Advice for One Afflicted by Doubt

Question:
The listener Jaber Abdul Bari from Riyadh sent a message containing three questions. In his first question, he says: I maintain the prayer, fasting, and all the obligations of Islam, but doubt sometimes enters me. What should I do to drive away this doubt? Does this doubt take a Muslim out of Islam into disbelief? And is there any sin on me for it? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
If the doubt concerns Allah and the Hereafter, or Paradise and Hellfire, or the like, then all of this is from Satan. When the Companions asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) about this that befalls them, he said: He said: This occurred among the Companions, and they asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: Something befalls one of us that he would prefer to fall from the sky rather than speak of it. He said: Because denying this whisper and regarding it as a great matter is a clear manifestation of faith and a strength of faith.
So when a believer sees such whispers, he denies them with his faith and denies them with the insight that Allah has given him, because he believes in Allah and the Last Day. He then says: I believe in Allah and His messengers, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. This does not harm him, nor does it detract from his faith, if he strives against it with what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is if it concerns Allah and the Hereafter.
As for if it concerns the prayer, the whispering in the prayer; let the person do what Allah has prescribed regarding whispering. He seeks refuge in Allah from Satan, and he builds upon certainty regarding the number of rak'ahs if he doubts between two or three. If he doubts whether he prayed two or three, he makes it two; he completes the prayer and performs the prostration for forgetfulness before the taslim. And if he doubts whether he prostrated one prostration or two, he builds upon certainty, performs the second prostration, completes his prayer, and performs two prostrations for forgetfulness before the taslim.
And so he acts according to the Shari'ah regarding forgetfulness. And so if he doubts whether he performed wudu' or did not perform wudu', he acts according to the original state. If he was in a state of purity, he remains in a state of purity, and doubt does not invalidate it until he knows with certainty that he has broken his purity. And if he doubts whether he prayed or did not pray, and the time has entered but the matter is confused for him—whether he prayed or did not pray—he prays, for the original state is that the prayer has not been performed. Yes.

The presenter : May Allah reward you with good.