What is the cure for intrusive thoughts regarding Allah the Mighty and Majestic?

The questioner :, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. The questioner asks: What is the cure for the intrusive thoughts that afflict a person, causing him to doubt Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and similar intrusive thoughts?

The Shaykh : I say: The one whom Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent as a mercy to the worlds, and upon whom He revealed the Book as a healing for what is in the chests, explained to us the disease and explained to us the cure in this great matter, which is waswas (intrusive thoughts). O Allah, we seek refuge in You from the waswas of the chest and the confusion of affairs. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed when the Companions complained to him that one of them would find in his heart something he would wish to burn until it became embers, yet he would not speak of it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed them that this is from the waswas of Shaytan, and he praised his Lord the Mighty and Majestic for having turned back the scheme of Shaytan to waswas. This is the disease. So what is the cure? He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that a person should seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, and that he should turn away from this as if it had passed. If he does that and distracts himself from these waswas, Allah will remove them from him. Know that the casting of these waswas into the heart indicates pure faith. Pay attention, my brother. I say: Know that Shaytan casting waswas into the heart indicates faith, and that the faith is pure. Why? Because Shaytan said to Allah the Mighty and Majestic: "I will surely sit on Your Straight Path before them." So when a person's heart is clear and his faith is sincere, Shaytan attacks him with all his strength in order to destroy this sincere faith, in order to destroy this sincere faith. He casts waswas into his heart so that perhaps he will lean toward them at times. But you must fight them, and not lean toward them, and not pay attention to them. And I know with certainty that if you were to hold this person who finds such waswas in his heart and say, "O so-and-so, do you believe such and such of what he whispers?" What would he say? What would he say, everyone? No, he would say: "Absolutely not. I seek refuge in Allah, and I have fled from it. But what can I do?" He says: "Praise be to Allah. As long as this is your belief, these waswas will never harm you. But use the cure. The cure is a compound of two medicines: seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, and turning away. Do not persist, do not let Shaytan draw you in. By Allah, Shaytan is more humble, more base, and lower than that he should affect the heart of a believer if the believer uses what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) guided to, which is seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan and turning away from these waswas. Pay attention, my brother. Did you understand? Good. It is mentioned from Ibn Mas'ud or Ibn Abbas that the Jews boasted over the Muslims, saying: "You Muslims, you have waswas in prayer." And what does it mean to have waswas in prayer? It means that from the moment a person enters into prayer, doubts and waswas swarm over him, striking the world from one end to the other in doubts about things that have no value or worth. Do you feel this? Good. The Jews used to say to the Muslims: "You have waswas in prayer, striking the earth lengthwise and breadthwise, and the sky as well. Yes, and they, meaning the Jews, do not have waswas in prayer. From the moment a person enters his prayer, he is done with thinking about anything else." So Ibn Mas'ud or Ibn Abbas said: "They spoke the truth, and what does Shaytan do with a ruined heart?"
Is this correct or not? A ruined heart has no benefit; Shaytan does not come to it. He has finished and is going. Rather, Shaytan comes with waswas to a sincere, sound heart in order to destroy it. These waswas have afflicted people greatly in our time, and the cause, Allah knows best, is that many people are ignorant of what the Sunnah brought regarding the diseases and the cures. Also, many people do not use the prescribed adhkar, such as reciting Ayat al-Kursi, for whoever recites it in the night, a guardian from Allah remains over him, and no Shaytan approaches him until he becomes morning. The important thing is negligence regarding the prescribed adhkar, and the lack of reliance upon Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and ignorance, which result in these waswas. So you must have the knowledge that is the opposite of ignorance, and the adhkar that are the opposite of negligence, until Allah keeps you safe. There are people whom Shaytan tightens upon greatly until he says, "I want to rest, I will do it," meaning, for example, Shaytan casts into the heart of a person or into his mind that he has passed wind while in a state of purity. Does this happen to you or not? He does not know? His answer is: "It happens or it does not?" It happens. Good. Some people, when Shaytan tightens upon them with this doubt, say, "That is it, if he passes wind." Is passing wind known to you or not? Meaning, he releases wind from his rear for what? To rest and to perform wudu. He performs wudu. Is this a cure?
I answer him: No, it is not a cure. The cure is what the physician Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He does not leave [the toilet] until he hears a sound or finds a smell." That is it. He seeks the doubt, and does not turn to it until he hears a sound or finds a smell. Good. A person whom Shaytan tightens upon while he is in his prayer. He says to him: "You did not recite al-Fatihah in the third rak'ah. You did not recite al-Fatihah." Or he says: "You did not say the takbir of ihram." So he says: "Forget it, I will leave the prayer. I will say the takbir again, a new one." So when he says the takbir and goes a little, yes, Shaytan says to him: "You left out the takbir of ihram." He says: "If that is the case, cut off the prayer." He cuts it off, says the takbir, and so on, until perhaps he remains until the time has passed and he has not prayed. We ask Allah for safety. What is the cure? That I discard the doubt, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, and proceed in my prayer. There are some people whom Shaytan harasses regarding the divorce of his wife. Regarding the divorce of a wife. Until some of them say to us, seeking a fatwa: "Every time I open the mushaf, I say that I have divorced my wife. Every time I speak to someone, I say I am divorced from my wife." And Shaytan remains with him: "You are divorced. You are not divorced. You are divorced." In the end, he says in haste: "What do I do? What does he do? He divorces. He says his wife is divorced, praise be to Allah, and we rest. Then he comes to ask: 'What do you do?' He takes her back. The first time he did not do it, he takes her back. Then the waswas came to him, so what happens? He says: 'Rest. Divorce. Divorce the second time, then take her back.' He has passed the limit. A third time, what does he do? He divorces until his wife is clearly separated from him. And I say, my brothers: The divorce of the one with waswas does not take place. The divorce of the one with waswas does not take place, even if he explicitly says, 'O daughter of so-and-so, you are divorced,' because is the divorce by will or not by will? What? Not by will, he is compelled. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no divorce in compulsion," meaning that the divorce which is compelled upon its owner does not take place. For this reason, the stronger opinion is that severe anger which causes the angry person to lose his mind and not control himself, no divorce takes place with it, and likewise waswas. Did you understand or not? Good.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner says: I work in the field of trade.

The Shaykh : On the four? Or on a term? The four is fine. There are three minutes left.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : What? You are the one who asked the question, so why are you asking? Write it down, if Allah wills, tomorrow.