Question:
Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakathu.
Its an urgent question, please reply soon. I have been having extreme wasawis. The blasphemous thoughts come to my mind and i keep getting anxious and keep talking to myself to repel those thoughts which give me short relief and then the cycle starts again and it happens all day and scare me so much and i keep doubting on my imaan and i feel very sinful. It is affecting my daily life routine. So i was researching on wasawis online and saw a website where there was a treatment course for ocd patients and the course was to treat islamic ocd. I bought an ocd treatment online course to follow and treat myself based on the information given in the modules ( videos) etc. While i was going through each modules and following the steps and writing down my obsessions, avoidance and rituals etc. Then the person who recorded those modules said to voluntary invite the bad thoughts to do deeper self analysis ( something like that) and record on sheet etc and then in later module there was ‘imaginary exposure’ step where a patient exposes himself to the fear (i think) so if its related to blasphemous thoughts so it was to imagine blasphemous thoughts voluntarily to break the connection between anxiety and obsession. That person who is providing this treatment said also in the video module that a person one is not judged for something which occur in thoughts. Due to intensity of the treatment procedure, my heart trembles with fear thinking of bringing bad thoughts ( blasphemous) voluntarily into mind. I do found my symptoms matching to ocd but haven’t been diagnosed yet. I thought to self treat myself by buying online treatment course. I haven’t gone through all modules and i ended the treatment on ‘imaginary exposure’ step in the treatment. As it was scary to imagine blasphemous thoughts voluntarily. I already feel guilt over these bad unintentional thoughts and cannot imagine thinking them voluntarily. Usually if one has severe psychological problem, he/she is advised by islamic ulema to get professional help meaning see a psychologist or psychiatrist. If a procedure in the treatment contain this kind of material then what could be done. this is the reason i avoid psychological or psychiatric help as they wouldn’t understand the religious ocd. I suffer from religious ocd. 1. What is the islamic ruling in taking these above mentioned steps while undergoing treatments? 2. Does voluntarily thinking blasphemous thoughts permissible and are forgiven?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
We make Du’a Allah Ta’ala grant you courage to overcome your OCD challenge and that Allah Ta’ala guide you to the correct means of cure.
Allah Ta’ala is well aware that you experience much difficulty with your OCD. Allah does not burden a soul with more than it can bear. Sometimes, our mind plays tricks on us and makes us think that this calamity is unbearable.
Brother, it is not permissible to voluntarily entertain thoughts of Kufr. Rather, we have been ordered to dispel such thoughts immediately. Furthermore, self treating is not a viable solution. Thus, to adequately combat such problems, we strongly advise that you consult a Muslim psychologist face to face for a proper diagnosis and treatment. Medical treatment has proven to be extremely helpful. There are many people who experience similar problems and get medical treatment.
