiqhs and opinions which made me sick.Now to make a wudu i have to repeat bismillah and washing hands a lot of times as i think maybe something is wrong or my niyyah is not correct,it always happens i have intention to make wudu and i get anxiety making it seem really hard.So i begin but i keep repeating it.And for salah i keep remaking takbir ihram as maybe i didnt raise correctly my hands or made intention.It is mostly about intention.I make takbir then i repeat cause i think i didnt say niyyah or maybe i invalidated my niyyah.It is stressing as i cant pray without anxiety.I overcomed some waswas now this is the worst i want it to go.it is easy to say ignore it but it gets you mentally.Salah was my now it is hard for me.When i stand in congregation to make takbir i get urges to remake it as i did it wrong.Then when i say to my mind im done im just gonna pray normally then i have toughts that my salah is not gonna be accepted and that i will lose my iman etc..My fear is that i didnt make intention and didnt wash properly in wudu and that i didnt raise correctly hands in takbir.If you provide me a solution to this i shall practice it i will be grateful zakaAllah.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The only solution to what you are suffering from is to ignore these whispers completely, and not pay any attention to them.

If you want to follow our advice, then we recommended that when you want to perform ablution to say Bismillaah once, and then proceed to perform ablution and do not re-wash any of your limbs, and do not wash any limb more than three times. When you want to pray, say the Takbeerat Al-Ihraam once (Allaahu Akbar); no matter how much the devil whispers to you that you did not make the intention or that there is something wrong in your prayer, then do not pay any attention to that. Be certain about the validity of your intention and your prayer (i.e., do not doubt them), and do not interrupt your prayer and start it again no matter how great those whispers are.

When you finish your prayer, no matter how much the devil whispers to you that your prayer is not acceptable, then seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and remind yourself of the Mercy of Allah that His Mercy encompasses everything, and think to yourself that you did what Allah ordained you to do and what He legislated for you and that your act of worship is valid.

Certainly, there is no cure except this, and you should know that as long as you give in to these whispers, you will continue to suffer.

We ask Allah to cure you.

Allah knows best.

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