Treatment for Excessive Whispers in Prayer and Ablution

Question:
May Allah bless you. This is your sister Umm Sabir. She says: I am afflicted with whispers (waswas). When I want to perform wudu, I swear and vow not to repeat it, and then I do repeat it. This has been happening all the time for years. She asks, may Allah bless you: Is this among the principles of Islamic creed? And what is the expiation? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
Waswas comes from Shaytan, and Shaytan is the enemy of mankind. He is present during acts of worship, during prayer, where he confuses a person’s prayer and tries to take him out of it through thoughts, and he diverts him from it as much as he can. He is also present during wudu; he has a specific Shaytan called al-Walhan. One should seek refuge in Allah from him. If a person is afflicted with some waswas, its treatment is seeking refuge in Allah from Shaytan. Its treatment is also rejecting the waswas, leaving it, and not paying attention to it, and then it will go away by Allah’s permission. Yes.