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What is the ruling of Islamic law on one who suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) regarding prayer, fasting, and ritual purity, which makes her doubt the validity of her acts of worship and believe that she intentionally commits acts that invalidate them, despite her repeated attempts at treatment and ruqyah without success?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Fear and doubts concerning the validity of prayer, ablution, the emission of impurities, and eating during fasting are all whisperings (waswas) for which there is no cure except by seeking refuge in Allah, performing isti'adha (seeking Allah's protection), ignoring them, and reciting the two Surahs of refuge (Al-Mu'awwidhatayn). These frequent doubts are not to be given any consideration, because the doubt of a person afflicted with waswas does not affect the validity of worship, nor does it necessitate the prostration of forgetfulness (sujud sahv). The default rule is not eating during fasting, so a fasting person does not break their fast unless they are certain that they have consumed something that invalidates the fast.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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