Reading duas again and again

Question

Aoa

I have begun to have mild OCD for the past few months and struggle whenever I am reading duas. For example, I read a dua to seek protection from trials and tribulations, which you read when you see a struggle or illness inflicted on others. I usually say the dua and then bless it on the rest of my family. However, these past few months, I find myself spending several minutes trying to make sure I said all my family members names' and repeat their names 10s of times. After I finish, I worry that I forgot to bless the dua on one of my family members and feel anxious and worried about it for a long time. For this reason, after the dua, I pray to Allah that he accepts my duas for all my family members and for those whose name I forgot to say. Please guide me on whether my prayer after the dua is valid and please explain how dua works in regards to whether you need to verbally say everything or if you can just think about the people you are praying for in your head.

Thanks so much

May Allah forgive us all and guide us on the right path

Answer 1

Waalaikumsalam,

If you are inside your prayer, then any verbally du'a (other than those that should be in the prayer) will make your prayer invalid. You should only ni'at for those people you wish for during your prayer. The restriction against uttering words other than the recitations in prayer is in accordance with Allah SWT’s statement:

“Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.” -Surah al-Baqarah (238)

Other than that, it is okay to verbally say everything and everyone you think of in your du'a. Regardless on which method you used (verbally or niat), Allah knows what best for you and those people that you are making du'a to.

Wallahualam.