Being Held Accountable for Whispers and Obsessions

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

The third question of Fatwa No. ( 16062 )
Q 3: Is a person held accountable for what passes through his mind?
A 3: Allah is Gentle with His servants and Merciful to them, and among His mercy is that He does not burden them with what they cannot bear. Therefore, a person is not held accountable for the whispers and obsessions of his mind; for it is established from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Allah, the Most High, has forgiven my Ummah for whatever enters the mind, so long as it is not spoken of or put into action.

إن الله تجاوز لأمتي عما حدثت به أنفسها ما لم تكلم أو تعمل به

Sunan an-Nasa'i 3435Sahih (Darussalam)

, and in (Al-Musnad), Imam Ahmad said: It was narrated to us by 'Affan , who was narrated to us by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim , who was narrated to me by al-'Ala' ibn 'Abd al-Rahman from his father, from Abu Hurayrah who said: When it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him):

To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.

لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ وَإِنْ تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُمْ بِهِ اللَّهُ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

[Al-Baqarah 2:284]

it became severe for the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so they came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and knelt on their knees, and they said: O Messenger of Allah, we have been commanded to do deeds that we can bear, such as prayer, fasting, jihad, and charity, and this verse has been revealed to you, but we cannot bear it. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Do you intend to say what the people of two books (Jews and Christians) said before you:" We hear and disobey"? You should rather say:" We hear and we obey, (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord! and unto Thee is the return."

أتريدون أن تقولوا كما قال أهل الكتابين من قبلكم: سمعنا وعصينا؟ بل قولوا: سمعنا وأطعنا غفرانك ربنا وإليك المصير

Sahih Muslim 125

When the people accepted this and their tongues submitted to it, Allah revealed in its wake:

The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination."

آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنْـزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ

[Al-Baqarah 2:285]

When they did that, Allah abrogated it and revealed:

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred.

لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلا وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لاَ تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا

[Al-Baqarah 2:286]

. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.

Source www.alifta.gov.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas