(devil) having to do with Allah, and he is very afraid of that.
Praise be to Allah
The questioner has mentioned this problem and is afraid of its
consequences. I say to him, rejoice, for its consequences cannot be
anything but good. By means of this waswas, the Shaytan tries to gain
control over the believers and shake the sound belief in their hearts,
and make them suffer psychological and intellectual anxiety that will
affect the purity of their faith and their life, if they are
believers.
This is not the first or the last time that the believers have been
exposed to this. It will continue so long as there is any believer in
this world. The Sahabah/companions of the Prophet (may Allah be
pleased with them) also faced this problem. It was narrated that Abu
Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Some of the companions
of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and
said to him, 'We find in ourselves thoughts that are too terrible to
speak of.' He said, 'Are you really suffering from that?' They said,
'Yes.' He said, 'That is a clear sign of faith.'" (Muslim).
It was narrated in al-Saheehayn, also from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said, "The Shaytan comes to one of you and says, 'Who
created such and such? Who created such and such?' Until he says, 'Who
created your Lord?!' If that happens to any of you, let him seek
refuge with Allah and put a stop to these thoughts."
It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both)
that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) and said, "I think thoughts to myself, which I would rather be
burnt to a cinder than speak of them." The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Praise be to Allah, Who has
reduced all his [the Shaytan's] plots to mere whispers." (Abu Dawood).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in
Kitab al-Eeman: "The believer may suffer from the whispers of the
Shaytan insinuating thoughts of kufr (disbelief), which may make him
feel distressed. The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) said, 'O
Messenger of Allah, some of us think thoughts which we would rather
fall from heaven to earth than speak of them.' He said, 'That is a
clear sign of faith.' According to one report, '… thoughts which are
too terrible to speak of.' He said, 'Praise be to Allah, Who has
reduced all his [the Shaytan's] plots to mere whispers,' meaning that
the fact that these whispers come, but they are so greatly disliked,
and they are pushed away from the heart, is a clear sign of faith.
This is like the mujahid (warrior) to whom the enemy comes, but he
resists him until he overwhelms him, and this is a mighty jihad
(battle)… Hence the seekers of knowledge and devoted worshippers
experience waswas and doubts which others do not face, because they
(the others) are not following the way prescribed by Allah, rather
they are following their own whims and desires and neglecting to
remember their Lord. This is what the Shaytan wants, in contrast to
those who are striving to draw closer to their Lord by seeking
knowledge and worshipping Him. He is their enemy and seeks to prevent
them from drawing closer to Allah." (p.147 of the Indian edition)
I say to this questioner, if you are faced with this waswas from the
Shaytan, then fight it and resist it. Know that it can never harm you
when you fulfill the duty of fighting and resisting it, and you refuse
to be controlled by it. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said, "Allah will forgive my ummah (followers) for any
insinuating whispers that may cross their minds, so long as they do
not act upon it or speak of it." (Agreed upon).
If it is said to you: Do you believe the insinuating whispers you
experience? Do you think that they are true? Do you really think that
Allah is like what this waswas says? You would say, "It is not right
for us to speak of this. Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great
lie" [24:16 ]. You would denounce that in your heart and with your
tongue, and be the one who objects to it the most, for it is only
whispers and thoughts that cross your mind. It is a trap set by the
Shaytan, who flows through the son of Adam (peace be upon him) like
blood flows, to make you doomed and to confuse you about your
religion.
Hence you will find that the Shaytan does not cast doubts or
suspicions into your heart about trivial matters. For example, you may
hear of the existence of great cities filled with people and buildings
in the east and the west, but it would never cross your mind some day
to doubt that they exist or to criticize them and say that they are in
ruins and unfit for habitation, or that they are uninhabited, and so
on. The Shaytan has nothing to gain by making people doubt about these
cities. But he does have a lot to gain by corrupting the believer's
faith, so he strives with his cavalry and his infantry to extinguish
the light of knowledge and guidance in his heart and to make him fall
into the darkness of doubt and confusion. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) has told us of the appropriate remedy
for such problems, which is to seek refuge with Allah and put a stop
to it. If a person puts a stop to it and continues to worship Allah,
seeking and hoping for (the reward) which is with Allah, it will stop
by Allah's leave. So turn away from all the thoughts of this kind that
cross your mind. You are worshipping Allah, calling upon Him and
glorifying Him, and if you were to hear anyone ascribing to Allah the
things that are whispered to you (waswas), you would probably kill him
if you could. So the things that are whispered to you are neither real
nor true, they are merely imagination and whispers which have no
basis.
Our advice may be summed up as follows:
1. Seek refuge with Allah and give up these
thoughts completely, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) commanded.
2. Remember Allah and control yourself and
do not continue to think of these whispers.
3. Occupy yourself with worship and doing
good deeds, in obedience to the command of Allah and seeking to please
Him. When you devote yourself completely and seriously to worship, you
will forget about these whispers, insha Allah.
4. Frequently seek refuge with Allah and
make du'a (supplicate) to free you from these whispers.
I ask Allah to keep you safe and sound, and protect you from all evils.
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