I suffer from compulsive waswas (OCD), especially during prayer, in the washroom and in the car if I am on my own. The kind of waswas that I have is swearing and cursing, which I say in anger, such as cursing myself or my father or my mother, and sometimes I cannot help it.
I hope that you can tell me the right way to deal with this.
Praise
be to Allah
The Shaytan is keen to corrupt
the Muslim’s worship by means of waswas (insinuating whispers), but the
Muslim can ward off these tricks of the Shaytan by seeking refuge in Allah,
may He be exalted, from his evil, and learning the rulings of Islam and
acquiring knowledge of fiqh (jurisprudence). If he starts to doubt how many
rak’ahs he has done during prayer, he should proceed on the basis of the
smaller number and do the prostration of forgetfulness before saying the
salam. If he is not sure whether he divorced his wife or not, the basic
principle is that he did not divorce her. If he is not sure whether there is
any impurity (najasah) on his body or clothes or not, the basic principle is
that his body and clothes are pure, and so on.
These rulings apply to cases of
doubt that do not stem from waswas. If the doubt is caused by waswas, then
he should not pay attention to anything that the Shaytan casts into his
mind, and there is no other solution but to seek refuge with Allah from the
Shaytan and ignore this waswas, and not pay any attention to it. Similarly,
after doing wudu and praying, if he feels uncertain about them, he should
not pay any attention to that uncertainty.
If this waswas is not warded off
by seeking refuge with Allah, and it overwhelms the Muslim until he says or
does something without realizing, that is compulsive waswas or OCD (al-waswas
al-qahri). This is a kind of sickness and he should seek treatment for
it by means of ruqyah (recitations) from the Quran and Sunnah as prescribed
in Islam, and permissible medicines. There is no reason why he should not go
to a Muslim doctor whose religious commitment and knowledge of Islam can be
trusted.
If this person who is affected
by waswas experiences physical movements that he cannot control or he says
things that he cannot stop himself saying, then there is no sin on him and
he is excused according to Islam, because in that case he has been burdened
with something that he cannot bear, so he is excused because Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope”
(al-Baqarah 2:286)
“So keep your duty to Allah
and fear Him as much as you can”
(al-Taghabun
64:16)
In the answer to question no.
10160, we have
quoted the words of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have
mercy on him):
Similarly, if there crosses his
mind any thought of impugning Allah (may He be exalted) or impugning the
Quran or other kinds of kufr (disbelief), he should not pay any attention to
it, and it will not harm him, and even if we assume that he says such things
involuntarily, there will be no sin on him. End quote.
For more information on your
situation and on how to treat it by means of ruqyah prescribed in Islam and
adhkar (words of remembrance) narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him), please see the following questions:
25778 and
These are of benefit for those
who are affected by waswas and we hope that you will benefit from them. We
ask Allah to heal you and make you well.
And Allah knows best.
