How Should One Deal with Doubts Regarding Intention in Worship?

Answered by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib

Question

How should I deal with doubts that arise regarding my intention in worship?

Answer

In the name of Allah, and all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, his Family, his Companions, and those who follow him.

The Importance of Certainty in Worship

A Muslim must engage in worship with certainty, without hesitation, doubt, or heedlessness. Hesitation contradicts intention, one of the conditions of which is decisiveness and absence of doubt. Therefore, whoever hesitates in their intention to pray, their prayer is not valid.

Similarly, one who doubts their state of purification (wudu) cannot have their prayer validated until they perform a proper wudu or are certain that they are in a state of wudu. In the hadith narrated by ‘Ammar Ibn Yasir (Allah be pleased with him), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) say:

“A man may finish his prayer, but only a tenth of it is recorded for him, or a ninth, or an eighth, or a seventh, or a sixth, or a fifth, or a quarter, or a third, or half of it.” [Abu Dawud]

Mindfulness and Presence in Prayer

Imam Ghazali (known as the Proof of Islam “Hujjat al-Islam”) mentioned in his magnum opus, “Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din,” on the authority of ‘Abd al-Wahid Ibn Zayd, who said:

“The scholars have unanimously agreed that a person only receives from their prayer that which they are mindful of.”

Ghazali said: “He considered it a consensus, and what has been narrated from devout jurists and the scholars of the Hereafter of this nature is too numerous to count.” [Ghazali, Ihya’]

Remedy for Doubts and Whispers

The remedy for whispers and doubts is to seek refuge in Allah from Satan, as these doubts are a form of whispering. Additionally, one should persist in the remembrance of Allah and recite Surat al-Nas, as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) advised its recitation and repetition.

We ask Allah Most High to awaken us from the slumber of heedlessness and grant us mindfulness in our prayer and worship, both outwardly and inwardly. And Allah is the One who grants success and assistance.

[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Badhib is a prominent Islamic scholar from Yemen. He was born in Shibam, Hadhramaut, in 1976. He received his degree in Shari‘a from Al-Ahqaf University, a master’s degree from the Islamic University of Beirut, and a PhD in Usul al-Din from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

He studied under great scholars such as Shaykh al-Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Shaykh Fadl Ba‘ fadl, Habib Salim al-Shatiri, Habib Ali Mashhur bin Hafeez, and others. He has served as the Director of Publications at Dar al-Fiqh, the former Deputy Director of Cultural Relations at Al-Ahqaf University, a former Assistant for Employee Affairs at Atiyah Iron Company, a researcher at the Sunna Center affiliated with the Dallah al-Baraka Foundation, and a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch.

Currently, he is a researcher at Al-Furqan Foundation’s Makka al-Mukarrama and Madina al-Munawwara Encyclopedia branch, teaches traditionally through the Ijaza system at Dar al-Fuqaha in Turkey, supervises the Arabic department at Nur al-Huda International Institute (SeekersGuidance), and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript House in Istanbul.

His works include “The Efforts of Hadhramaut Jurists in Serving the Shafi‘i School,” “Contributions of Hadhramaut Scholars in Spreading Islam and its Sciences in India,” “Hada’iq al-Na‘im in Shafi‘i Fiqh,” in addition to verifying several books in Fiqh, history, the art of biographies, and Asanid (chains of narration).