She says that in the month of Ramadan, she went with the intention of performing 'Umrah in the month of Ramadan, but she did not complete the 'Umrah. She performed the tawaf around the Ka'bah and between al-Safa and al-Marwah, and then she fell ill.

The questioner : This is a letter we received from Iraq from the sender, identified by the initials M.A. In her letter, she says that she is a girl of such-and-such age; we do not need the age. She says that in the month of Ramadan, she did not complete the 'Umrah. She says she went with the intention of performing 'Umrah in the month of Ramadan, but she did not complete the 'Umrah. She performed the tawaf around the Ka'bah and between al-Safa and al-Marwah, and then she fell severely ill with madness. We returned to the country in pain and sadness. After a short period, she recovered from this illness, praise be to Allah. But since that time until now, there has been a whispering in her heart of disbelief, which leads to kufr (disbelief) and the displeasure of Allah. It pains her to say this, knowing that she performs all the obligatory acts of prayer, fasting, and zakah. She cannot erase this feeling from her heart despite her attempts at repentance and supplication to Allah. She asks you to solve this problem because she is in extreme confusion and pain. Is she a sinner, and what should she do? May you have abundant thanks.

The Shaykh : As for her 'Umrah, the apparent meaning of her words is that she performed the 'Umrah, because she says that she performed the tawaf around the Ka'bah and between al-Safa and al-Marwah. What remains for her is only the shortening of the hair, if she did not shorten it. As for what she finds in her heart of these whispers, that does not harm her. Rather, this is an indication that her faith is pure, clear, and valid. This is because Satan only takes hold of the son of Adam with such whispers when he sees strength and clarity in his faith. He wants to invalidate this strength and weaken it, and to replace this clarity with doubts and illusions.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : The cure for this is that she should not pay any attention to these whispers at all, not care about them, and not keep them in mind. She should proceed with her worship of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such as ritual purity, prayer, zakah, fasting, Hajj, and others. This will disappear from her if she ignores it. The cure is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to: that a person should stop engaging with it and turn away from it, seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, and occupy himself with his obligatory acts and recommended practices instead of such matters. It will disappear, with the permission of Allah.