When is a Person Affected by Waswas (Whispers)?
Question

                When is a person affected by waswaas? Can he judge himself to be affected by waswaas? I hope that you can explain this paragraph in question no. 62839: 

Indeed, according to some scholars, if a person is suffering from waswaas his talaaq (divorce)does not count even if he utters it, so long as he did not have the intention of talaaq. Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:   

“The talaaq of a person who is suffering from waswaas does not count even if he utters the words, if that was not done deliberately, because this utterance happened because of waswaas, not because of his will or intention. Rather it was forced upon him because of the strength of the waswaas and his lack of self-control. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘There is no divorce under compulsion.’ So this divorce does not count, because he did not really want to do that. This was something that was forced upon him with no intention or choice on his part to do that, so this does not mean that talaaq has occurred.” 

(Fataawa Islamiyyah, compiled by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez al-Musnad,) 

How is this waswaas?.
Praise be to Allah.
	Waswas is a kind a sickness, may 
	Allah keep us and you safe from it. It is caused by the shaytan gaining 
	control over a person and filling him with anxiety, grief, distress and 
	worry. 

	Waswas is of various kinds, such 
	as waswasah about divorce, where the person affected thinks that he has 
	divorced his wife, or thinks to himself about divorce and he is uncertain as 
	to whether he has uttered the words of divorce or not, and he remains 
	confused, although he has no intention or desire to divorce his wife. 

	Some of them think that if they 
	say a certain word to their wives or they do not respond to them, that 
	divorce has taken place thereby, and that this is a metaphor for divorce. 
	All of that is an illusion that has no reality. Perhaps he feels that the 
	words came out of his mouth and he heard them. Even if we assume that such a 
	person did speak audible words, then, as long as he is affected by waswas 
	and did not really intend a divorce, then his divorce does not count. This 
	is the meaning of the words of al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have 
	mercy on him) quoted in the question. 

	Some people experience waswas 
	with regard to purification; every time they do wudu, (ablution) they repeat 
	it, thinking that they did not wash one part of the body, or that their wudu 
	is lacking, or that if they do not repeat wudu they will remain uncertain 
	for the rest of the day. Thus he is overwhelmed with a strong urge to repeat 
	his wudu, and he will not feel at ease until he does so. We have mentioned 
	in a number of answers that the way to treat waswas is to strengthen one’s 
	faith by doing righteous deeds and reciting beneficial dhikrs (words of 
	remembrance), and also not paying attention to the waswas or responding to 
	it. 

	Please see questions no. 
	
	
	62839 and
	
	
	39684. 

	And Allah knows best.