Concerns About Doubting Faith
QUESTION:
One person is very confused by the shaitan as to what has to do with the Almighty and Great Allah. It scares him very much. What should he do now?
ANSWER:
All praise belongs to Allah!
I can make you happy! There can be no other consequences than favorable ones for this problem. These are such instigations with which the Shaitan attacks only the faithful in order to shake their true conviction in their hearts, to bring them into a state of mental and mental disorder and thereby darken the clarity of their faith and the serenity of their lives.
He is not the first to have a faith like this, and far from the last. This will continue as long as there is at least one believer on earth. Even the Companions faced this, may Allah be pleased with them. They say that Abu Hurayrah – may Allah be supportive of him! said: “People from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him! – and they asked him: “Truly, we find in our hearts that, the conversation about which each of us will consider as something fraught with bad consequences” He asked: “Have you already discovered this?” They answered “Yes”. Then he said: “This is from the purity of faith.“
This hadith is quoted by Muslim.
Also in both saheehs it is reported from his own words that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “A Shaitan may come to some of you and ask questions:“ who created this and that?” and who created this and that? ” – and then asks:“ who created your Lord?” So if he comes to this, then let him turn to Allah with a prayer for protection and stop [reasoning about it]”
They also report from the words of Ibn ‘Abbas – may Allah be pleased with him and his father! – that once to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a man came up and said: “In my heart I sometimes talk about such things. I would rather be incinerated than talk about it” and the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him! -answered: “Praise be to Allah, who brought him (that is the Shaitan) to the point of instigation!” This hadith is quoted by Abu Dawood.
• Sheikh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah – may Allah have mercy on him! – in the book “al-Iman” says:
“The believer is exposed to the fact that the Shaitan confuses him, tempts him in unbelief, because of which he begins to experience mental anxiety.
When the Companions said: “O Messenger of Allah, truly, some of us discover something in our hearts, talking about which they would prefer to be thrown from heaven to earth” – Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him! – answered: “This is from the purity of faith.”
According to another version, he was told: “what each of us will consider a conversation about something fraught with bad consequences,” and he replied: “Praise be to Allah, who turned his intrigues [no more than] into an instigation.” That is, the emergence of these instigations simultaneously with their categorical rejection and rejection is a manifestation of the purity of faith. Like a Mujahid who was attacked by the enemy and began to fight with him until he won. This is the great jihad.
Therefore, those who devote themselves to the acquisition of knowledge and worship have such temptations and doubts that other people do not have. Any other person usually does not follow the Sharia of Allah and His way, but rather obeys his passion in neglect of remembering his Lord. This is the desire of the Shaitan, in contrast to the behavior of those who aspire to their Lord through the acquisition of knowledge and worship. They are his enemies, whom he seeks to turn away from Allah Almighty.”
See Indian edition. P. 147.
To the one who asked the question, I will say: if you have understood for yourself that these promptings come from the shaitan, then fight them and resist them. Know that they will never harm you if you fight them properly, dodge them and do not let them take over you. Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him! – said: “Indeed, Allah has forgiven my community those thoughts that are born in their minds, if they do not embody them in actions or words.”
This hadith was agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
If you are told: “Are you convinced of what gives rise to your consciousness? Do you think this is true? Can you ascribe to Allah – He is most pure! – what did you think about? ”and you will answer:“ We cannot talk about it. O Allah, you are pure! This is a great slander! ”- and reject it with your heart and your tongue, and you will be one of those people who run the farthest from this, then in this case, this is nothing more than ordinary instigations and thoughts that come across Your heart. These are the nets established by the shaitan, who moves in the body of the son of Adam to those places where blood circulates in order to destroy you and make your religion unclear to you.
Therefore, you may notice that regarding some ordinary things, the Shaitan does not inspire you with doubt or disagreement. For example, you often hear about what large influential cities exist in the east and west, filled with people and buildings, but in your mind there is no doubt for a single day whether they exist, or whether they have turned into ruins uninhabitable and ruins, among which there is no longer a single inhabitant, and the like, since the Shaitan has no interest in a person doubting this. Shaitan pursues a great goal – to spoil his Iman for the believer. With his cavalry and with his infantry, he seeks to extinguish the light of knowledge and the direct path in the heart of the faithful, and to lead him into the darkness of doubt and confusion.
The Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him – pointed out to us a well-functioning, healing medicine, saying: “Let him turn to Allah with a prayer for protection and stop”
If a person stops thinking about this and continues to worship Allah, persistently seeking what Allah has, then by the will of Allah, all this will pass for him. Therefore, turn away from all assumptions about this that are born in your heart. And so! You worship Allah, call upon Him and exalt Him, and if you heard someone who describes Allah the way you were told, you would surely kill him if you had the opportunity.
In a word, what is suggested to you is not something significant. These are only thoughts and suggestions that have no basis.
ADVICE ON THIS REASON CAN BE BRIEFLY SUMMARY AS FOLLOWS:
1) An appeal to Allah with a request for protection and a complete rejection of these conjectures, as commanded by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
2) Remembrance of Allah Almighty and refraining from continuing to be subject to these instigations
3) Diligent immersion in worship and doing righteous deeds, obeying the command of Allah and seeking His pleasure. When you wholeheartedly turn to zealous worship, you – if it is the will of Allah! – forget about these insinuations.
4) Numerous appeals to Allah with prayers that He will deliver you from this problem of yours.
I ask Allah Almighty for you forgiveness and deliverance from all evil and from all troubles!
Source: Collection of Fatwas and Messages of the Venerable Sheikh Muhammad b. Salih al-‘Useimina. T. 1.P. 57 – 60.
