Lesson 1 of 6 · What is actually happening
Where that comes from
The Qur'an names the whisperer, and names him as something that comes from outside and then slinks away. The first report is the Companions describing your experience in their own words, and being reassured rather than warned. The second states the rule the first one illustrates: what occurs in the mind is outside the account, and what is acted on or spoken is inside it.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The Qur'an names the whisperer, and names him as something that comes from outside and then slinks away.
مِن شَرِّ ٱلۡوَسۡوَاسِ ٱلۡخَنَّاسِ
against the harm of the slinking whisperer––
Qur’an 114:4
What he does is named, which is why the tradition had a word for this long before any clinician described the loop.
ٱلَّذِي يُوَسۡوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ
who whispers into the hearts of people––
Qur’an 114:5
The passage closes by naming who the whisperer may be, and the three verses run as one sentence, so they are shown whole.
مِنَ ٱلۡجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ
whether they be jinn or people.’
Qur’an 114:6
The first report. The Companions describing your experience in their own words, and being reassured rather than warned.
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
The second, and it states the rule the first one illustrates. What occurs in the mind is outside the account. What is acted on or spoken is inside it.
Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forgiven my followers the evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as long as such thoughts are not put into action or uttered." And Qatada said, "If someone divorces his wife just in his mind, such an unuttered divorce has no effect.:
Sahih al-Bukhari 5269graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
Across 683 students in 13 countries, 93.6 per cent reported an unwanted intrusive thought in the previous three months. Having them is close to universal, whatever the thought was about.
683 students at 15 sites in 13 countries across six continents. 93.6 per cent reported at least one unwanted intrusive thought in the previous three months. Having them is close to universal.
Radomsky AS, Alcolado GM, Abramowitz JS, and 16 others (2014). Part 1. You can run but you can't hide: intrusive thoughts on six continents. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3(3), 269 to 279 doi