Back to search

What is the ruling on one who suffers from severe obsessive doubts (waswas) concerning purity, ritual bathing (ghusl), and ablution (wudu), repeatedly performs wudu, washes their clothes and body due to water splashes, and spends a long time in ghusl, leading to missing prayers and excessive water use?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Obsessive whispering (waswasah) is one of the most dangerous ailments. Its cure lies in ignoring it and paying it no mind. When performing ablution (wudu'), minimize water usage and do not exceed three washes for each limb. When performing ritual bath (ghusl), ensure water covers the entire body. If you are reasonably certain that water has reached every part of your body, then disregard any whispers. If water that you used to wash away impurity touches a part of your body or clothing, it is not obligatory to wash it unless you are absolutely certain that it separated [from the impure object] and changed [due to the impurity]. These whispers can be overcome by seeking Allah's help and striving against one's self. It is also advisable to consult physicians.

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy