Assalaamu alaykum. I am from Ethiopia. I suffer from extreme OCD. My big problem now is that I want to start a bussiness, wich is selling chicken eggs, and, as we know, eggs transmit salmonella disease to people. So I fear that if you sell eggs, then you transmit the disease and people might die due to this, and then you will be responsible on the Day of Resurrection. So please advise and try to convince my sick mind by giving some analogy from the Sunnah and narrations of the Companions. Please do not direct me to earlier fatwas that you have given.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we ask Allaah to heal you and repel from you this Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) because it is a very serious matter and it is a plot of the devil to spoil the life of the people and make them feel sorrowful because he is the enemy of human beings. Hence, a person should take the devil as an enemy and confront him and be equipped with what would repel his plots. Allaah says (what means): {Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy.} [Quran 35:6]

Therefore, we advise you to strive to treat these Satanic whisperings, first by totally ignoring them, and then by performing Ruqyah from the Quran and the Sunnah and supplications of the Prophet . If you follow this approach, you will be cured, Allaah willing, and then you will be able to deal with your affairs on a moderate basis.

For more benefit on the treatment of obsessive whispering and on how to perform Ruqyah, please refer to fataawa 83401, 4551 and 88660.

If you do not get rid of these obsessions, then any answer written to you on the subject regarding which you have whisperings may not benefit you, and the answer may even make you more puzzled and troubled because this is from the devil, as we have already mentioned, and if you close one door, then the devil will try to open another door of whisperings. So you should take this into consideration, as we are discussing this subject based on previous experience with people who suffer from obsessive whisperings.

In any case, as far as we know, the disease that you mentioned is caused by a type of bacteria that may be found in eggs, milk, and dairy products. It is known that these foodstuffs have been beneficial in general ever since ancient times and in different eras. This means that it is not the general public who will be affected with this disease and that this will not happen at all times and places, but it may happen to one person and not to another, or at a time or place and not at other times and places. Therefore, it cannot be ruled that it is forbidden to produce eggs, milk, and dairy products. Hence, in principle, all things are permissible unless there is evidence that requires the prohibition. Allaah says (what means): {It is He Who created for you all of that which is on the earth.} [Quran 2:29] At-Taahir ibn 'Aashoor said in his Tafseer, “Second benefit: the scholars took from the verse: {It is He Who created for you all of that which is on the earth.} that the principle of using things with their intended types of use is permitted until there is evidence indicating otherwise because Allaah made what He created on earth for our purpose and He conferred His favors upon us [by mentioning this].”

Salman Al-Faarisi narrated, “The Prophet was asked about animal fat, cheese, and fur, and he replied, 'The lawful is what Allaah has made lawful in His Book, and the unlawful is that which He made unlawful in His Book. What He has kept silent about is a Mercy from Him'.” [Ibn Maajah - Al-Albaani graded it hasan (good)]

Allaah knows best.