I am a Muslim woman who prays and fasts, but my problem is with wudu. I am afflicted with obsessive thoughts that make me keep washing, and I am constantly thinking about the Hereafter.

The questioner : This is a caller to the program saying:

The Shaykh : Is it?

The questioner : This is a caller.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : M.S. from al-Qassim, al-Bukayriyah, says: “May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh. I am a Muslim, and praise be to Allah, I pray and I fast. But my problem is with wudu. I am afflicted with obsessive thoughts that make me keep washing, and I am constantly thinking about the Hereafter and the punishment in the Fire of Hell. I am very afraid now, so I ask you, may Allah reward you, to give me advice on this matter?”

The Shaykh : Yes. My advice to this caller, and to others who are afflicted with obsessive thoughts—and they are many—

The questioner : Yes, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : is that they should turn away completely from what occurs in their hearts after seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, because the obsessive thoughts that are in the heart are from Shaytan. For example, if a person performs wudu, washing his face, washing his hands, wiping his head and ears, and washing his feet, there is no need for him to say, “Perhaps I did not do it, perhaps I did not do it.” Once is sufficient, twice is better, three times is better, and four times is a mistake. Therefore, it came in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he performed wudu once, once, and twice, twice, and three times, three times, and he said And Allah the Exalted said and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not increase his wudu beyond three. So the maximum that is permitted for a person in repetition is three, and he should not exceed it. Perhaps a person does this act, but because he is one who has obsessive thoughts, his heart becomes agitated and his color changes, and he says, “I have not completed it, I have not completed it, I am still in a state of ritual impurity.” I tell him, yes, pray, even if you believe this. Pray, even if you believe that you have not performed wudu, because if you humiliate Shaytan with this decisive, firm action, he will retreat with the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is among the most important things by which obsessive thoughts are driven away: sincere determination, along with seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, and seeking His help for firmness, and not paying attention to these obsessive thoughts, neither in wudu, nor in prayer, nor in tawaf, nor in sa'y, nor in anything else.
It is mentioned that one of the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, and he is Ibn Aqil from the Hanbali jurists, had a man come to him seeking a ruling. He said to him, “I am in a state of major ritual impurity, so I go to the Euphrates and immerse myself in it to wash off the major ritual impurity. Then I come out and say that the major ritual impurity has not been lifted. What do you think, O Shaykh?” I think the Shaykh sat and thought, if I had not forgotten, but he said to him, “I see that you should not pray.” How can I not pray? He said, yes, do not pray, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said and you are insane. How can you be in a state of major ritual impurity and go to the river and immerse yourself in it to lift the major ritual impurity from yourself, and then say that the major ritual impurity has not been lifted! This is insanity, so I see that you should not pray. The man realized the state of his mind with this word from this eminent scholar, may Allah have mercy on him. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you.