Obsessive whisperings about committing disbelief
21-11-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
My colleagues where discussing whether or not Allaah has a soul, and I thought of telling them that He does. However, I stopped myself, thinking that that would be talking about Allaah without knowledge and that He most probably does not have a soul as it is more likely than not that a soul is a created thing. Then I heard a voice inside me say, "Go tell them that Allaah has a soul, because He does." And as soon as I heard this, I felt a tremendous, irrational urge to get up from my seat and tell them He does have a soul. This urge made me start to get up, and I had to force myself to remain seated. I know that intending disbelief is disbelief, but have my actions gone up to the point of an intention? I hope that you can explain to me what I should do and if my actions constitute disbelief? One day, after I returned from work, my father told me to pray the 'Asr, but I was too tired to do that early. So I thought that if he asked me about whether I had prayed, I would tell him that the time for 'Asr would begin later. However, I later realized this would be lying about an Islamic rule, so I decided that I would not do so. I highly suspect that I actually intended to lie. Would it be disbelief if I did?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Labeling a Muslim as a disbeliever is a very serious matter that must not be taken lightly. The basic principle is that the person whose Islam is established with certainty cannot be declared otherwise based on mere doubts. Therefore, such satanic whisperings and doubts must be simply overlooked and disregarded. If a person hates to commit disbelief, then that is proof that he is a believer. It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that a group of the Companions said to the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, "Verily we find in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express in words." He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "Do you really find it?" They said, "Yes." Upon this, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, remarked, "That is explicit faith." [Muslim]
Having doubts regarding one's belief is a kind of Waswasah (obsessive whisperings) from the work of Satan. When the Muslim experiences such whisperings, he is enjoined to disregard them and pay absolutely no attention to them. He should also seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that a man came to the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said, "O Messenger of Allah! One of us has thoughts of such nature that he would rather be reduced to charcoal than to speak about them." He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, "Allah is Most Great; Allah is Most Great; Allah is Most Great! Praise be to Allah, Who reduced the guile of the devil to mere evil prompting (Waswasah)." [Ahmad and Abu Daawood]
We implore Allah to bless us with safety and wellbeing from all evils and tribulations.
Allah knows best.