I was muttering to myself about what I would say in an argument with someone over an Islamic ruling that I believed to be correct. While I was talking to myself, I put in a hadith which I thought was false, but there was a decent chance that the hadith was authentic, so I should not say anything without being certain. I did not remember since I had not read this hadith since a long time. Without being certain if the hadith was weak, I called it weak in order to prove my point and to avoid embarassment from losing the argument. Is this considered lying about the Prophet? There was a time when I was naive and used to listen to songs that contained Shirk (polytheism) or things that were not meant to disrespect Allaah but did nevertheless disrespect Him in some way. I fear that I started muttering these songs subconsciously to myself without paying attention to the meaning. When I realized what I was saying i would stop. I read on your site that if you do not speak of Waswaas (devilish whisperings), you will not be held accountable, but does this also include what I did of speaking to myself? And does what I did constitute Kufr (disbelief)? Before I got to know Islam, I may have committed sins like Shirk and Kufr. There is a good chance that I did so. However, since I feel like those were the sins of a different person and that those sins might never have taken place and I might just be imagining them, I am not able to find complete regret in my heart for them. So how should I proceed in repenting from them?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Upon examining your past questions, it is clear that you suffer from Waswaas (obsessive whispering). Based on our experience, answering questions of a person suffering Waswaas only makes matters more difficult for him and increases his Waswaas. So our advice to you is to hold fast to certainty; a person whose Islam is established with certainty cannot be accused of Kufr or Shirk except with certainty, and not based on mere illusions and doubts. Moreover, the basic principle is that you are free of sin. If a person doubts whether or not he did something, then the basic principle is that he did not do it.

You should also keenly refrain from asking any further questions that are based on doubts. Instead, you should strive in disregarding such Waswaas; this is the best remedy for it. You should also seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, recite Thikr (expressions of remembrance of Allah) frequently, and recite the Ruqyah (healing through Quranic recitation and supplication) over yourself.

For more benefit, please refer to fatwas 88660 and 199253.

Allah knows best.