Question Summary:
How to combat these Evil thoughts? Question Detail:
Islamic question : one of my friend name I m not mentioning due to his request
Answer :
In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
We make dua that Allah Ta’ala remove your friend’s doubts and makes him and us steadfast on Islaam.
Allah Ta’ala created us and informed us that Shaytaan is our enemy, Allah Ta’ala says,
إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ
Translation:
“Indeed Shaytaan, to man, is a manifest enemy”. [Quraan 12:5]
Shaytaan himself vowed to miss lead the believers, Allah Ta’ala informs us the Quraan,
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذَانَ الْأَنْعَامِ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ يَتَّخِذِ الشَّيْطَانَ وَلِيًّا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُبِينًا
Translation:
And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them [sinful] desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah." And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss. [ Quraan/ 4:119]
Shaytaan being our enemy will employ different tactics to accomplish his mission of misleading us and making us loose our Imaan(faith). Your friend’s feeling of concern and worry about his thoughts are not something new. In fact, the Sahaabah (May Allah be pleased with them) complained to Nabi (Sallahu Alayhi Wasaalam) about evil thoughts. Consider the following report narrated by Abu Hurarah (May Allah be pleased with him),
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ جَاءَ نَاسٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَسَأَلُوهُ إِنَّا نَجِدُ فِي أَنْفُسِنَا مَا يَتَعَاظَمُ أَحَدُنَا أَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ بِهِ . قَالَ " وَقَدْ وَجَدْتُمُوهُ " . قَالُوا نَعَمْ . قَالَ " ذَاكَ صَرِيحُ الإِيمَانِ " .
Translation:
Some people from amongst the Companions of the Nabi (ﷺ) came to him and said: Verily we perceive in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you really perceive it? They said: Yes. Upon this he remarked: That is the faith manifest. [Muslim/ Hadeeth No. 239&247]
You say that when your friend was not punctual on his Salaah, then he did not have these doubts but now after becoming punctual, he is getting doubts. This makes sense because since Shaytaaan’s objective is to mislead the believers, he devotes more time and energy to those who are on the right track, why mislead the misled? A thief will not break in to an empty house, rather he will break into a place which have valuables. This is why getting doubts and being troubled by it is a sign of Imaan as this demonstrates Shaytaan’s extra effort to mislead you.
When these thoughts trouble your friend, he should recite, Ta’awudh,
أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
Also recite;
لَا حول وَلَا قُوَّة إِلَّا بِاللَّه الْعلي الْعَظِيم
Advise your friend to spent time in the company of the pious. Also, your friend should try his utmost to keep himself occupied as it is well known that an idle mind is a devil’s worship.
And Allaah Ta’aala Knows Best
Muhammed Al-Ameen Bin Moulana Ismail Akoo
Student, Darul Iftaa
Newcastle; KZN, South Africa
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
| 
