I feel Satan’s whispers during prayer, which causes me to talk to myself and seek refuge in Allah from Satan, but to no avail. Is my prayer accepted?
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The questioner : When I pray, I feel whispers from Satan that cause me to talk to myself. Despite this, I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, but to no avail. Is my prayer accepted? Please advise us; may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : First, we must know that Satan is most eager to mislead a servant when he performs acts of worship, especially prayer, which is the greatest of acts of worship after the two testimonies. He tries to prevent a person from praying in the first place, and then from completing it in the second. When a person enters into prayer, he comes to him and whispers to him, opening for him doors of whispers that had never crossed his mind before: “Do you remember this? Do you remember that? Remember this?” Then he reminds him of things he has no need for. Therefore, when he finishes his prayer, all these whispers fly away as if they had never been.
The cure for this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to, which is: If he does this with faith, certainty, and hope for the result, Allah will remove from him what he is experiencing, just as the man who complained to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about this matter did. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided him to what you heard, and he said: “So I did it, and Allah removed from me what I was experiencing”. This is the medicine for this whispering.
As for his statement that he talks to himself with words: if he speaks with his tongue, his prayer is invalid, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih Muslim 537a But if he does not speak with his tongue, but rather in his heart, that does not invalidate the prayer, but it diminishes it greatly. This is because whenever a person is distracted in his prayer and his mind wanders right and left, his prayer is diminished. For this reason, it came in the hadith: or something similar to what is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : First, we must know that Satan is most eager to mislead a servant when he performs acts of worship, especially prayer, which is the greatest of acts of worship after the two testimonies. He tries to prevent a person from praying in the first place, and then from completing it in the second. When a person enters into prayer, he comes to him and whispers to him, opening for him doors of whispers that had never crossed his mind before: “Do you remember this? Do you remember that? Remember this?” Then he reminds him of things he has no need for. Therefore, when he finishes his prayer, all these whispers fly away as if they had never been.
The cure for this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to, which is:
He spits to his left three times and says: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.
يتفل عن يساره ثلاث مرات ويقول: أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيمAs for his statement that he talks to himself with words: if he speaks with his tongue, his prayer is invalid, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Talking to persons is not fitting during the prayer
إن هذه الصلاة لا يصلح فيها شيء من كلام الناس أو من كلام الآدميينA man may pray, but what is recorded for him of his prayer is only half of it, or a quarter of it, or a tenth of it.
إن الرجل ليصلي وما كتب له من صلاته إلا نصفها، أو ربعها، أو عشرهاThe questioner : May Allah bless you.