What is the ruling on the increase of thoughts related to the Divine Essence and religion, which cause doubt and distress, especially since they began after watching a religious program last Ramadan and worsened this Ramadan? Also, does seeing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream before these thoughts have any significance?

Obsessive thoughts that assail a person's heart involuntarily are not held against them, because Allah has overlooked them unless the servant acts upon them or speaks them. They are a sign of sound belief and strong faith, for a servant's dislike and fear of them is evidence of the completeness of their faith. What the questioner feels is not doubt but rather an obsession, and the proof of this is his aversion to these thoughts and his struggle against them.