Dealing with Overwhelming Anxiety and Waswas in My Heart
As-salamu alaykum, I just need to share something that’s been weighing heavily on me. Lately, I’ve been feeling this intense dread and tightness in my chest. I’ve been living in France for a few years, and alhamdulillah, I recently found a job. But then I started thinking about marriage, and since then, my mind has been flooded with constant negative whispers. They say things like: I’m not fit for marriage because I’m too introverted and won’t handle the social side of it. I’ll just come across as dull or rude to a spouse. Another thought says I might be secretly stingy when I tell myself I hate materialism, and that my salary can’t support two people. Sometimes I get really insecure about my appearance. And the last one tells me I’m a hypocrite for staying in a non-Muslim country, that I can’t raise a faithful family here, and I should at least move to a more religious place before even considering looking for a wife. I don’t know why I’ve been tearing myself down like this for the past few days. I started believing I deserve to stay alone forever. It’s messed up my dhikr and focus in salah. It feels like a whole gathering of shayateen in my head. Having no local community or practicing brothers with similar interests makes it worse, but that’s where I am. What can I do about this? Should I just pour my energy into worship until Allah heals my heart? Are there practical steps along with making du’a? Like maybe examining these whispers and countering them one by one?