Question Summary:
Suffering from severe Waswasa and OCD

Question Detail:

AssalamoAlaikum 1. Me and my husband were talking about my son’s airfares and i paid the airfares. Me and my son are going overseas to visit relatives. I was asking my husband to give me airfare money so i have some pocket money which i already spent on buying airfares. He said ok. And due to me struggling with my waswasas in relation to bad divorce thoughts i usually say no bad intention in my mind or say it in a low voice or sometimes loud to deny bad thought. While talking to my husband about my son’s airfares bad thought came to my mind and i said in low voice no bad intention ( i dont know and don’t think that whether my husband heard it or not) and he was replying to my airfares question which was a general question. Then due to me having ocd( i am not diagnosed but have most of the symptoms)and or waswasa i asked my husband so you didn’t have any any bad intention (means when we were talking about airfares). My husband clearly mentioned he was only talking about our son’s airfares means no other bad intention. I asked my husband ‘so no bad intention right and he said yeah’ then i asked him again that when u said yeah to having no bad intention he did say yeah to having no bad intention and ( i think then i asked again so no bad intention right) to which he said ofcourse not. Then later i got doubts that to what question he said ofcourse not and after remembering i think he said ofcourse not to when i asked no bad intention right he said ofcourse not ( means no bad intention) but i got confused as to whether he said ‘ofcourse not’ to my other question which was so ‘u said yeah to having no bad intention.’ I asked my husband again he said ‘no bad intention’. My husband clearly stated he had no bad intention many times. But my mind get stuck to things like whether he said yes to it or what. I get confused with words and sentences said. I am sure that everything is fine as he stated he had no bad intention clearly and also the topic we were talking about was a general topic. But my mind is not letting me in peace and compelling me to ask about it on this website to avoid getting sinful for not asking from ulema. Is our nikkah valid? 2. Other question is that is it compulsory for wife to ask husband about his intentions all the time when he says something? Cause thats where i get confused and afraid and keep asking his intentions and i do not want to annoy him. I am so scared to even talk to him as i get waswasa a lot and i get wrong meanings to things said and keep asking his intentions. He always said he never have any bad intentions. How to cure my condition? I do recite zikr and make duas but I think i am not consistent in my ibadats. I am A person who have doubts a lot in relation to religious matters like keeping myself clean and taking long time in toilet and washing hands many times. Seeing psychiatrist in this country may not be helpful as i have many waswasa in relation to religious matters. Is there any powerful dua or way to be able to come out of this disease of doubts and have a peaceful mind? Please make dua for me as these doubts are really making me sad and tensed and not letting me focus on important things like teaching my son islamic things which are so important in this non islamic country. He is almost 7 years old. Jazak Allah khair our nikkah is valid? My husband said he didn’t have bad intention.

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Sister in Islam,

Your husband has clearly stated that he was merely talking about your son’s airfares. He did not intend divorce nor did he issue a divorce. Therefore, your nikaah is intact.

We advise you not to ponder and build on these thoughts, as you will be aiding the Shaytaan in fulfilling his mission. Do not allow the whispers of Shaytaan to intimidate you.

Hereunder are some ways to combat the whisperings of Shaytaan:

رَبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ أَنْ يَحْضُرُونِ

Translation: O Allah! I seek your protection from the evil whisperings of the Shaytaan, and, O my Rabb, I seek Your protection that they (the Shaytaan) approach me (because they always approach with evil).’”

(Surah Al-Mu’minoon, Verses 97-98)

اَللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ وَسَاوِسَ قلبي خَشْيَتَكَ وذِكْرَكَ واجْعَلْ همتي وهَوَايَ فِيْمَا تُحِبُّ وتَرْضَى

Translation: “O Allah! Make Your fear and remembrance the obsession of my mind and divert my will and courage to the performance of deeds that please You.”

لا حول ولا قوة الا بالله

Translation: There is no power to neither do any good nor prevent any evil except in Allah

My beloved Ustaadh Hadhrat Mufti Ebrahim Desai Saheb Hafidhaullah advises:

When you are on a highway filled with smoke that obscures the road, you will not worry to remove the smoke. You will focus on the road and drive through the smoke. You will pay attention on the road and not at the smoke.

The wasaawis are like the smoke. Ignore the wasaawis and work through them even though your work might feel obscured. Do not get caught up with the tricks of Shaytaan.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Muhammad I.V Patel

Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.