anxiety over wudhu

Sometimes muslims experience anxiety and excessive worrying over keeping their wudhu. ignore these worries, as they're just from the shaitan.

remember that your wudhu is valid until you are 100% sure that you passed gas - you actually have to hear the sound or feel the sensations of passing gas.

simply thinking that you passed gas is not good enough.

tips in defeating anxiety

tips

1. start at 0% and then build up from there
2. take one step at a time
3. take one small imperfect step

defeating perfectionism
perfectionism can cause anxiety. yes its important to have ihsan (see the earlier blog post about ihsan), but you need to start at 0% imperfection and build up from there.

perfectionism can cause delay-ism. perfectinoism is driven by anxiety, and anxiety is driven by fear. shaitan can drive fears within us, which causes us to delay, procastinate. when we procastinate, shaitan wins. see the connection between anxiety, perfectionism procastination and shaitan?

tips in defeating perfectionism

don't ask yourself "when can i finish?" ask yourself "when can i start"?

don't dread tasks and work. don't say "i have to do this" but rather say "i choose to do this"

trusting Allah

tAs a followup to a previous post about trusting Allah, here is a link that can help you further trust Allah by better understanding the concept of Qadr, predestination:

http://www.sunnahonline.com/library/beliefs/0072.htm

Trusting Allah

With OCD, there's a lot of anxiety (fear). Shaitan whispers fears into us, and I strongly believe these whispers contribute to OCD anxiety. (I'm not saying that OCD anxiety is solely due to shaitan's whispers, but I believe it's strongly affected by them)

To help overcome this anxiety, we need to consider trusting Allah.  I know I have come across the hadith about tying your camel and putting your trust in Allah [1], and of doing your best, expending your efforts, and trusting Allah. Yet even with this knowledge, my OCD-related anxiety made it difficult for me to understand what this meant. I grappled - what does it mean to trust Allah?

Now, alhamdulillah, by reading more of the Quran, I have a bit more knowledge of how everything - even the tiniest particle in the universe, or the crawling of an ant - is known to Allah. There are verses in the Quran which talk about Allah's knowledge of all affairs - including the ubiquitous Ayat-ul-Kursi.

By reflecting more on these verses in the Quran, I was able to get a sense of relief, which calmed away my OCD anxiety. In essence, these verses - talking of Allah's knowledge, and of his Absolute Decree - were a form of cognitive-behavior therapy for me as I was able to cognitively gain knowledge, and act upon that knowledge by becoming more calm.

Alhamdulillah, the Quran truly is CBT for mankind, and these verses of trusting Allah help re-affirm in me that belief.

[1] http://thethinkingmuslim.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/true-meaning-of-trust-in-allah/

Don't Go Excessive | Don't transgress your bounds

The following post has been pasted from an amazing blog, sahaba.net:




Narrated Anas (raa: Radiallahu Anhu): We were with ‘Umar (raa) and he said, “We have been forbidden to undertake a difficult task beyond our capability” (i.e. to exceed the religious limits e.g., to clean the inside of the eyes while doing ablution).


See more, here:
http://sahaba.net/forbidden-above-capability/

Experiencing anxiety over not doing good deeds?

Experiencing anxiety over not doing good deeds? Experiencing anxiety over not racing towards good deeds? With OCD, there can be a sense of guilt. As a muslim suffering from OCD, you can feel guilt over not doing good deeds.

The solution is to prioritize your good deeds.

1. Fulfill your rights and obligations first
2. Then do the other stuff

Read more, here

As well, you may have a desire to do MORE AND MORE. establish a MINIMUM LEVEL OF SATISFACTION so that shaitan doesnt cause you to burn out

Muslim OCD Checklist

As a Muslim, if you answer YES to many of these items, you may be suffering from aspects of OCD:

Do you:
- transgress the bounds?
- go to excess?
- be excessively wasteful in resources?
- overstep the bounds in cleanliness?
- overstep the bounds in duas?
- exhibit unrestrained behavior? *

Ihsan is important

This post is specifically for sincere muslims suffering from OCD who are trying to implement ihsan in their lives:


The key thing is:
"I have cleaned this table at a GOOD ENOUGH LEVEL, because this table has LESSER IMPORTANCE in my life".

i.e. the language to use is:
"I have cleaned up my table at a GOOD ENOUGH LEVEL for the IMPORTANCE that this table has in my life"




Ihsan in all affairs is important, but be careful that you don't overdo it and overwhelm yourself. Take it one step at a time. For example, an OCD person may want to be ihsan-aware in everything that they do. However, the OCD will drive the person to perfection in the tiniest tasks (like cleaning the table countertop with ihsan for the sake of Allah) On one hand, yes, the ihsan is a noble goal to aim for. However, for OCD people, they need to be careful in how they implement ihsan in everything.

My tip:
If you find that implementing ihsan in something like cleaning a table countertop is putting too much OCD anxiety on you, then try to clean the table countertop in a "good enough" fashion. i.e. make sure it's not 100% perfect, but try to aim for 80% goodness.

The reason?
Because you're stressing too much over the tabletop. Yes, you have the noble ihsan goal, but shaitan is driving you crazy.

Allah knows you're doing your best, so for something like the tabletop, I would invite you to consider doing it in a "good enough" manner, rather than super duper perfect. Being "good enough" in a task like the tabletop is still ihsan in my opinion, especially for OCD sufferers.

--

The key thing is:
"I have cleaned this table at a GOOD ENOUGH LEVEL, because this table has LESSER IMPORTANCE in my life".

i.e. the language to use is:
"I have cleaned up my table at a GOOD ENOUGH LEVEL for the IMPORTANCE that this table has in my life"

Pleasureable thoughts drive away OCD anxiety

Have a good, merciful opinion of Allah. Remember him when you experience anxiety. The pleasurable thought of Allah can help drive anxiety away, inshaAllah.

Next time OCD Anxiety strikes, do something which you are good at, and that makes you feel good. As long as it's halal :) For example, recite a few verses of the Quran out loud. This will help you, inshaAllah:

1) Doing something (reciting the Quran) is an action. It gets you out of your head, which is important when you are struck by OCD anxiety.

2) Pleasurable/ Competent - Pleasureable experiences like reciting the Quran drive away anxiety.

Help overcome OCD

The following list is for muslims suffering from OCD. Keep these bits of info in mind:

1. You don't need to be 100% clean for salah. Having a little impurity on your clothes is OK - a "coin's worth" of impurity is fine. Don't obsess over how big that coin is, or if you have more than a coin's worth. To help you picture that "coin", just take the palm of your hand and draw a small circle inside. Don't make the circle too small, or too big. Just right. Just what you consider to be "a little bit" of impurity. And go easy on yourself. Just keep in mind that you can have a "little" impurity on you. What you consider to be little is different from what someone else may consider.
2. Have a good merciful opinion of Allah. Allah treats you as you expect him to treat you, so expect him to treat you with mercy regarding cleanliness.
3. Shaitan causes people to either become excessive, or become negligent. With OCD, Shaitan tends to take people to the excess in cleanliness and prayers. Do not go excessive - set a limit, follow the sunnah.