What to Do If You Have Unwanted Doubts and Waswasa About Islam?

“Indeed, Allah has pardoned my Ummah for what their hearts whisper to them, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.” Agreed upon.

Shaykh Ibn Baz رحمه الله explained the matter of inner thoughts and whisperings, stating that the whisperings of the heart are pardoned so long as they do not turn into speech or action. He distinguished between a passing thought that does not become settled and a belief that becomes settled within the heart and which a person accepts.

There is a great difference between someone who believes in objecting to Allah and is content with that belief, and a believing Muslim who experiences an involuntary thought saying to him: Why did Allah create us? Why did He test us? He hates the thought, fears it, and tries to repel it. The situation described in the question is of the second type. The questioner says that he wants to live as a Muslim and die as a Muslim, fears that these thoughts may contradict Islam, and wants to get rid of them. Merely experiencing these whisperings does not make him a disbeliever or take him outside Islam.

“Some people from among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ came to him and asked him: ‘We find within ourselves things that one of us considers too grave to speak about.’ He said: ‘Have you really experienced that?’ They said: ‘Yes.’ He ﷺ said: ‘That is clear faith.’”

The meaning is that the sincere faith and fear of Allah within their hearts prevented them from accepting what the Shaytan cast into their minds and believing in it. What he cast at them therefore remained merely waswasah and did not become established within their hearts, nor did their souls become content with it.

“Praise be to Allah Who has reduced his plot to mere whispering.”

This clarifies that the matter remained an inner thought and went no further than that. It also shows that “clear faith” does not mean that the waswasah itself is faith, because the waswasah comes from the actions and suggestions of the Shaytan and therefore cannot itself be clear faith. This is what the scholars have explained in their commentaries on the hadith. Therefore, whenever such a thought occurs, the questioner should not say to himself: Perhaps this is coming from me. Perhaps I believe it. Perhaps I have left Islam. This itself may become another door through which waswasah enters.

“The Shaytan comes to one of you and says: ‘Who created such-and-such? Who created such-and-such?’ Until he says: ‘Who created your Lord?’ If it reaches that point, let him seek refuge in Allah and stop.” Agreed upon.

“Whoever finds something of that within himself should say: ‘I believe in Allah.’”

The Prophet ﷺ did not command the person experiencing this waswasah to renew his Islam, nor did he declare him a disbeliever. Rather, he instructed him to seek refuge in Allah, affirm his belief in Allah, and stop engaging with the waswasah. This is among the strongest things that should reassure the questioner.

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”

“He Who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deeds.”

Allah created us to worship Him and tested us so that the obedient may be distinguished from the disobedient and the doer of good from the evildoer. He will then recompense every person according to what he did. Allah سبحانه وتعالى is Wise and does not wrong anyone. Allah says:

“And your Lord wrongs no one.”

“Indeed, Allah does not wrong even as much as an atom’s weight.”

The fact that a person did not choose to come into existence does not mean that he has been wronged. Allah is the Creator and Owner. He has blessed the human being with existence, intellect, hearing, and sight. He sent the Messengers to him, revealed the Books, clarified for him the paths of good and evil, and gave him a will and ability by which he chooses the actions for which he has been made responsible. Allah has not burdened him with that which he cannot bear:

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear.”

The believer therefore knows that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the Wisest of judges and the Most Merciful of those who show mercy. He does nothing without wisdom and wrongs no one, even if some details of His wisdom remain hidden from the servant.

“A person is not held accountable for whisperings that occur within himself and do not become settled.” He then mentioned that if a person experiences whisperings concerning his Lord, Paradise, Hellfire, or resurrection, he should say: “I believe in Allah and His Messengers,” seek refuge in Allah from the Shaytan, and stop.

This is particularly important in the questioner’s situation. Do not search your heart after every instance of waswasah and ask yourself: Did I say this? Did I accept it? Have I disbelieved? Am I still a Muslim? Repeatedly examining yourself in this manner may feed the waswasah rather than put an end to it.

“So ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.”

However, after learning the answer, do not turn the matter into an endless cycle of repeatedly asking the same question and searching for new certainty every time the waswasah returns.