Fatwa ID: 06372

Answered by: Mufti Muhammad Asadullah Anwar Adam

Question:

My daughter is 14 yrs old she takes up to 1 and a half hours to pray 4 rakahs, and she is showing signs of OCD. She has become so obsessed with getting her pronunciation correct that she repeats letters and sounds over and over, to the point that she is so frustrated at the end of her salah, that she is crying and upset. Please offer any advice on how we can help her. This is the same for wudu and salah.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterised by recurring unwanted and intrusive thoughts, impulses and images (obsessions), as well as repetitive behavioural and mental rituals (compulsions).

People with OCD are usually aware that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational and excessive, yet feel unable to control or resist them. OCD can take up many hours of a person’s day and may severely affect work, study, and family and social relationships.

The best solution for your daughter would be to seek professional help in regard to her OCD and to reaffirm that her recitation, wudhu and salah were performed correctly and that the doubts in her mind are only waswasah that should be ignored.

Shaitan will try to create waswasas in particular in the hearts of believers, especially in salah by creating worldly thoughts and doubts in it. The musali should be firm and not give in to these whispers and thoughts and should not allow the accursed Shaitan to overpower him. [1]

[1] [Mazaahirul Haqq p.155 v.1]

Only Allah knows best

Written by Mufti Muhammad Asadullah Anwar Adam

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham