Question: I suffer from waswasa regarding wudu’, salat, purification, and intention. What is the remedy for this?
ANSWER
Waswasa (pl. wasawis) means harmful misgivings and delusion. It is stated in a hadith-i sharif:
(Waswasa is from Shaitan. Beware of the wasawis of Shaitan when you are making wudu’, performing ghusl, and cleaning impurity.) [Tirmidhi]

Following waswasa is a sin. It is makruh to perform salat behind an imam who has been plagued by waswasa. Waswasa causes a person to waste water, and wastefulness (israf) is haram. It also causes him to delay his salat and to miss the jama’at, even salat. It results in his wasting his time and life. A person affected by waswasa is under the delusion that the clothes and meals of others are impure, while it is haram to have a bad opinion about Muslims. He thinks that he is on the safe side in religious matters, but in fact he has been trapped by arrogance.

A person who does not know the fard, sunnat, and makruh elements of wudu’, purification, and salat can easily be afflicted by the sickness of waswasa. If he has learnt and is implementing them, then he should ignore the doubts that will befall him and assume that he is carrying them out well and correctly. Assuming it in this way is to be on the safe side. Having doubts is to be afflicted with wasawis. One who has been affected by wasawis should act on dispensations (rukhsa). One is not disturbed by waswasa when cleansing the heart from vices, paying attention to the rights of creation, and abstaining from haram acts. Being extra careful about these issues is wara and taqwa. (Hadiqa, Bariqa)

The remedy to get rid of wasawis is to know well the ruling of our religion regarding the matter about which he has been confronted with wasawis. He who knows the rulings well will not have wasawis. Every Muslim must abstain from haram and dubious things. He should also be abstemious in using even the mubah things and should not exceed the limit of necessity. This is called adopting what is azima (the more meritorious and difficult ways in carrying out commandments, which Islam holds superior). Doing unsinful and permissible acts is called following rukhsa (dispensation). A person should not take dispensations unless forced by necessity. He who has an excuse [unable to do the ’azima] may take rukhsa. His doing rukhsa deserves as much thawab (reward) as would be the case if he had done the ’azima. Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani states, “One should act on the easiest fatwa in case of necessity. Allahu ta’ala does not want humans to do difficult things, but easy ones, because man was created weak and frail.”

Hadrat Imam-i Sharani stated that one should take dispensations in case of necessity. The following hadith-i sharifs say:
(Make use of the dispensations that Allahu ta’ala has allowed for you.) [Bukhari]

(Whoever does not make use of dispensations has committed a sin as big as Mount Arafat.) [Tabarani]

(Allahu ta’ala likes a person’s making use of dispensations, just as He likes his taking ‘azima.) [Bayhaqi]

(A time will come when people will display obsessive concern about purification, and they [being afflicted with waswasa] will exceed the limits in the religion.) [Abu Dawud]

Shaytan does not want a Muslim to perform salat. If he is performing salat, Shaitan casts doubts into his heart, whispering, “Seeing that you are offering salat, you should perform wudu’ and salat properly. Do not leave any part dry. Wash thoroughly. Your salat is not valid, so redo it.” Thus, he causes the Believer distress. Not only do these wasawis cause him to commit makruh in acts of worship but also lead to psychological problems in the long term.

Islam is the religion of facilitation and dispensations. For example, if a person has made wudu’ and then doubts whether he broke it or not, it is assumed that he is in a state of wudu’. He who has made wudu’ does not have to renew it if, afterwards, he doubts that a part of his limb may have been left dry. Renewing wudu, in this case, will be makruh. If a person, after performing wudu’, frequently notices moisture on his underwear and doubts whether it is urine or water, he should sprinkle some water on his underwear before performing wudu’. Then when he sees moisture on his underwear, he should assume that it is the water he sprinkled. Even if this moisture is urine, it is not necessary to wash that area because it is not known for certain whether it is urine or not.

If a person walks on an impure surface while his feet are wet, his feet will not get impure on condition that the surface is dry. If impurity touches one’s clothes or body and if one cannot locate the affected area, it will become clean if one washes the area that one guesses to be the affected area. If one discovers the correct area after salat, one does not have to repeat the salat according to a qawl.

Suppose that a child has urinated onto the right sleeve of a jacket and one does not know that the affected area is on the right sleeve. Then if one thinks that the affected area is on the left sleeve and washes it, the right sleeve is considered clean, and the salat one performs in this jacket will be valid. Similarly, what matters is not that no part of a limb should be left dry. Even if a part has been left dry, there is no problem if one does not know it. The criterion is whether one knows or not. Hadrat Imam-i Ghazali says the following in his discourse on impure things in food like pig lard:

Allahu ta’ala does not order, “Eat that which is absolutely pure and clean” but orders, “Eat that which you do not know to be impure and which you think to be clean.” If He ordered that we eat that which is absolutely pure and clean, it would be very difficult, even impossible.

Similarly, He does not order us not to leave any dry place in wudu’ and ghusl. If one, though one has washed a limb, does not know that a part on the limb has been left unwashed, that limb is assumed to have been washed completely.

If a part on a limb has been left unwashed in wudu’ and if one does not know that one has left it dry, one does not have to wash that part. One should say to oneself, “I do not know whether there is any dry place left. Then I can safely assume that I washed each limb completely.” One should not wash anywhere thereafter. Doubts may creep into one’s heart that there is a part left dry, but one should ignore them. One must not do the opposite of what our religion says. Islam does not order one to wash a limb again on the pure supposition that there may be some part left unwashed. That is, even if one cannot be convinced that one has not left anywhere unwashed, our religion does not require one to be convinced of it. Nor does it require one to satisfy oneself. One should think so, “I am only required to wash an organ three times.” If water does not reach some part and if one does not know that it has not reached there, one’s not knowing it is a criterion. One should keep this criterion in mind. Similarly, the imam behind whom one performs salat may be an atheist internally. The salats one performs behind him are valid as one does not know that he is an atheist.

If a person, after performing wudu’, doubts whether he wiped his hair or whether he is in a state of wudu’ or if he, after completing salat, doubts whether his garment was clean or whether he said the opening takbir, he does not have to renew his wudu’ or wash his garment or repeat his salat.

When we do acts of worship more or less than the required amount, Allahu ta’ala does not lose out or gain anything. For this reason, if we perform acts of worship more or less than the required amount in compliance with what our religion says, there is nothing wrong with it. For example, if a person, while performing the fard of Salat al-Fajr, doubts whether he has performed one or two rak’ats, his salat will be valid if he performs an extra rak’at, totaling three rak’ats. But if he performs three rak’ats deliberately, then his salat will not be valid. Similarly, if one, while performing a four-rak’at salat, gets confused and offers only three rak’ats thinking that one has completed all of the four rak’ats, one’s salat is considered valid. Allahu ta’ala does not say, “Why did you think wrongly?” He does not order us to do that which is beyond our capability. (Hadiqa)

Question: What should a person do when Shaitan whispers into his heart, “Am I in a state of wudu’? Maybe I broke it, and I do not remember”?
ANSWER
You say that Shaitan whispers it and ask what you should do. You should not pay attention to such whispers. If you remember that you made wudu’, there is no problem. You are assumed to be in a state of wudu’.

Question: I sometimes doubt while in salat whether I have performed three or four rak’ats. Sometimes such doubts occur to me after salat as well, so I repeat my salat. Is what I do correct?
ANSWER
It is not correct. You should not pay any attention to the doubts that befall you once salat is completed. Always keep this in mind because it is a very useful piece of information for everyone performing salat: doubting and zann (supposition, judgment) are different things. Doubting is one’s not knowing in any way whether one has performed three or four rak’ats. In zann, however, there is a little inclination toward one view. If one is able to say, “In my judgment, I have performed three rak’ats,” it is assumed that one has performed three rak’ats. In acts of worship, one’s zann is accepted. Accordingly, if one gets confused while performing salat about whether he has offered three or four rak’ats, one should act on the basis of what one thinks is most likely. If it is not clear what is most likely and if one is in doubt, then one should assume that one performed three rak’ats and sit in the third rak’at. Then one should offer one more rak’at and perform sajda as-sahw. Try to learn well the difference between zann and doubting.

Question: When I am performing a four-rak’at salat, my attention is sometimes diverted. Then I find myself to be performing the third rak’at. I complete my salat, but then doubts occur to me whether I missed a rak’at or offered an extra rak’at. How should I act in this case?
ANSWER
Once salat is completed, doubts that befall one are not taken into consideration. If one doubts while performing salat whether it is the second or third rak’at, one should assume that it is the second rak’at and then offer one more rak’at. One should complete salat with sajda as-sahw.

Question: Does Shaitan cast waswasa into the heart of a human? That is, do evil thoughts that befall us come from Shaitan?
ANSWER
Yes, those thoughts that go against Islam come from Shaitan. It is declared in the Qur’an al-karim:
(Verily, Shaitan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy because he calls his followers [by making them commit sins] to be the dwellers of Hell.) [Fatir 6]

(O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps [and wasawis] of Shaitan.) [Al-Baqara 208]

(Do not follow the footsteps of Shaitan. Verily, he is an open enemy to you. He enjoins on you only evil and fahsha [obscenity, being addicted to haram things, running after the desires of the nafs].) [Al-Baqara 168-169]

(Shaitan frightens you with poverty [when you are spending in the way of Allah] and orders you [not to give alms].) [Al-Baqara 268]

(Shaitan wants to [make them incline to transgression and] lead them to aberrance that is away from guidance.) [An-Nisa’ 60]

(Did I not advise you not to obey Shaitan? He is an open enemy to you.) [Ya Sin 60]

(Shaitan wants to cause enmity and hatred among you by means of wine and gambling and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from salat. Will you then not avoid them [though you know their harm].) [Al-Ma’idah 91]

(Whoever turns himself away from the religion of Allah [by following his nafs], We appoint a shaitan for him [in the world].) [Zukhruf 36]

It is declared in hadith-i sharifs:

(Shaitan whispers waswasa into the heart. He flees immediately when Allahu ta’ala’s name is mentioned. He continues his waswasa if His name is not mentioned.) [Abu Ya’la, Ibn Adiy]

(Allahu ta’ala’s mercy is upon jama’at. Shaitan is with him who does not join the jama’at of Muslims and who opposes them.) [Diya-ul-kulub]

(Just as a wolf snatches a sheep that is alone separate from the flock, so Shaitan, too, is the wolf of man. Beware of division and join together in jama’at. Run to mosques.) [Tirmidhi]