Proper Diagnosis and Treatment:
I. Understanding the ailment: “Exposing” Shaytan!
It is no conspiracy that Shaytan wants to make our lives as miserable and perverted as possible. He tries to stray us from our fitrah using techniques that are a topic of their own. The most relevant of these techniques, that entirely suggests the cause of SSA, is waswasah. Waswasah is defined as evil Shaytanic whisperings. Shaytanic whisperings is not a new concept. It has a history as old as mankind.
“And O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in Paradise, and eat thereof as you both wish, but approach not this tree otherwise you both will be of the Zalimun (unjust and wrongdoers). Then Shaytan (Satan) whispered suggestions to them both in order to uncover that which was hidden from them of their private parts (before); he said: “Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save you should become angels or become of the immortals. And he [Shaytan (Satan)] swore by Allah to them both (saying): “Verily, I am one of the sincere well wishers for you both. So he misled them with deception. Then when they tasted of the tree, that which was hidden from them of their shame (private parts) became manifest to them and they began to stick together the leaves of Paradise over themselves (in order to cover their shame). And their Lord called out to them (saying): “Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily, Shaytan (Satan) is an open enemy unto you? They said: “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers. (Al-Quran 7: 19-23).
II. Adopting an attitude: Ignoring Shaytan!
In Saheeh Muslim it is narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Some of the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to him and said, ‘We find in our hearts things that none of us dares utter.’ He said, ‘Do you really find that?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘That is clear faith.’” (2/153).
Lesson derived: The companions of the Prophet (sa) did not utter the indecent things arising in their hearts. They never elaborated on them. The Prophet (sa) did not ask them to describe those things in detail. So, the lesson that is derived from this hadith is: SSA thoughts should be muzzled till they become mute! There is no need for publicizing them by creating online groups that invite elaboration and suggest acceptance.
The following attitude is in spirit of quoted hadith….
It is worth quoting here what Ibn Hajar al-Haythami (may Allah have mercy on him) said about dealing with waswasah in his book al-Fataawa al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubra, 1/149. This is what he said:
“He was asked about the problem of waswasah (insinuating whispers from the Shaytan), and whether there is remedy for it.
He replied by saying that there is an effective remedy for it, which is to ignore them completely, no matter how frequently they may come to mind. When these whispers are ignored, they do not become established, rather they go away after a short time, as many people have experienced. But for those who pay attention to them and act upon them, they increase until they make him like one who is insane or even worse, as we see among many of those who have suffered from them and paid attention to them and to the devil whose task it is to insinuate these whispers…
Source: Islamqa.com
III. Controlling the causes:
1. Hang around with apparently righteous heterosexuals: Don’t tell them about your thoughts (like suggested in the section above). Just hang out with them…
“The example of a good companion and a bad one is the bearer of musk and the worker on the bellows. A bearer of musk would give you some, you might buy some from him, or you might enjoy the fragrance of his musk. The worker on the bellows, on the other hand, might spoil your clothes with sparks from his bellows, or you get a bad smell from him.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, this version being Muslim’s)
2. Lower your gaze and protect (what needs to be protected): Helps control desire. Even the perverted kind…
Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.). That is purer for them. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do. (Al-Quran 24:30)
3. Fast: Helps control desire….even the perverted kind…
Allah’s Apostle said, ‘He who can afford to marry should marry, because it will help him refrain from looking at other women, and save his private parts from looking at other women, and save his private parts from committing illegal sexual relation; and he who cannot afford to marry is advised to fast, as fasting will diminish his sexual power.” (Bukhari 3:31:129)
4. Marry: Your opposite gender, that is.
And his people came rushing towards him, and since aforetime they used to commit crimes (sodomy, etc.), he said: “O my people! Here are my daughters (i.e. the daughters of my nation), they are purer for you (if you marry them lawfully). So fear Allah and degrade me not as regards my guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?” (Al-Quran 11:78)
IV. Treatment:
1. Seek refuge: In His perfect solution manual, ALLAH has informed us about the best method of dealing with shaytanic suggestions:
And if an evil whisper comes to you from Shaytan, then seek refuge with Allah. (Al-Quran 7:200)
2. Repent: Sinning leads to more sinning, so repent before the bad gets worse!
“Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers” (Al-Quran-7:23)
3. Keep good company, lower gaze, fast or get married: (See controlling causes section)
4. Engage in dhikr:
i. Read the Ta’uz
“A’oodhu Billaahi min al-Shaytaan ir-rajeem (I seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan).”
ii. Read duas for controlling waswasahs
>(They say): “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.” (Al-Quran 3:8)
>>Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. “Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Maula (Patron, Suppor-ter and Protector, etc.) and give us victory over the disbelieving people. (Al-Quran 2:286)
>>>‘Um Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, ‘The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam used to repeatedly say this supplication, “O Controller of the hearts! Make my heart steadfast upon Your religion” so I asked him, ‘O Prophet of Allah! Do hearts fluctuate?’ He said, “Yes, all mankind’s hearts are between two of the fingers of Allah. If Allah wills He maintains a man’s steadfastness, and if He wills He deviates him” (Ahmad and Tirmithi).
5. Read surah Al-Fatiha: This surah is a plea to Allah for staying on the straight path. Pretty, self-explanatory.
6. Read surah Al-Falaq: Seek refuge, once again!
Say: “I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak, From the evil of what He has created; And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away). And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots; And from the evil of the envier when he envies.” (Al-Quran: 113)
7. Read Surah An-Naas: This surah was specifically designed for dealing with shaytan suggested thoughts:
Say: “I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of mankind, The King of mankind, The Ilah (God) of mankind, From the evil of the whisperer (devil who whispers evil in the hearts of men) who withdraws (from his whispering in one’s heart after one remembers Allah), “Who whispers in the breasts of mankind, Of jinns and men.” (Al Quran: 114)
8. Scare the shaytan, Umar (ra) style! No kidding!
Some narrations mention that the shaytan used to leave the path on which Umar (ra) walked. This was because he feared Umar (ra) as he (ra) had a high level of taqwa. In light of this information, psychologists and psychiatrists who are regularly frequented by SSA sufferers and homosexuals should consider hiring taqwa-rich individuals to exploit shaytan’s fears and subsequently shiver him out of their patients’ heads! Alternatively, if a SSA sufferer is courageous enough to visit a taqwa-rich person on their own, they shouldn’t delay the visit even a tad bit!
Sources: Al-Quran, Sahih Bukhari, Islamqa.com, islamonline.net
6 Comments
awesome recommendations. you should submit this to mm.
Well, like I said at the beginning of part I, they were not interested in publishing it. When I emailed the admin inquiring about the possibility…I never got any response.
May be you can try on my behalf. Not for my sake but for the sake of the Ummah…
As a matter of fact Br. Fshareef, if you are up for it, I won’t mind if you copy/paste the article and send it under your name.
This article is definately worth publishing on MM. Your solutions are all backed by the quran and hadeeth. Good job sis. If only people can refer to these solutions when gettin waswas rather than publicize their thoughts and call it a “psychological issue.”
Bluntly put.. LoL
I’d been away for quite sometime. Sorry for the delay in publishing the comment.
lol, you’re a poe, right?
This blog has to be satire. If so, well done!