What Can I Do About Misgivings Regarding Filth?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I’m in a serious predicament. I have fallen into extreme waswas. It’s takes me up to an hour to pray one prayer. I am completely lost about whether filth has affected me or not, especially in the washroom. What should I do?

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

Try to get to the local mosque, and make your ritual washing (wudu) and prayer there. Do nothing more and nothing less than everybody else.

And remember that this is a psychological problem, not a religious one, so you need to find a counsellor or specialist who can help you recover from this.

Also, I’d suggest reading The OCD Workbook, by Bruce Hyman, and particularly the section on Scrupulosity.

Please also see: A Reader on Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) and: Key Principles Relating to Certainty, Doubt, and Baseless Misgivings (waswasa) and: Struggling to Have Children: Ten Key Etiquettes of Du’a

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.