Waswasah is a Terrible Disease

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al- Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatunā aṣ-Suḥbah wa l-Khayru fi l-Jam‘iyyah.

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm.

“Qul ’A`ūdhu Birabbi An-Nās (1) Maliki An-Nās (2) Ilahi An-Nās (3) Min SharriAlWaswāsiAl-Khannās (4) Al-Ladhī Yuwaswisu Fī ŞudūriAn-Nās (5) Mina Al-Jinnati WaAn-Nās (6)”, “Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind (1) The King of mankind (2) The God of mankind (3) From the evil of the sneaky whisperer. (4) Who whispers into the hearts of people (5) From among jinn and among people (6).” (Qur’ān 114). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Everyone has waswasah; they come from shayṭān. Waswās means not seeing things as they are, but wanting to make them more difficult. That’s what waswasah is. There are all sorts of waswasah. Some are about cleanliness, etc. Some are in people who present themselves as religious but make things difficult for others. They say, “You must pray with Khushu’ (devotion). You must pray slowly slowly. Two rak’ahs are better than a hundred.” Now, when you say this, a person might say, “I can’t pray,” and struggle once or twice. Then they might give up praying altogether. They might say, “I can’t perform ablution,” and therefore when they can’t perform ablution, they can’t pray.

There are many such unwise people. Many people lack wisdom. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says to make things easy. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says to make things easy. Don’t make things difficult. Let them read whatever they want to read. Whether they recite with understanding or not, it’s not about understanding. It’s like - how do they say - it should go automatically. “No, you have to do this.” What time are we living in?! We’re in a time where people don’t do anything properly. And you’re saying, “No, pay attention, that’s good, that was accepted, that wasn’t.” Who are you to make difficult what Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has made easy!

Make it easy, make it easy. Don’t get involved in any waswasah. This is a terrible disease. Once it infects a person, because it’s from shayṭān, they’ll stop praying, and lose their minds. Everything, every evil will happen instead of good. Pray however you can! It doesn’t require Khushu’ or anything like that. Those who say “Khushu’” are hypocrites. Our religion is easy, show ease. Don’t make it difficult. Be a servant of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Don’t think, “I’ll do better, this man, this scholar told me this, he did this, I’ll do it this way.” Don’t do that, just pray. Perform your prayers. Perform your ablution quickly. Pray quickly. Sometimes people ask, “Why are you praying so fast?” If you pray quickly, nothing comes to your mind [of waswasah]. Pray quickly and fulfill your obligations and duties, and that’s it. Even that they don’t like, “How are you fulfilling your duties then?” Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla accepts it, but you don’t.

These unwise people are very common in the end of times. There are all kinds of shayṭāns to lead people astray from religion and the right way. And if you act like this, claiming to be a scholar or teacher – People are already astray, and leaving it completely will only make things worse. May Allāh ﷻ protect us.

Therefore, don’t get involved in waswasah. Once it enters from any aspect, it’s hard to get rid of it. Then you’ll be running from doctor to doctor, from Hoca (scholar) to Hoca, from who knows where. So, be careful. Make it easy. Don’t listen those things, “It was accepted for you, it wasn’t accepted.” May Allāh ﷻ accept it, in shā’a Llāh.

Wa min Allāhi t-Tawfīq. Al-Fātiḥa.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 07 February 2026/ 19 Sha’ban 1447 Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul