The Whispers of the Shaytan and its Cure – Shaykh al-’Uthaimeen (rahimahullaah)

Question:

What are the reasons for the occurrence of whispers in the salaat and other than that?

Answer by Shaykh al-’Uthaimeen (rahimahullaah):

All praise is due to Allaah, Lord of the worlds. And I send peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, seal of the prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgement.

As to what follows:

Indeed whispers in the heart are a chronic sickness, and it attacks every believer except for the one Allaah, ‘azza wa jall, wills. And because of this Allaah, the Most High, revealed a complete chapter:

Say: I seek refuge with (Allaah) the Lord of mankind, The King of mankind, The Ilah (God) of mankind, From the evil of the whisperer (devil who whispers evil in the hearts of men) who withdraws (from his whispering in one’s heart after one remembers Allaah) – Who whispers in the breasts of mankind. Of jinn and men. (Surat An-Naas)

And the whisper befalls (a person) in matters of worship and other than that.

The Shaytaan Comes To Mankind In ‘Aqeedah And Tawheed

Indeed, Shaytaan comes to the heart of the slave through whispers surrounding this issue. He would prefer the slave to fall from the sky and be broken into pieces or be burned until he becomes a piece of coal rather than speak about these issues.

Most of the time, this falls upon the believer so Shaytaan can ruin his Emaan and conviction. This even befell some of the companions (radiallaahu ‘anhum).

It has been reported in the authentic ahadeeth from the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), and we will mention some here from what Allaah, ‘azza wa jall, has made easy:

In Saheeh Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (radiallaahu ‘anhu), who said:

People came from the companions to the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and asked him, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, we find ourselves that which is grave and serious, and it makes us speak about it.’ He said: Have you all found this thing? They said, ‘Yes.’ The Prophet said: This is pure emaan.

Sincere emaan does not come to an individual except that his emaan is pure and sincere, having no doubt, such that the heart can be so over taken that it will leave.

And what has been reported in the two Saheehs (Bukhari and Muslim) on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (radiallaahu ‘anhu), the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: Shaytaan comes to one of you and says, ‘Who created this? Who created that? Until he says, ‘who created Allah?’ The Prophet said: If it reaches him (meaning if it gets to this point), then seek refuge in Allaah from Shaytaan, and turn away from him.

The Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) mentioned two cures here:

The First Cure: Seeking refuge in Allaah, and this is sticking firm to Allaah ‘azza wa jall and relying upon Him until he (the slave) is saved from evil.

The Second Cure: Turning away from the thought and this whisper. So he turns away from it and proceeds with his life and work. And if you were to ask the individual concerning these whispers, “Do you believe this?” he will certainly say, “I seek refuge in Allaah from believing that. I pray, I fast, I give charity, and I make Hajj seeking Allaah’s pleasure, the mighty and majestic.” So we say continue upon your path and leave these whispers, and do not take heed to them.

This affair will be hard on you in the beginning, but be patient and Allaah will remove it from you in shaa` Allaah.

So seek refuge in Allaah, leave it, and turn away as the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) commanded you. So we say to the one who has been afflicted with this powerful disease to turn away from this after seeking refuge in Allaah the mighty and majestic. And verily, He will remove it from you if He wills because the one who described the cure was Muhammad (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and he is the one who has the most insight about its cure.

Shaytaan Comes To Man In Matters Related To His Purification

Firstly, he causes him to doubt his niyah (intention). So you find him making wudoo, and Shaytaan will say to him, “Surely you did not make your intention.” **[Rasing your hand for the niyya is not permissible]

Mankind does not realize that such thoughts are more than absurdity in his mind, and misguidance in the religion.

Exactly what was it that brought the individual to the place (of wudhoo), caused him to turn the faucet on and made him begin to wash the limbs for wudhoo except that it was the intention that occurred in his heart and a complete willingness to do the action?!

This is sufficient for the individual to reject what he has thought about and realize that it was a doubt and incorrect whisper.

A man came to some of the people of knowledge and asked, “O sir, verily I have fallen into a state of sexual impurity, so I went to the river and immersed myself in it to become pure. Then, when I came out of it, in my heart I thought, ‘Did I purify myself?’ So the Shaykh said, ‘I do not think that you should pray,’ so the man asked, ‘Why?’ The Shaykh replied by saying, ‘The Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: The pen is lifted from three; the one that is asleep until he awakes; the small child until he reaches puberty; and the one who is insane (until his insanity returns). And you are insane! How can you go to the river and bathe to remove sexual impurity then ask, ‘Have I purified myself?’”

So if an individual doubts his wudhoo or whether he made the intention for it or not, he should simply continue and complete his wudhoo and disregard the doubt.

Shaytaan comes from another angle as well. He comes to the heart during wudhoo and will make one think he did not blow water into his nose, for example, and by this point he is now wiping over his head. So we say do not respond to this; rather complete your wudhoo for verily this is a whisper.

Shaytaan may also come to him after he finishes his wudhoo and say, “You did not make your intention,” or, “You did not wash your face,” or, “You did not breathe the water into your nose,” or other whispers and doubts similar to this. So seek refuge with Allaah and do not stop, and continue on your way and ignore it.

Likewise, Shaytaan comes to an individual during his ghusl saying, “You did not complete your ghusl.” Consequently, you find him washing his body many times. This is from hardship. It is upon the individual to ignore this even if the Shaytaan says you did not wash or you did not complete washing this or that part of the body and other similar whispers. So continue and do not pay any attention to this.

If the servant overly thinks about this, surely this issue will cause hardship and cause him to become exhausted and annoyed. But if he turns away from these whispers and continues on his way, this hardship will become a way out for him, if Allaah wills. So be patient with this hardship and do not take heed to it.

Shaytaan Will Come To An Individual While Praying

He will deceive him firstly in his intention such that the one praying says, “I do not know if I made my intention or not.”

SubhanAllaah! How could you not know if you made your intentions or not and you came to the place of prayer. Isn’t this your intention? This is the intention. The intention doesn’t require formalities. When an individual does an action on his own accord and he is sane, then this is his intention.

Next the Shaytaan comes to him within prayer. When he begins reading a soorah after the Faatihah, Shaytaan says to him, “You did not read Al-Faatihah,” or, “You forgot a letter from it,” or, “You did not pronounce a letter properly,” and similar to this.

Continue in your prayer and do not pay these whispers any mind.

Shaytaan also comes (and deceives the individuals) in the number of rakaats he has prayed. He says, “you did not pray except one rakaat,” but indeed he has prayed two. Or, “you did not pray except two rakaats,” but indeed he has prayed three. Or, “you did not pray except three rakaats,” but indeed he prayed four. Maybe he will pray ten rakaats or fifteen rakaats in accordance with these whispers.

The cure for such is that he should seek refuge in Allaah Ta’ala from the accurses Shaytaan, and leave off, and turn away from the whispers. If he does this, the whispers will go away.

Shaytaan Comes To The People And Whispers During The Fast

He says, “indeed, you did not make your intention to fast,” despite the fact one has made sahoor and began to fast.

He then says, “you did not make intentions,” or he says, “you have indeed cut out the intention,” or similar to this. Thus, it is upon the individual to turn away from all of these and not turn back and seek refuge in Allaah from Shaytaan Ar-Rajeem (the outcast).

Shaytaan Comes To The People In Tawaf* Of The Kaaba And Sa’ee**

He says, “you did not make your intention,” or, “you did not go around except three times,” or, “you did not go back and forth between Safwah and Marwah except three times,” and so forth.

It is incumbent on the people to do what the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) commanded in all of these matters, and seek refuge in Allaah and abandon the doubts and whispers.

*At-Tawaaf: the circumvention of the Kaaba seven times during Al-Hajj and Al-Umrah.

** As-Saee: the ceremony of running back and forth seven times between As-Safwah and Al-Marwah.

Shaytaan Comes To The People Regarding Marriage And Family

He says, “verily, you have divorced your wife,” until some of them are afflicted so much so that even when the door is opened the individual says, “I said to my wife, ‘You are divorced,’” or he opens the Mushaf simply to read it and he says, “Verily, I said to my wife, ‘You are divorced.’” *[Meaning he cannot stop thinking about it, even when reading the Qur`an]

He is affected by this as well as other important matters that are not detached from the heart of a servant except that he does what the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), his family and his companions commanded – seeking refuge with Allaah, leaving off these whispers and doubtful matters and turning away from them.

This individual will no doubt find hardship in this, however, he is to be patient and anticipate a reward from Allaah in the hereafter and seek refuge in Allaah from Shaytaan Ar-Rajeem to strengthen the inner-self.

I recall some of the people mentioning that because of the strong whispers and the difficulties they cause, one stops praying – Allaah’s refuge is sought. This is indeed what the Shaytaan wants.

When he stands for prayer, he may say, “This affair causes me great difficulty. (First I wonder) if I made my intent, (then I wonder) whether I made takbeer, or whether I read Al-Faatihah,” and so on.

We say, turn away from this, be patient, and deal with this hardship even if you have to cry to become better. Be patient and continue what you are upon. Allaah will drive Shaytaan away and keep him from you if you do what Allaah and His Messenger (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) commanded you with – seeking refuge in Allaah from Shaytaan Ar-Rajeem, leaving off the doubtful matters, and turning away from [the doubtful matters].

This is what I advise my brothers whom Allaah, the Most High, has tested with these whispers. Do what the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) commanded you with by seeking refuge in Allaah and leaving off these whispers, and to continue with their affairs and with their lives.

I ask Allaah, the Blessed and the Most Hight, to cure our brothers from this chronic disease and to make their affairs easy. Verily, He has power over all things.

Source: Treatsie The Cure of the Whispers – Fataawah Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (rahimahullaah), via Markaz at-Tawheed was-Sunnah

Translated by: ‘Umar Bryant [Rasheed Barbee said this was translated by 'Umar Bryant for Markaz at-Tawheed was-Sunnah]

Source: http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=6&Topic=9414