Lesson 3 of 6 · Anxiety is not weak iman
The thought is not the belief
People came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying they found things in themselves they could not bring themselves to say aloud. He did not warn them. He told them their horror at it was the telling detail.
The instruction given for the worst version of it is two moves long. Seek refuge, and turn away from the thought. Not settle it. Not prove it wrong. Turn away.
And the report you have just read about mistakes and forgetfulness says plainly that a person is not held to what they did not choose. An anxious thought is not a chosen thought.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Seek refuge. The first of the two moves, and the reports here are it applied to a particular kind of thought.
وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ نَزۡغࣱ فَٱسۡتَعِذۡ بِٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّهُۥ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
If Satan should prompt you to do something, seek refuge with God- He is all hearing, all knowing
Qur’an 7:200
They said they found things in themselves too grave to say aloud, and they were not warned. Their horror at it was treated as the telling detail.
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that some people from amongst the Companions of the Apostle (ﷺ) came to him and said:Verily we perceive in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you really perceive it? They said: Yes. Upon this he remarked: That is the faith manifest
Sahih Muslim 132graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
A man said one of them would rather be reduced to charcoal than say these thoughts aloud. The same episode in a second collection, and it carries the word the point rests on: what he was struggling with is called prompting, and prompting is not belief.
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah! one of us has thoughts of such nature that he would rather be reduced to charcoal than speak about them. He said: Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great. Praise be to Allah Who has reduced the guile of the devil to evil prompting. Ibn Qudamah said "reduced his matter" instead of "reduced his guile". Ibn Qudamah said "reduced his matter" instead of "reduced his guile
Sunan Abi Dawud 5112graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading
The two moves in full. Seek refuge, and give up the thought. Not settle it and not argue it down, which is the part to notice.
Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Satan comes to one of you and says, 'Who created so-and-so? 'till he says, 'Who has created your Lord?' So, when he inspires such a question, one should seek refuge with Allah and give up such thoughts
Sahih al-Bukhari 3276graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
When it reaches who created Allah, he should say, I affirm my faith in Allah. The same instruction in a second collection, and it is still one line. Both are shown because the claim here is about what the instruction does not ask of you, and one report alone reads like a single case.
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:Men will continue to question one another till this is propounded: Allah created all things but who created Allah? He who found himself confronted with such a situation should say: I affirm my faith in Allah
Sahih Muslim 134graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.