Is a person afflicted with waswas sinful if he delays prayer for hours or cuts it short due to his waswas, despite his intense efforts to seek treatment?
A person afflicted with obsessive thoughts (waswasa) who has not reached the point of insanity, and whose condition has not progressed to where it deprives him of his free will, must maintain performing the prayer at its prescribed time. If he delays it or cuts it short without a valid excuse, he commits a sin and is obligated to repent. The best cure for these obsessive thoughts is to seek Allah's help and to ignore them. The person afflicted with waswasa is not permitted to surrender to his obsessive thoughts and thus abandon the prayer or delay it.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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