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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Family-life Ethics The Twentyfourth Talk Waswasa Of Action We have categorised waswasa (repeated, unfounded doubts and fears) into two kinds: waswasa of thought and waswasa of action. We have already dealt with the first category. Today we shall talk about waswasa of action. Sometimes people get excessive doubts about the tasks they are doing.

For example: while doing wudhu (ablution), performing the ritual bath ( Ghusl ) , performing the prayers etc. They get doubts whether they have performed these actions strictly in accordance to the set norms or not. Such doubts are very harmful for homes. A person who nurses repeated doubts about his own actions becomes an outcast from the society. He can no longer feel love for his home.

Those in the audience who have the tendency of doubting their own actions should give particular attention to this talk. We had mentioned earlier that when Satan is able to dominate the thoughts of a person, he becomes a treacherous hypocrite and is subject to many other ills. Sometimes Satan is able to control the heart of person, enslaving him. It is evident from many verses of the Holy Quran that sometimes man comes under the spell of Satan and at other times he bows to the will of Allah.

When Satan overwhelms man, he becomes a puppet in the hands of Satan. Then man becomes an idol worshipper, a money worshipper and a slave of his desires. Every action of such a person, the Holy Quran says, reflects his worship of Satan. When Satan overwhelms the thinking process of a man, he creates waswasa of thought and action in him. This places man in a very dangerous situation. He considers fantasies and falsehood to be facts and believes in them.

For example: a timid person, under the spell of Satan, imagines seeing jinn when he passes through an isolated place. He imagines that someone is ordering him to run away. When he begins to run, he imagines that a dead man is chasing him in order to catch him. This fear renders him unconscious. In reality, neither was there a jinn, nor was a dead man chasing him, nor did he hear anything. It was his imagination which had affected his hearing and sight.

Similarly a person who constantly doubts about ritual purity immediately believes that some drops of najasat (impure substances) must have fallen on his clothes, rendering them impure. In reality, no najasat has touched his clothes.