Waswas (Insinuating Thoughts) from Shaytan

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Waswas (Insinuating Thoughts) from Shaytan

A person asked: "I am suffering from many insinuating thoughts (waswas) about the nature of Allah, the Almighty, may He, the Almighty, be glorified. There are thoughts going around in my mind that I cannot utter because they do not fit Allah, the Almighty, and they keep coming back to me, when I am praying and at other times. it is so bad that I doubt my faith, and wonder if I am even a real Muslim or not. What is the cure for this problem?"

A number of hadiths have been reported from the Prophet, peace be upon him, which contain the answer to this problem, Al-hamdu Lillah (praise be to Allah). The Messenger, peace be upon him, said:
"The Shaytan may come to any one of you and say, 'Who created Allah, the Almighty?' If any one of you experiences this, let him say, ' 'Amantu billahi wa rasulihi '[I believed in Allah, the Almighty, and His Messenger, peace be upon him], and that will drive him away." (Saheeh al-Jami' 1657)

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, also said:
"The Shaytan may come to any one of you and ask, 'Who created the heaven?' and he will say, 'Allah, the Almighty' then the Shaytan will say, 'Who created Allah, the Almighty?' If any one of you experiences this, let him say, ''Amantu billahi wa rasulih.'" (Sahih al-Jami' 1656)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, also said:
"Whoever experiences anything of this Waswas, let him say three times,' 'Amantu billahi wa rashullih' and that will drive the Shaytan away." (Saheeh al-Jami' 6587)

The Prophet, pece be upon him, said:
"The Shaytan may come to any one of you, and say, 'Who created such-and-such? Who created such-and-such?' until he asks, 'Who created your (Lord) Rabb?' If this happens to anyone, let him seek refuge with Allah, the Almighty, and let him stop such thoughts." (Sheeh al-Jami' 93)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"The people will nearly ask too many questions, so that one of them may say, 'Allah, the Almighty, created all of creation, but who created Allah, the Almighty?' If they say this, then recite: "Allah is the One, Allah is the Self-Sufficient Master, He begets not, nor was He begotten; and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him" (Surah 112: 1-4), and spit (drily) to left three times, and seek refuge with Allah, the Almighty, from the Shaytan." (Saheeh al-Jami' 8182)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"Think about the signs of Allah, the Almighty, do not think about Allah ( Himself)." (Saheeh Al-Jami' 2975)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"Think about the creation of Allah not think about Allah (Himself)." (Saheeh al-Jami', 2976)

Form these texts we may summarize the following six ways of overcoming these insinuating thoughts:
<LI class=MsoNormal style="COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt">The person who is experiencing such ideas should say," 'Amantu billahi wa rasulihi [I believe in Allah, the Almighty, and His Messenger, peace be upon him.]." <LI class=MsoNormal style="COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt">He should seek refuge with Allah, the Almighty, from the accursed Shaytan, and say three times, "A 'udhu billahi 'l-Sami' il-'Alim min al-Shaytan il-rajim, min hamzihi wa nafkhihi wa nafathih [ I seek refuge with Allah, the All-hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Shaytan, and from his slander and evil insinuations]." <LI class=MsoNormal style="COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt">He should spit (with little saliva) to his left three times. <LI class=MsoNormal style="COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt">He should stop thinking about these things, as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Let him stop." This is an important tactic, because continuing to allow the Shaytan to influence one in this way will only make it worse. The Muslim must stop these thoughts, as much as he can, and keep his mind busy with something useful and beneficial. <LI class=MsoNormal style="COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 14.4pt; tab-stops: list 36.0pt">He should recite Surah al-Ikhlas (Qul huwa Allahu ahad), because it describes attributes of the All-Merciful and is considered to be equivalent to one-third of the Qur'an. Reciting this great Surah will guarantee an end to these insinuating thoughts.
He should think about the creating and blessing of Allah, the Almighty, not about His nature, because his weak human mind can never comprehend the nature of Allah. Allah, the Almighty, said: "..... but they never compass anything of His Knowledge." (20:110)
(Ref: Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid. Problems and Solutions. IIPH, Riyadh, KSA)

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THE TRICKS OF SHAYTAAN

As for the tricks of Shaytaan against you they are seven.

1.He obstructs you from doing acts of obedience.
Repel him, if Allah protects you, by realizing that you are in need of these acts of obedience in order to gather provision from this life for the next life, which will have no ending.

2.He commands you to procrastinate in acts of obedience. Repel him, if Allah protects you, by realizing that your appointed time is not in your hands and that you could die at any moment.
3. He commands you to rush in acts of obedience by suggesting to you, "Hurry! In order that you can do so-and-so!"
Repel him; if Allah protects you, that realizing that few acts of obedience done with perfection is better than many done incompletely.

4. He commands you to perfect your worship in order to be seen of men.
Repel him, if Allah protects you, by realizing that the sight of Allah is enough for you over the sight of men.

5. He whispers arrogance and pride in your heart by saying, " Who is greater and more precise than your obedience?"
Repel him, if Allah protects you, by realizing that your acts of obedience to Allah is a blessing from Allah, not from yourself. If it were not for the bounty of Allah, you would not be able to establish any act of obedience, which are nothing next to the blessing of Allah Ta`ala.

6. This is the greatest of his tricks, he says to you, "Make strenuous effort in keeping your obedience of Allah secret. Soon He will make your acts manifest before the world!"
Repel him, if Allah protects you, that you are a slave of Allah and that He alone is your Master. If He wills, He will manifest you and is He wills He will keep you concealed. If He wills, He will make you important and if He wills He will make you insignificant. That is for Him to decide, and you should not care whether He manifest your good deeds to people or not, because there is nothing in their hands worth seeking after.

7. He suggests in your heart, " There is no need for you to perform acts of obedience to Allah. Truly, if you were created and destined to be among the people of bliss, then there is no danger in you neglecting the acts of worship. And if you were created and destined to be among the people of wretched, then there is no benefit in doing them."
Repel him; if Allah protects you, that realizing that you are a slave. And that its the duty of a slave to obey the commands as is the rights to slave ness (`ubuudiyya)

Allah is the Rabb, and He knows the rights of Lordship (rubuubiyya). Thus these acts of obedience will benefit you in every way if you were created and destined to be among the people of bliss. It will benefit you by increasing your reward.

And if you were not created and destined for bliss, then in no way Allah will punish you for acts of obedience. These acts of obedience will not harm you. For to be entered into the fire while you are obedient to Allah is more precious to you than you being entered into the fire while you are disobedient.
And how is it possible for you to enter the fire when the Promise of Allah is true and His Words are Truthful. For He has promised a tremendous reward for acts of obedience. Whoever meets Allah Ta`ala while he has faith and obedience will never enter the fire and he has dully earned the Paradise by the Promise of Allah the Truthful and not by any act.
It is in that Allah has informed us by His saying:
They will say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has truly fulfilled His Promise to us, and has given us (this) land in heritage: We can dwell in the Garden as we will: how excellent a reward for those who work (righteousness)!" 39:74.

Therefore my brothers and sisters, wake up! It is as He said. So seek the aid of Allah alone and seek refuge with Him. All matters are in His hands and from Him alone is success. And there is no power nor might except with Allah the Exalted the Great.

Shaykh `Uthman Dan Fodio Tareeqah Al-Jannah Bab Muhaarabatush-Shaytaan-On the War with Shaytaan