Waswas kahri  or OCD in Islam are  one of the most potent challenges which a Muslim (ah) has to undergo if he is suffering from this  spiritual or psychiatric conditions . As per the Islamic point of view , Allah shall test a Muslim through trials and tribulations .  All forms of  was'was ( including Was'was Al kahri  and OCD)  are tests from Allah (SWT) and in the long term these are in the best benefit of us .
So if you are undergoing was'was kahri or OCD in Islam then you have come at the right place to broaden your horizon and find a way to heal yourself , Insha-Allah . 

What you Shall Learn from this Article  ?

After reading this topic , you shall insha-Allah benefit in the below mentioned ways -

So here we start .....

Was'was Kahri Vs Normal Was'was in Islam

Was'was are of various forms and can be categorized on the basis of their source of inception ( what gives birth to them ) or by  how much intense they are . Some people when they are on the self exploring journey of finding a cure from the Was'was make the mistake of considering all kind of troubling thoughts to be emerging from the same source and they are on a look out for  " one size fit all " type of Solution .

But this is not the right approach if you are trying to cure your Was'was.  We shall delve deeper into this in a minute .  As of now let's build our basics .  

 Normal was'was does not mean that  they are Not painful .These type of was'was are very much troubling and a nuisance in themselves . A Muslim undergoing such was'was faces a considerable degree of unease and irritability as these thoughts are disturbing his acts of Ibaadah. He is either not able to focus on his Ibaadah or he is always in doubt if his ibaadah are being accepted or not . This leads him into a constant ordeal of stress and confusion.
For more clarity Let's take a look at some cases of Normal Was'was which a person is undergoing through . 

Now lets take a look at another type of  Normal was'was , which is the was'was occuring during and after Wudu and Ghusl . 

How to Get Rid of  Normal Was'was in Islam ?

In order get rid of normal was'was , the best method is to apply all the Sunnah methods which had been recommended and practiced by our Beloved Prophet Muhammad ( May peace be upon him ) .Since there are countless types of was'was , therefore it is not possible to discuss all of them and their solutions individually , but  we have already discussed them in reasonable depths inside these articles listed below  : ( Read them After completing this Article ) 

In General  , however a Muslim should understand that Was'was , no matter how annoying we feel them to be at this point in our lives , are a Blessing in Disguise . Now don't look at me with such uncertainty . I am not saying it without confirming it from the Sunnah. In fact,our Prophet Muhammad ( May Peace be upon Him ) called was'was as of the clear signs of faith .

Therefore , in order to console yourself , it would not be wrong on your part if your "Rejoice " at the fact that you are suffering from Was'was , since you have been endowed with the Wealth of Eema'an from Allah (SWT). But at the same time , it is your utmost responsibility to safeguard this wealth of Eema'n  , since there are countless enemies of this wealth who are always on the look out for stealing this wealth away from you. These robbers are none other  but the Iblees and his progeny (progeny). 
The only aim of Shayta'an by whispering the was'was is to one way or the other shake the firm belief in our hearts about the oneness of Allah (SWT) and also to disturb all our Ibaa'dah in order to inch closer to the blessings of Allah ( SWT). Was'was instill an intellectual and psychological anxiety inside our hearts with the purpose of creating a rift in our minds . Once the anxiety is created , it robs us off our serenity and peace of hearts . We start to live in a consist state of   " Doubt " and  " Fear "  . 

 a) Distracting yourself from Was'was  

One of the ways that you can overcome was'was is by distracting yourself from the was'was thoughts . You can distract yourself by keeping yourself busy . Usually an idle and vacant mind becomes the abode of the Iblis , so its always useful to keep your mind as busy as possible especially in the acts of  worship  ( Ibaaddah ) . It was also advised by  Prophet Muhammad ( May peace be upon him ) to a person who was suffering from was'was  :  " Let him seek Refuge with Allah and stop ( Such thoughts)"  ( Narrated in Al-Bukhari / Muslim ) 

 b) Remembering Allah (swt) a Great Deal 

Iblis and his progeny always run away once the zikr of Allah (SWT) starts so one should make a habit of doing more and more Zikr as it shall ward off the Whispers from Shaytan and his progeny . 

However , if you feel the need to curse or swear at the sacred personalities , then again seek refuge with Allah (swt)  or call in the company of a friend or house mate , who can help you keep your mind busy in some constructive talk  . 

Remembering Allah (swt) is a very powerful method using which a Muslim can use to his advantage against the Was'was of all kinds . Read the advice below which the Beloved Prophet of Allah (swt) , Hazrat Yahya ( peace be upon him )   gave to his followers :

“I enjoin you to remember Allah, for the likeness of that is of a man who was pursued by the enemy, until he came to a strong fortress where he found protection from them. Similarly, a person cannot protect himself from the shaytan except by remembering Allah.”  (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi)


Also in the book of Ibn al-Sunni it is narrated  by Hazrat ‘Aishah  (R.A) that  “Whoever suffers from this waswas, let him say ‘Amantu Billahi wa bi rusulihi (I believe in Allah and in His Messengers)’, three times, and it will go away from him.” 

 (C) Invoking Allah (Swt) Mercy & Help 

Battle against was'was is not easy and we all need Allah's mercy and help to recover victorious from this situation which we are dealing with . 

Once we are calling for Allah's help with full sincerity , it shall assure our hearts that  we are not alone in our fight against the onslaught of Was'was . We need to keep ourselves steadfast and slowly convince our minds that these was'was can not do anything except for pushing us into a ditch of hopelessness and worry .  You can very well understand from this hadees  that was'was , in reality , do not hold any power on us other than the power that we give them over us 

So basically we must have firm faith that what so ever we are passing through not something which is beyond being healed . And the first step to healing is to turn to Allah (swt ) and seek for his help .

Was'was Kahri ( compulsive Was'was ) have a certain pattern of occurrence .  They  comprise of bad thoughts , images , ideas  which keep attacking a person's mind , even when he does not want to have them . He wants to rid himself off these silly thoughts but no matter how much he tries , he can not get his mind off them .

A person knows that the thoughts emerging in his mind are senseless and he does not want to have them , but there is nothing which he can do . These thoughts become is obsessions and he starts to feel a great deal of anxiety and stress , due to these thoughts .

These thoughts could be about a vast range of topics , but some of the most common Was'was Qahri could be  about :    

This might bring back smiles in your life after listening that the thoughts which travel in your mind under the impact of was'was al kahri  and the words/ actions  you say under it's impact shall Insha-Allah be not judged / punished by Allah (swt)  as per the edicts ( fatwas) of many of the eminent Scholars of Islam .   

Therefore we can safely deduce that as long as a person is suffering from compulsive waswas , he shall not be judged for those thoughts and actions which he is taking under the control of those was'was .

Cure for Waswas al Kahri  / OCD In Islam 

As you must have realized by now that the Spiritual plus psychiatric Challenge which you are facing right now is not something which is unseen before .  Hundreds of thousands of people around you could be facing the same problem but since like many other medical conditions , your condition is more of psychiatric in nature and can not be seen from the outside  , therefore you are not aware of what they are passing through .   Therefore I keep telling my students that  

                    "You are Not Alone in this " 

Now , I shall be taking you further along with me on how you can start to cure your  Was'was Al Kahri   or ocd in Islam .  

One Important Realization for you 

Since Was'was Al Kahri  is a form of Religious OCD , hence it requires some psychiatric measures to tackle this condition . 

I shall try to keep things as basic and simple to understand and save you from the medical and psychiatric terms and jargon .  To be able to understand  the challenge which you are facing right now , you need to make yourself comfortable with the term OCD. 
                                                             
                                           What is OCD ? 

 OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and in simplest terms , it is a psychiatric condition in which a person suffers from some disturbing obsessive thoughts called "Obsessions /or Obsessive thoughts "  and then in order to get rid of these thoughts , the person engages in certain actions. These actions are called compulsions .  Let me make it even easier for you to understand with the help of a daily life example . 

Example :  Let's suppose that  you are sitting and reading a Book in your room . All of a sudden , a thought arises in your mind that you are feeling hungry . It is a normal thought .  You get up and approach your Fridge and take out a slice of Chocolate cake for yourself and eat it .  Your getting up and eating the Slice was  your Action . This was a very normal scenario .

And you would be wondering , what does OCD have to do with this  Example above ? 

Let me explain . 

Now , imagine that right after eating that  Slice of cake another  " Powerful thought " comes in your mind which tells you  that you are still hungry and that you need to eat more . You get up again and go and eat another slice of Cake . This was you action under the impact of that thought .  

If such thoughts  ( I am hungry )  keep coming repeatedly in your head  & you keep doing a certain action ( eating a slice of cake every time )  under the impact of that thought then it means that you are battling the  " Obsessive thoughts " and  the actions you are taking now become the  " Compulsive actions / or Compulsions ". 

Note :  This was just an example to make you understand how the OCD works ; it does not mean that if  you are having cravings for food  then  you are suffering from OCD.  The purpose of above example was to actually clarify you how OCD thoughts / actions work . So don't please start doubting yourself for having Food related OCD after reading the above example .  

What is Religious OCD? 

Religious OCD is a particular form of a psychiatric condition called OCD ( Obsessive compulsive Disorder )  in which a person falls pray to severe doubts and disturbing thoughts about religious figures and certain religious practices  and he starts to become overly concerned about these practises .  

In fact, religious OCD is more connected to those practices which a Religion  stresses over a lot ; for example Body's cleanliness and cleanliness of  thoughts , respecting and revering the sacred personalities . 

In terms of Islamic perspective , religious OCD involves cases of people who are suffering from the  Obsessive thoughts such as : 

> Becoming impure and unable to Observe the prayers and others acts of Ibaadah which require purity of body . 

> Thoughts of disrespecting the Sacred personalities  / Holy Books etc . 

> Thoughts of becoming morally and sexually sinful . 

> Thoughts of being very Sinful and not worthy of Allah's forgiveness . 

>  Thoughts of burning in Hell fire for always . 

and a lot other thoughts ..........

Now a person could be involved in various actions which we call as Compulsions under the impact of these thoughts  we listed above . Compulsions ( actions ) actually help calm down the unease and  Anxiety  which a person undergoes under the impact of Compulsive thought . 

Compulsions can be like  ....

>  Washing hands every time you feel that your hands are dirty . 

> Redoing Wudhu / Ghusal as you believe that you have become impure . 

>  Unnecessarily reciting certain Verses  under the compulsion of thoughts that you have Lost your faith or that you have committed such a big sin because a certain bad thought has crossed your mind . 

Are you getting the idea ? 

Treating  Religious OCD  /  Was'was Al Kahri 

"A famous Psychologist  Abramowitz and his colleague Ryan Jacoby wrote in a recent article that : 

" Patients with religious OCD  often describe how they believe their thoughts are morally equivalent to actions . This is called  "thought-action fusion". Scrupulosity ( Religious OCD )  literally means 'fearing sin where there is none,' "    (Unquote )    

 Could  you understand what the above lines  of   Mr.bramowitz  exactly mean ?

 If not , then no problem . 

 Let me simply explain . In simple words , The respected psychologist is trying to impress upon the point that when we are suffering from  Religious OCD or Was'was Al Kahri , then it very normal for a person to think of his thoughts as if they are actions . For example ,  Imagine that you watch a person eating a Tasty burger and a thought comes in your mind that you Snatched that burger away from him and started eating that burger . It was just a thought  , Right ?   You did not snatch his burger and start to chew on it  in reality . So in normal condition , you would laugh off this thought and carry on with your life .

But if you have been struggling with Was'was Al Kahri  or Religious OCD , then you know very well that under the impact of Was'was Al Kahri  you can not just laugh your thoughts away . As those thoughts  (of blasphemy , sexual perversion , Purity doubts , Harm etc )  scare you and raise your anxiety so much that you start to hold yourself accountable for those thoughts .  This phenomenon is called thought action fusion . In this phenomenon , Your mind is actually making you feel like a Convict for your thoughts alone , even though you never acted on your thoughts which could be of blasphemous , sexual  and fearful nature . 

Another important point to cure your Was'was Al Kahri is that you need to realize that 

Was'was AL Kahri  ( Religious OCD ) is more of a Psychiatric Condition than being a religious condition alone . 

Hence , you might be surprised to notice that symptoms related to Was'was Al Kahri
( Religious OCD )  can be found in people of all religions . 

For Example 

Ultra-religious Orthodox Jews  follow strict rules about separating milk from meat. Their Religious teachings tell them to never mix Milk and Meet .They consider this religious ruling so sacred that they have separate refrigerators for keeping milk and dairy.  Now jews suffering from religious OCD , usually develop anxieties around this rule, going as far as to avoid the milk refrigerator altogether while carrying meat.

So I want to Clarify one point here with you  which shall play a very integral role in your cure from the Clutches of  Religious OCD that your Was'was Al kahri ( Religious OCD ) could be a result of psychiatric condition . 

 " Was'was Al Kahri ( Religious OCD ) is a  Psychiatric condition as well and hence psychiatric cures are necessary to cure it 

Our respected Islamic Scholars also advise us to seek Medical help in order to cure the  Was'was Al Kahri  which are a form of Medical / psychiatric illness . Now here , comes an interesting questions that : 

Does Religion Cause the Waswas Al Kahri   ( Religious OCD ) ? 

Psychologists do not believe that religion causes people to develop  Religious OCD. As per Mr. Abramowitz  ,  " However, religion may influence whether someone with OCD experiences obsessions and compulsions related to religion"  . 

So you should be clear in your mind that OCD isnt caused by Religion itself , but Religious People do suffer more from Religious Related  Obsessional thoughts .

For Example :  50 % of OCD Patients in Saudi Arabia had Religious Obsessional Thoughts . Likewise , 60 % of OCD Patients in Egypt had Religious Obsessions  , as per the studies conducted in 1990.  Because in both Egypt  and  Saudi Arabia , Religion is a major part of Society and people hold it very dear to heart , therefore there are greater chances of a Patient of OCD in Saudia / Egypt to have Troubling thoughts about related to Islam  , Religious Personalities and Body's Purity ( Since Islam puts reasonable importance on the purity of a human's Body and mind ) . And it is a common phenomenon that a  person suffering from OCD is more likely  to fall in doubt / fear about the very thing that he considers very dear to him . 

 Time for Action  !  
What You Can Do

 After reading above , I am sure that your vision has expanded a lot over the topic of Was'was al Kahri and now you have started to look at this problem from an entirely new angle .  Let this be your moment of awakening so that you can take Practical steps to cure this problem , rather than running away from it under Fear . 

The best method to cure yourself from Was'was Al Kahri ( Religious OCD ) is to adopt a two pronged approach in which you should learn on how to tackle this problem in the light of majorly  

1)  Psychiatric Cure   ( Major portion ) 

And also .....

2)  Islamic Cure 

You may ask us a question that if Was'was  Kahri is more of a Psychiatric problem , then do I still need to opt for a Religious ( Islamic) Cure ? 

The Answer is  " Yes "

Reason being that , most of the cases of disturbing thoughts in Muslims normally comprise of a mix of Was'was  ( Religious Problem )  &  Was'was Al Kahri  ( Psychiatric Problem )  and sometimes they are over lapping . Therefore we have seen the best results when our students went to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge to tackle both of these Challenges of  Was'was as well as was'was Al Kahri , one by one . 

Here are some methods which have proven to work well in curing the Religious OCD  or waswas Al Kahri like 

1)  Taking Medications 
2) Deep Brain Stimulation Techniques 
3) Therapy methods 

I personally under went , recommend  and now teach the  Therapy Method which are totally free from the side affects as well as from the with drawl symptoms .
 
In order to Cure Was'was al Kahri ,  the person suffering from this condition need to be exposed to the very situation he or she is afriad of.  But this is done in a very systematic way and it usually takes a couple of weeks in order to enable yourself to face the thoughts which are scary to you . Slowly and methodically , you are enabled to detach yourself from the Fear which is holding you hostage . Your False beliefs _which your mind has self created _ are challenged and you are helped fully to break off  them . 

For Example : In the example we discussed above  where a person suffering from Religious OCD  is afraid of   " Mixing Milk & Meat " . In this condition , the person shall be encouraged to pass by the Meat Refrigerator while holding milk in her hand. This shall be her first step towards overcoming her  " Fear "  and " Fearful thoughts " .

This therapy is called  Behavioral Therapy Method. 

 This is one of the most effective cures for treating the Religious OCD  ( was'was Al kahri Condition)  .

This method takes several weeks of practice .  We teach it in detail in our video course  named  " Cure your Religious OCD About Islam " .  

We advocate this Therapy because  : 

1) This is perfectly Safe / Secure  and Has no Side effects  OR After affects . 

2) The success rate of this therapy is super high , even more than the medications which people take to cure this condition . 

• While you shall be opting for Curing your Was'was Al Kahri , we recommend that you also learn to tackle your General Was'was as well , with the help of Islamic Cures . For the Islamic Cure to Was'was , we have summed up all the methods to cure your was'was in this E book named  " Cure Your Was'was Forever " .
• These Methods have been assembled carefully in the light of Authentic Ahadees of Prophet Muhammad ( May peace and Blessings be Upon Him ) .
• 
  So together the Therapy Method in the video course  " Cure Your Religious ( Islamic ) OCD " and the Islamic Solutions in the  E Book  " Cure Your Was'was Forever "  shall help you get rid off your Was'was Al Kahri as well as your general was'was Insha-Allah .