Whisperings from Satan during prayers
28-10-1999 | IslamWeb
Question:
1: I have a problem of whisperings from Satan (waasuass) in my prayers; I am constantly asking myself during prayer how many Ra'aka or sajdaa I did. What can I do? I pray sujud Asahw when I doubt, but it becomes regular. What can I do? 2: I have a serious psychological problem (at least I call it psychological); I have a depression problem and it is really bad because it stays for more than two weeks and sometimes a month and it always ends up with a bad results, like leaving or stopping my prayer (not praying). I also get very careless, even if I have exams (I don't set for them). I am not a teenager; I am a university student over 20. I hate that. I try hard to be a good Muslim, but I always feel like a hypocrite about this point. Do I have to go to psychIatrist or what?
Answer:
Praise to be Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. Dear Brother, 1-You should concentrate during your prayer, directing your heart and thought to it. In one word, you should humble yourself in the prayer, forgetting about this life and its problems. This will help you know exactly how many Rak‘as (units) or Sajdas (prostrations) you have done. 2-As for the Islamic rule concerning the person who doubts the number of Raka‘a or Sajda, it is as follows: Whenever you forget the number, consider only the least of the two numbers that come to your mind. For example: if you don’t know whether you have prostrated yourself twice or three times, you consider the least number i.e. two. If it is between one and two, you consider one… etc. And at the end of the prayer, you make two Sajda for “Sahw”, forgetfulness. Some scholars think that if you are too doubtful; you have some doubt in almost every prayer; it is preferable to prostrate yourself twice before the “Salaam” every time you are in doubt. But these two prostrations are not obligatory. 3- As for the stress and the narrowness you find, they are from the Satan. He whispers evil to you to turn you away from Good, Knowledge, the fear of Allah and the benefits from this life and the Hereafter. So dear brother, be confident in yourself and do your best to get out of the evil’s basket. Satan stood in the way of Prophets, scholars and good people to turn them away from the right path. But they knew his bad ways. So, they didn’t get in his trap. Instead, they turned wholly to Allah abode by His rules and refused the evil’s bad procedures and techniques. And Allah knows best.