Does a person leave off a sin spontaneously without repentance?

The questioner : A questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, is it permissible for a person to leave off a sin spontaneously without repentance?

The Shaykh : What?

The questioner : That is, does a person leave off a sin spontaneously without repentance, or is it necessary to verbally declare repentance?

The Shaykh : Yes. Sins, in reality, are divided into categories with respect to a person. Sometimes a sin does not occur to a person at all, and he is not rewarded for leaving it off, like a man who never thought about committing zina, stealing, or drinking intoxicants, and his soul never suggested this to him at all. Such a person has no reward and no sin upon him.
Because he did not do anything that would make him deserving of a sin, nor did he do anything that would make him deserving of a reward. The second category is one who thought about a sin and intended to commit it, but then he reflected and feared Allah, so he left it off out of fear of Allah the Exalted. He is rewarded for this. Among the examples of this is the story of Yusuf (peace be upon him): "And she desired him, and he desired her, had he not seen the proof of his Lord."
Because she was the one who lured him; the wife of the Aziz was captivated by his beauty, for Yusuf was granted half of all beauty, half of the beauty of the children of Adam, which is why he captivates the minds of women. When she brought him out before the women, and she was a demon, they said, By our life, they cut their hands; they did not feel the heat of the knife because of their life, yes, so she triumphed over them . The point is that she locked the doors between herself and Yusuf, and none was present with them except Allah the Exalted .
Meaning, she invited him to herself, and may Allah protect us from that. And naturally, if a woman wants a man, does she come in ordinary clothes, not perfumed and not adorned, or does she come in the most beautiful clothes, the finest jewelry, and the most pleasant fragrance? The latter. Everything is in order. Because this is human nature, but he saw the proof of his Lord, meaning the knowledge and faith in his heart prevented him from that.
And that is why He said, "Thus," meaning the matter . Look, Glory to Allah the Great; when he left this thing, it became a cause for Allah to avert from him evil and indecency in the future, for he is among our sincere servants. "Thus" means the matter became this way, and the act of indecency did not occur, so We avert from him evil and indecency, not only in this case but also in the future. Because he left this for Allah the Exalted. So He was given purification; Allah the Exalted purified him.
And after that, do you want to be pure? Avoid casting the gaze and be chaste, and Allah will give you purity. Good, if so. What are we talking about?
Yes, you have done well. I kill him from the sins? This is the one who intended the sin, but when he wanted to commit it, he left it for Allah, and he is rewarded for that. The third category is the one who intended the sin and wanted to commit it, but left it out of fear of people or out of inability to do it. For this one, the sin of the doer is recorded; the sin of the doer is recorded. The evidence for this is his saying, peace and blessings be upon him, They said, O Messenger of Allah, this killer is in the Fire. It is clear how about the one who was killed? He said, because he was eager to kill his companion. Do you have the answer? He was eager to kill his companion. This one who was killed was eager to kill his companion, but he was unable to do so; he was killed before he could kill him. So this is evidence that whoever intends a sin but is unable to commit it, or leaves it out of fear of people, the sin of the doer is recorded for him. If a person leaves the sin, meaning it did not even cross his mind, then we say there is no sin and no reward. Yes.