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Does leniency in prayer due to obsessive thoughts (waswas) of breaking the intention and repeatedly re-establishing it constitute breaking the prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The treatment for obsessive thoughts is to disregard them and not pay attention to them. If your soul whispers to you that your prayer is incomplete and you should repeat it, turn away from these whispers. Strive to perfect your prayer with presence and humility, for it is valid and is not nullified by hesitation in interrupting it or repeating it. Ibn Uthaymeen said: "Indeed, it is not nullified by hesitation, because the original state is the continuation of the intention, and this hesitation does not nullify it, and this statement is the correct one." Your repeated re-performance of the prayer is due to the influence of obsessive thoughts, so strive against yourself to get rid of them, and increase your supplication and seeking refuge in Allah.

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

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