The ruling on one who intends to do evil but does not act on it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The questioner asks: If a man intends to do evil in his heart but does not act on it, does he sin?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
If a man intends to do evil in his heart but does not act on it, does he sin?
The Shaykh:
If he did not act on it out of fear of Allah, and he left it off out of fear of Allah, then it is recorded as a good deed. But if he left it off because he was unable to do it, and if he had been able to do it, he would have done it, then it is recorded as an evil deed for him, because he did not leave it off out of fear of Allah; rather, he left it off because he was not able to, and if he had been able, he would have done it. He is punished for his intention. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
The questioner asks: If a man intends to do evil in his heart but does not act on it, does he sin?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
If a man intends to do evil in his heart but does not act on it, does he sin?
The Shaykh:
If he did not act on it out of fear of Allah, and he left it off out of fear of Allah, then it is recorded as a good deed. But if he left it off because he was unable to do it, and if he had been able to do it, he would have done it, then it is recorded as an evil deed for him, because he did not leave it off out of fear of Allah; rather, he left it off because he was not able to, and if he had been able, he would have done it. He is punished for his intention. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
تفسير الشيخ محمد بن عبدالوهاب [10] — alfawzan.live (1:02:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.