Waswas: Difference between revisions

The term Waswas (in Arabic وسوس) in Islam literally refers to "whispers (usually from Shaitan [Satan])". However, the term is usually used to refer to doubts and temptations. It is commonly believed that Satan and his minions tempt Muslims to sin and weaken their faith in Islam through doubt. When Muslims have negative thoughts about Islam, or thoughts that go against the teachings of Islam this is usually regarded as waswas (or waswasa). Critics see this as a way to dismiss concerns around Islam and excuse human and biological natural drive.

Waswas in the Qur'an

The Arabic word وسوس (waswas) in various forms appears five times in the Qur'an.

The first two refer to the story of Adam and Eve. The fa- prefix means "but" or "then".

In one instance the Quran says the soul whispers. The tu- simply indicates present tense, 3rd person, feminine, singular verb.

Two times in a chapter 114. The al- indicates definite article (before a noun). The yu- indicates present tense, 3rd person, singular, masculine verb.^[1]

Tafsir Al-Jalalayn says that the "whisperer" in 114:4 is Satan:

Relevant Quotations

Muslims are forgiven thoughts against Islam (the "whispers from Satan") as long as they don't act upon them and keep silent:

Most of the whispers come from urinating in a place for bathing:

Satan runs away farting, then comes back and whispers into hearts of Muslims when they pray, so they don't know how many rakats they have done:

But when Muhammad forgets how many rakats he has done during prayer, it is because he is just a human being (and it doesn't seem to be a product of Satan whispers):

Muhammad sprinkled water on his "private parts", so that he doesn't get whispers from Satan:

Soothsayers make accurate predictions thanks to hearing waswas:

Waswas is a sign of faith:

Critical thinking

In the waswas-avoiding philosophy, you don't gather all information and then make rational conclusions. You gather only information which is in line with Islam, and everything which is not in line with Islam (regardless if it's true and logical) is dismissed. This creates a confirmation bias in Muslim minds.

For example, when Muslims try to prove that Allah exists, they often try the creationist argument, that "the world exists, therefore somebody must have created it". And now the question "Who created Allah then?" destroys their argument. But their argument was in line with Islam and this counter-argument is against Islam, so the first one continues to be widely accepted, but the counter-argument is dismissed as "waswas":

Also, attacking the source of counter-arguments, instead of actually analyzing and refuting them is a logical ad hominem fallacy.

Also if Allah created everything, then he created waswas. If he created waswas to test Muslims whether they are good enough Muslims, then the whole concept stops making sense, because why would he test them, when he is all-knowing and already knows the results? As we can see, when we consider the waswas concept together with other Islamic concepts like all-knowingness and testing belivers, it all stops making sense.

Blind faith

The concept of waswas is a perfect method to keep people believing blindly in false information, because if their beliefs were false, they would never realize that, because everything which leads to the realization would be considered waswas.

Islamic treatment of waswas

When you search the web, you will find many Muslims trying to "cure" themselves from waswas ^[2]. The basic treatment method is ruqya - exorcism. Verses from the Qur'an are recited on the "posessed" Muslim. There is also a possibility of self-ruqya ^[3], where Muslim tries to get rid of waswas by praying and reading the Qur'an (and other practices).

Psychology

The waswas-avoiding behavior could probably be best described, in a secular way, as a psychological repression. A Muslim represses his "bad" thoughts. He pushes them out of his consciousness, into the unconscious mind. From the unconscious mind, the repressed thoughts might express themselves in dreams or as inner voices.

The therapy for psychological repression is basically the opposite of what "Islamic therapy" does. In Freud's psychotherapy, the psychotherapist re-introduces the repressed thoughts back into the conscious mind ^[4]. The conscious mind then learns to live with the previously-repressed thoughts and so there is no more repression. While the Islamic treatment of waswas is trying to repress the "bad" thoughts so much that they become silent. Which is not possible, because repressed thoughts don't disappear. They only hide in the unconscious mind and there they still affect a person's behavior and cause psychological problems.

Conclusions

Islam commits a logical fallacy by claiming that all information that go against it are waswas (whispering from Satan). This waswas-avoiding philosophy creates close-minded Muslims, who are not able to realize Islam is false, because everything which leads to that realization is labeled as "waswas" and rejected.

The Islamic treatment of waswas via exorcism is not efficient. The easiest way to get rid of "waswas" is to leave Islam and realize that there is no "waswas" and doubts are just a natural part of how the human brain works.

References