Waswasa has to be one of my all-time favourite Arabic words. Because it sounds exactly like what it is. It’s a demonic, satanic “whisper”.
We are taught in the Islamic tradition that not all of your thoughts are your own. In fact, there are four sources of thoughts:
- Nafsani (Egoic) – these are compulsive thoughts that come from your own ego.
- Rabbani (Divine) – those thoughts that Allah blesses you with – where you feel suddenly compelled to do something good
- Malakani (Angelic) – these are beautiful, angelic inspirations. I believe all writers and artists completely depend on these.
- Shaytani (Satanic) – these are demonic suggestions, or ‘waswasa’. ie. Really bad thoughts about doing really bad things.
