Q: I am a 33-year-old lady who is married with children. My question is that I have been suffering from Waswasah (insinuating or obsessive thoughts) for five or six years. This condition preoccupies me while performing Wudu’ (ablution) so that I can not proceed with it. I spend one hour and a half performing Wudu’ for every obligatory Salah (Prayer) because I always think I have not completed it. The same happens with regard to Ghusl (ritual bath), I spend three hours and yet I think I have not been purified. It also takes me three hours to have a normal shower. This obsession also deprived me from wearing nice clothes. I have been treated in a mental hospital at Al-Ta'if and by Dr. Muhammad ‘Irfan in Jeddah, I hope that your Eminence will consider my situation and guide me to what will help me repel this obsession. Moreover, I did not fast some days of Ramadan since my childhood and I can not count these days; what should I do regarding them? Please answer my questions, may Allah grant you success.

A: All praise be to Allah Alone, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, and his family and Companions. First, you have to continue the treatment at the mental health hospital and with psychiatrists, may Allah cure you. (Part No. 5; Page No. 224) You also have to seek the help of Allah (Exalted be He), ask Him to grant you recovery, recite Ayat-ul-Kursy (the Qur’anic Verse of the Throne, Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:255) whenever you go to bed, and say: "Bismillahi al-ladhi la yadurru ma‘a Is-mihi shai’un fil-ardi wa la fil-sama’i, wa Huwa-al-Sami‘-ul-‘Alim [In the Name of Allah with Whose Name there is protection against every kind of harm in the earth or in the heavens, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing]" three times in the morning and three times in the evening. You also have to do Ruqyah (reciting Qur’an and saying supplications over the sick seeking healing) for yourself by reciting Surahs (Qur’anic chapters) of Al-Ikhlas and Mu‘awwidhatayn (Surahs Al-Falaq and Al-Nas) three times blowing into your hands after each time and rubbing every part of your body that you can reach when you go to bed. It is related by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih (authentic) Book of Hadith and the authors of Sunan (Hadith compilations classified by jurisprudential themes) on the authority of `Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that: Whenever the Prophet (peace be upon him) went to bed, he used to cup his hands together and blow over them after reciting Surah Al-Ikhlas, Surah Al-Falaq and Surah Al-Nas, and then rub his hands over whatever parts of his body he was able to reach, starting with his head, face and the front of his body. He used to do that three times. You should also make Du‘a’ (supplication) to Allah to remove the malady you have, and say: "Adhhib il-ba’s Rabb al-naas, ashfi, anta Al-Shaafi, laa shifaa’an illa shifaa’uka shifaa’an laa yughaadir saqaman" [O Lord of the people! Remove the harm and bring about healing as You are the Healer. There is no healing but Your Healing, a healing that will leave no ailment]. You have to repeat this three times. Moreover, you should say the Du‘a’ for Removing Distress, by saying: "La ilaha ill-Allaah Al-‘Azhim, Al-Halim, La ilaha ill-Allaah Rabb-ul-‘arsh al-‘azhim, La ilaha ill-Allaah Rabb-ul-samawati wa Rabb-ul-ardi wa Rabb-ul-‘arshi al-azhim (None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the All-Mighty, the Most Forbearing. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, the Lord of the heavens, the Lord of the earth and the Lord of the Honorable Throne)". Once you finish Wudu’ or Ghusl either after menstruation or Janabah (major ritual impurity related to sexual discharge), be sure you have been purified, ignore the obsession, and do not stay for long in the bathroom for the obsessive thoughts you are suffering from come from Satan (Part No. 5; Page No. 225) and if you follow what has been mentioned above, these thoughts will stop by the Permission of Allah (Exalted be He). Second, If you did not fast some days of Ramadan when you were a young adult and you do not know how many days these are, you should fast for a number of days until you think you have most probably made up the days. As for days you had not fasted before you attained puberty, you do not have to make them up. May Allah grant you recovery. Finally, it is important to mention that both males and females attain puberty when they are of fifteen years of age or produce Maniy (spermatic fluid) out of passion either in wakefulness or sleep, or when coarse hair emerges around the vulva or the penis. Females can also be said to have attained puberty when they start menstruating.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.