Fatwa ID: 05621
Answered by: Mufti Mohammed Kamran Abid
Question:
Salaam Mufti, I was hoping you could provide some help for me. For a long, while now I’ve been dealing with OCD and it didn’t seem bad at first just me being “clean” however it seems to have hit its peak and it’s at its worst at the moment. A few examples are I think impurities like mani transfers everywhere if I have a wet dream and if it went anywhere or I touch anything even if I washed it or someone washed it I get scared I’m going to transfer impurities. If there aren’t any visible impurities I still think things are impure and confuse myself with regards to the wetness transferring impurities and feel impurities are everywhere, washing hands can take me 3-10 minutes, wudhu can take up to 20 mins or more, ghusl can be over 2 hours (even though I’m a male), using the toilet has become a burden as I feel I’m dirty all the time because of splashes from the toilet bowl on to the seat or the skin and I use over 2 jugs even if I just urinated and can use up to over 10 jugs of water if I need to clean the back passage and if any splashes occurred on the skin on my backside. Life has truly become miserable and a burden. I know all of this is waswasa and a lack of knowledge however I wasn’t taught how to deal with these things growing up and not sure where to get aid from, what do you advise me?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Firstly, it is not a sin to have thoughts and we will not be accountable for thoughts to just come to our minds. Allah has mentioned in the last verse of Surah Baqarah, ”Allah does not obligate anyone beyond his capacity. For him is what he has earned, and on him what he has incurred. ‘Our Lord, do not hold us accountable if we forget or make a mistake, and Our Lord, do not place on us such a burden as You have placed on those before us, and Our Lord do not make us bear a burden for which we have no strength.’”.[1]
This verse of the Quran tells us that we are not responsible for anything that is beyond our capacity. Having evil thoughts and waswasas are not in our capacity, however, acting upon these evil thoughts is in our control. Therefore, you must understand that you are not committing a sin when you are having evil thoughts. It is acting on evil thoughts that are sinful.
Secondly, the way to control your thoughts is by ignoring and not paying any attention to evil thoughts. Be involved in something good. Divert your attention to something beneficial like Zikr or making Dua. Remember that a person will be rewarded for not acting upon evil thoughts.[2]
Thirdly, these thoughts can be looked at as a blessing because the more thoughts a person has, the more opportunity he/she has to avert evil thoughts and the more reward a person receives. You should be grateful that you have so many evil thoughts because this gives you more opportunity to control your thoughts, as a result attaining proximity with Allah.
Lastly, following your evil thought will make the thoughts more and worst. Don’t wash or do anything over and over more than needed. Wash only once and avert any doubts and waswasas.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Mufti Mohammed Kamran Abid
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[1] ﴿لَا یُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَاۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَیۡهَا مَا ٱكۡتَسَبَتۡۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذۡنَاۤ إِن نَّسِینَاۤ أَوۡ أَخۡطَأۡنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَیۡنَاۤ إِصۡرࣰا كَمَا حَمَلۡتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِینَ مِن قَبۡلِنَاۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلۡنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦۖ وَٱعۡفُ عَنَّا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَاۤۚ أَنتَ مَوۡلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرۡنَا عَلَى ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِینَ﴾ [البقرة ٢٨٦]
[2] Reformation of Character, pg. 50 – 54
