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Inshirahone small thing, well grounded

When the doubt is anxiety, not a questionStep 2 of 8

Lesson 1 of 6 · The thought that arrives uninvited

Which course you are in

There are two versions of this and they need different lessons, so it is worth sorting out at the start which one is yours.

One version lands on worship. Did that wudu count. Did I say the intention properly. Was that three or four. That is waswasa inside the acts themselves, the fiqh has ruled on it directly and generously, and there is a separate course on this site for it, called When doubt keeps coming back. If that is the shape of yours, go there. It is the better fit and it will not repeat what you find here.

This one is the other version. It lands on belief. Do I actually believe any of this. What if there is nothing there. What if the thing I just thought means I am not Muslim any more.

Clinicians divide this too, though along a slightly different line, between fearing that you have already sinned and fearing what is coming. The split used above is for teaching, and it is not a published category.

Some people have both. If you do, either course is a reasonable place to start and neither of them assumes you read the other one first.

What the research says

Researchers split this by what you fear will follow, having sinned or being punished, and treat both as the same obsessional process in different clothing. The subtypes are real; the particular line drawn above is this course's own reading.

Splits scrupulosity by what the person fears will follow, having sinned or being punished, and treats both as the same obsessional process wearing different content. The subtypes are real. The particular line drawn above is this course's own.

Abramowitz JS, Jacoby RJ (2014). Scrupulosity: a cognitive-behavioral analysis and implications for treatment. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3(2), 140 to 149 doi

Doubt about belief itself came out as its own measurable domain, separate from struggling with God, with morality, or with other people. What you have is a recognised category rather than a private aberration.

Doubt about belief came out as its own measurable domain, separate from struggles with God, with morality and with other people. What you have is a recognised category rather than a private aberration.

Exline JJ, Pargament KI, Grubbs JB, Yali AM (2014). The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale: development and initial validation. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6(3), 208 to 222 doi