A married woman with two children, praising Allah for that, who is consistent in performing the five daily prayers at their times and consistent in reading the Qur'an
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A married woman with two children, praising Allah for that, who is consistent in performing the five daily prayers at their times and consistent in reading the Qur'an, says: But my problem is that during wudu and during prayer for every obligatory prayer, I am afflicted with whispers that my wudu is not proper and that there is doubt in my prayer. This problem continues with me in this state, so please advise me what I should do? May Allah reward you with good, O honorable Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes. These whispers are from Shaytan. And Allah the Exalted said:[Fatir 35:6] Shaytan whispers to the son of Adam in his acts of worship, in his dealings, and in all his states, until he leaves him unsettled in any matter. He may even spoil his worship in various ways. The cure for this is for a person to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, to stop what he was whispered to do, and to ignore it. For example, in purification, a person comes and says, "You did not wash your hand," "You did not complete the washing," "You did not cover the entire hand that must be washed," and the like. Sometimes these whispers occur to him after finishing the wudu. The cure for all of this is to say "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan" and to ignore it, even if Shaytan tells you that you did not complete the washing or that you missed a limb from your limbs. Do not be concerned as long as the matter is in the state of constant whispering. It also comes in prayer, whispering to a person that he did not pray a complete prayer, that he missed a bowing, missed a prostration, and the like. So let him ignore it and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, and it will not harm him.
Sometimes it comes to some people between them and their families, saying, "You divorced your wife," or "You said to her: if you do such and such, you are divorced," or the like, when it did not happen, but it is a whisper. Some people even reach the point of spoiling their worship because of the whispering. For example, it comes to him and says, "Your wudu is broken," when it is not broken, but because of the strength of the whispering, he goes and creates a state of impurity. Then after he performs wudu from this state, Shaytan comes and says, "You created a state of impurity," and because of the strength of the whispering, he goes and creates a state of impurity again. He creates a state of impurity, then goes and performs wudu, and so on, and so on. In prayer, Shaytan comes to him after he has prayed one rak'ah or more and says, "You did not say the takbir for entering prayer," "You did not intend the prayer," so he cuts off his prayer and starts over. When he begins it, it comes to him a second time and says, "You did not intend, you did not say the takbir," so he repeats it, and so on, until the time passes and the person starts and... resumes, and so on. The matter is not limited to the action, but there is psychological anxiety and fatigue in the person.
It also comes regarding divorce, telling a person, "You divorced your wife," when he did not divorce her, but it is whispers. Then he says, "So I will be at ease," and he divorces. And perhaps this divorce is the last divorce, so he falls into difficulty.
And the cure for all of this is for a person to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan and to stop, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided regarding the one to whom Shaytan comes and says, "Who created such and such," "Who created such and such," until he says to him, "Who created Allah?" So let him seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, let him stop, and let him ignore this.
And this affliction happens to some people until they sometimes ask, saying, "Shaytan tells me that I am praying to an idol, even though I am in my house and I do not have an idol. Perhaps he does not know the idol or does not know what it is, but Shaytan deceives him and misleads him. And perhaps he says to him, 'You are praying to Allah, but where is Allah?' leading him to denial. We ask Allah for safety."
But the cure for that is to say, "Okay, I performed wudu now and prayed, so for whom am I praying? Is it not for Allah?" This is faith. No one performs wudu and comes to pray, whether in his prayer place if he is among those for whom congregation is not obligatory, or in the mosque, except that he is a believer in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), because he does not pray or purify himself except for Allah. And this is faith. So what Shaytan throws into the heart of a person of these great whispers, a person must drive them away with these two things: seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, stopping from them, and ignoring them. Then after this, they will disappear.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah magnify your reward for what you have clarified for us and for the brothers...
The Shaykh : Yes. These whispers are from Shaytan. And Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy.
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَاتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّاSometimes it comes to some people between them and their families, saying, "You divorced your wife," or "You said to her: if you do such and such, you are divorced," or the like, when it did not happen, but it is a whisper. Some people even reach the point of spoiling their worship because of the whispering. For example, it comes to him and says, "Your wudu is broken," when it is not broken, but because of the strength of the whispering, he goes and creates a state of impurity. Then after he performs wudu from this state, Shaytan comes and says, "You created a state of impurity," and because of the strength of the whispering, he goes and creates a state of impurity again. He creates a state of impurity, then goes and performs wudu, and so on, and so on. In prayer, Shaytan comes to him after he has prayed one rak'ah or more and says, "You did not say the takbir for entering prayer," "You did not intend the prayer," so he cuts off his prayer and starts over. When he begins it, it comes to him a second time and says, "You did not intend, you did not say the takbir," so he repeats it, and so on, until the time passes and the person starts and... resumes, and so on. The matter is not limited to the action, but there is psychological anxiety and fatigue in the person.
It also comes regarding divorce, telling a person, "You divorced your wife," when he did not divorce her, but it is whispers. Then he says, "So I will be at ease," and he divorces. And perhaps this divorce is the last divorce, so he falls into difficulty.
And the cure for all of this is for a person to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan and to stop, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided regarding the one to whom Shaytan comes and says, "Who created such and such," "Who created such and such," until he says to him, "Who created Allah?" So let him seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, let him stop, and let him ignore this.
And this affliction happens to some people until they sometimes ask, saying, "Shaytan tells me that I am praying to an idol, even though I am in my house and I do not have an idol. Perhaps he does not know the idol or does not know what it is, but Shaytan deceives him and misleads him. And perhaps he says to him, 'You are praying to Allah, but where is Allah?' leading him to denial. We ask Allah for safety."
But the cure for that is to say, "Okay, I performed wudu now and prayed, so for whom am I praying? Is it not for Allah?" This is faith. No one performs wudu and comes to pray, whether in his prayer place if he is among those for whom congregation is not obligatory, or in the mosque, except that he is a believer in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), because he does not pray or purify himself except for Allah. And this is faith. So what Shaytan throws into the heart of a person of these great whispers, a person must drive them away with these two things: seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, stopping from them, and ignoring them. Then after this, they will disappear.
The questioner : Very well.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah magnify your reward for what you have clarified for us and for the brothers...