Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Question

At school and work, a dentistry student has to wear hospital scrubs. She chooses the biggest size and tries her best to hide her body, with the shirt long enough to cover her until the upper or mid-thigh. the pants are kind of loose, but they cling to the knees and thighs when sitting. She has OCD regarding arousal and lust.

She feels constantly aroused due to the thought of having to uncover herself. She doesn’t know what to do since she can’t pray because she feels aroused all the time just thinking about it. She knows this is wrong, but she plans on leaving for a Muslim country where she can wear more modest scrubs. Can she ignore this OCD and assume her wudu isn’t broken?

Answer

Thank you for your question. You have a classic case of waswasa (baseless misgivings), and you should make things very simple for yourself, by making wudu and praying. Don’t let the Devil win.

Arousal

Your feelings of arousal may be present, due to OCD or not, but you should still proceed with your obligatory acts. If you feel worried that you need to make wudu five times a day, don’t worry about this; many people need to for various reasons. When the prayer time comes in, simply go the bathroom, wash yourself, make wudu, and pray immediately. Don’t let the Devil persuade you to stop praying. You need the prayer. If you feel that your clothes are not pure, then use panty liners. Apply a new one after you wash yourself, before making wudu and praying.

Clothing

As for your clothing, you are doing your best to be modest by choosing large sizes, so I urge you not to focus on that at all. Please focus on praying on time, and you will find the baraka and ease rapidly spread from there, by the grace of Allah. I urge you to make this dua daily.

رَبِّ ٱجْعَلْنِى مُقِيمَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِى ۚ رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَآءِ

My Lord! Make me and those ˹believers˺ of my descendants keep up prayer. Our Lord! Accept my prayers. [Quran, 14:40]

Please see these links as well:

• How Can I Deal With Waswas Regarding the Prayer? [Shafi‘i]
• How Do I Deal With Severe Misgivings (Waswasa) Regarding the Wudu and Ghusl?
• How Should I Deal with Baseless Misgivings about Purity?

Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.