Is one held accountable for not seeking forgiveness after obsessive thoughts, and is a ritual bath obligatory, or only bearing witness to faith?

This Waswas (whispering of Satan) that causes distress to its owner, its cure is to completely ignore it. The fact that the questioner dislikes these whisperings and recoils from them is a sign of the soundness of his faith, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "That is clear faith." Imam An-Nawawi said: "Its meaning is your great abhorrence of speaking about it is clear faith." The questioner is a Muslim who has not apostatized from the religion, and he is not required to perform ghusl (ritual bath) or recite the Shahada (testimony of faith). He is also not held accountable for not seeking forgiveness after the Waswas. In fact, it is required to refrain from seeking forgiveness if he believes he is seeking forgiveness from disbelief or apostasy. We advise the questioner to be gentle with himself, disregard the whisperings, and completely ignore them.