Fatwa ID: 03434

Answered by Maulana Mohammad Afzal Hussain

Question:

I have been reading about Islam for 10 years but I suffer from a weird mental disorder that often makes me incapable of understanding things that are simpler than 1+1=2 due to my inability to feel and percept well the system of thoughts and feelings that come to my mind. So please answer my question straight to the point and don't deviate the answer by explaining the pillars of Islam, magic, Quranic advice, stories from the Sunnah with Hadith etc…

Please answer straight to the point: Is it kufr, major, minor or not sinful at all? Because the majority of the Muslims that I sent this question to deviate their answer by explaining the pillars of Islam, a story from Koran or hadith or black magic. So I repeat, please answer straight to the point: Is it kufr, major, minor or not sinful at all?

This is the question: There is something called the process of thinking. People think about different things. They recall (bring to mind) something they have seen, heard or learned. Or imagine what it would look like if we were the size of an ant and wandered and walked inside the body of a tree. They recall a detail like an ugly scene of a car accident or the harsh voice of someone that has insulted somebody. They visualize the bloody face of somebody that comes out from a crashed car. In the vast majority of cases, this happens with no intention of insulting someone. If someone were to bring to mind the following thought with no evil intent but he fantasizes it like a blockbuster fantasy movie or he paints something in his imagination like Japanese manga or something surreal, like Alice In Wonderland, but I repeat he has absolutely no evil intent: What would it look like if God had a body identical to human beings and an arrow speared his body? Or people lived inside his body? Or a doctor operated his genital organ and intimate parts? Or somebody damaged his genital organ and anus with a spear? He imagines this without being emotional just like he imagines a tree without being emotional because he is sure within himself that God has nothing to do with that. Or he imagines this in an emotional manner because he fears the sins of the heart. I swear I am not a hypocrite or someone with bad intentions so please answer my question. Isn't it discriminatory not to answer a question simply because God has given me a calamity? People with OCD are not held to account for kufr things that come from their illness. But it is a must for me to know things that are kufr.

 So please answer my question. He suffers from compulsive waswas and speaks words of kufr; does he have to do anything? 200949 is the question number on the islamqa website ( https://islamqa.info ). islamqa says that people with OCD are not held to account for kufr things that come as a result of their illness. So please answer my question whether what I described constitutes kufr or not? Because as a human being I have the right to know what is kufr and not kufr. I expected Muslims to be more good than the average.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

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

Answer:

A mere thought in the mind, would not count as sin. Prophet of Allah said:

1) Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forgiven my followers the evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as long as such thoughts are not put into action or uttered." And Qatada said, "If someone divorces his wife just in his mind, such an unuttered divorce has no effect. [Bukhari: 5269]

2) Allah the Glorious said: "If he intends to do an evil act and has not done it, then Allah writes it down with Him  as a full good deed." [Bukhari and Muslim, Riyadus Saliheen: 11]

3) Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: A man came to the Prophet and said: Messenger of Allah! one of us has thoughts of such nature that he would rather be reduced to charcoal than speak about them. He said: Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great. Praise be to Allah Who has reduced the guile of the devil to evil prompting. Ibn Qudamah said "reduced his matter" instead of "reduced his guile". [Abu-Dawood: 5112]

4) Abu Hurairah said; His companion came to him and said; Messenger of Allah! We have thoughts that we cannot dare talk about and we do not like that we have them or talk about them. He said: Have you experienced that? They replied: yes. He said: that is clear faith. [Abu-Dawood: 5111]

5) Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: Abu Zumayl said: I asked Ibn Abbas, saying: What is that I find in my heart? He asked: What is it? I replied: I swear by Allah, I cannot speak about it. He asked me: Is it something doubtful? and he laughed. He then said: No one could escape that, until Allah, the exalted, revealed: "If thou went in doubt as to what we have revealed unto thee, and ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee." He said: If you find something in your heart, say: He is the first and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent, and He has full knowledge of all things. [Abu-Dawood: 5110]

6) Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah forgives my followers those (evil deeds) their souls may whisper or suggest to them as long as they do not act (on it) or speak." [Bukhari: 6664]

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Mohammad Afzal Hussain

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham