Question Summary:
OCD

Question Detail:

I know you have jealousy about your religion. But I have even more jealousy than you but unfortunately my OCD interferes with my ability to understand. So please give me a sincere answer. Please don't confuse with waswas. Selam alejkum. I know it is weird but people with ocd sometimes have extreme intelligence to the point that I won the third place in national olympiad of mathematics but sometimes they don't understand things that are simpler than 1+2=3. I remember once making this kind of question on chatislam and the response was: how dare you say those things about sahabah?! Are you mentally insane? From this i thought it means kufr. With sahabah I mean both men and women because many sahabah have been women.(sahabah are those that have seen or met the messenger) Remember that he has no intention of making fun of them or disrespecting them or lowering their esteem. But he intentionally imagines them in that state without feeling anything about them. In other words not a single sexual feeling or offensive feeling passes his body, just like not a single sexual or offensive feeling passes your body when you imagine a tree, mountain, or umbrella. I want to know all the elements that cause it to be kufr. Is it entirely a matter of zina of the heart that is done with a noble and sacred individual? You don't have any intention to insult or disrespect them but you think with your mind, how would x sahabah/tabiine or great religious scholar look like if he/she was nude. Are you considered to have insulted him/her? Are you considered to have disrespected her/him? Are you considered to have done an injustice to her/him? Is this similar to insulting your schoolmates with dirty words? Is this similar to disrespecting your schoolmates by insulting and offending them and saying bad things about them? Will you pay anything to them on the day of judgment based on the Hadith that says that their good deeds will be given to the ones they have done injustices. Is it entirely a matter of disrespect that is shown toward a noble and sacred figure? Is it entirely a matter that you are not giving them the proper esteem? The same question regarding imagining nude a tabiine or a great scholar or a great alimah that has lived in the past like Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya or Ibn Kathir? Please clarify the level of sin in all 3 cases. Imagining nude a woman is minor sin.in big contrast imagining nude a sahabah is kufr. I want to know all the elements that cause it to be kufr in the case of the sahabah. Is it zina of heart that is done with a noble and sacred figure? Is it lack of respect that is shown towards a sacred figure? Why? Aren't they both humans at the end of the day? Please explain every detail that causes it to be kufr. Please don't confuse with waswas.

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 
As-salaamu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullaahi wa-barakaatuh

We take note of the contents of your query.

We appreciate your sincerity in seeking clarity on the issue in the reference. We do not take offence to such queries. We are sad to note of your OCD condition. May Allah grant you complete shifaa,(Ameen). You are correct that some people with OCD  conditions are extremely intelligent but also fail to understand some basic issues as 1+2=3. This is due to the OCD medical condition and not a defect in the person.

We will make a sincere attempt to answer your query. The immoral intentional imagination of the noble Sahaba and learned scholars does not constitute kufr. However, you do acknowledge that the intentional imaginations are zina of the heart and mind. Would you intentionally imagine such thoughts of your father, mother or sister? Furthermore, why would one deliberately imagine such thoughts especially when you state there are no feelings attached to such thoughts? The answers to these questions are obvious. A person with a sound heart will not deliberately imagine nudity of his father or mother. If one does so and does not regard it as immoral, then it could be due to his mind being unsound. If a person suffering from OCD, does not understand such simple issues, then he is excused due to his medical conditions. We make dua Allah Ta’ala grants you complete shifaa and grants you a sound mind. Ameen.

And Allaah Ta’aala Knows Best.

Akhyar Uddin 

Student, Darul Iftaa 

Buffalo, New York, USA 

Checked and approved by

Mufti Ebrahim Desai.