Waswas [Baseless Misgivings] Regarding Apostasy and Purity

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: I suffer from waswas regarding impurity and apostasy.
1) Regarding impurity: I have doubts regarding the cleanliness of a place or an area. For example I get a tought that I know that on this area of the bedsheet I wiped pus. That spot where I have wiped it has no signs of taste, colour nor smell but this place now gets wet with water. Will it make me impure?
Also where I live hairspray is used a lot. It gets on the floor and I wonder if it is impure or not because I have doubts regarding the spray containing impure substances or not. Also touching washroom doorknobs and all becomes hard for me. How do I deal with this?
2) Regarding apostasy: I am really confused about what kind of actions put someone out of the fold of Islam. So I experience a lot of waswas regarding a lot of actions and I have a tendency to overanalyse them by fear of committing Kufr. So I would like some knowledge regarding this subject.It would really help me.
Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray this reaches you in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
(1) You should ignore all of it. The sunna with misgivings and doubts is to completely ignore them. Even strong doubts are not acted upon. We act on the basis of certainty, and this is the sunna and what is called for. All else is contrary to the sunna and a sure way to make way for further woes.
(2) What takes you out of the fold of Islam is denying that which brought one into it. See ​: What is the Ruling For Someone Who Has Thoughts of Disbelief Without Saying Them Aloud?​
Please see: I Have Baseless Misgivings (Waswasa) About the Soundness of My Faith and My Marriage…
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani