The meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Indeed, Allah has pardoned my Ummah for what they think in their hearts, as long as they do not act upon it or speak of it,” and its relationship to the saying of Allah the Exalted

The Shaykh : There is a hadith in the two Sahihs that seems to have a connection to the previous hadith of Abu Hurayrah, and it is perhaps clearer than that one. It is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) This hadith refutes those who wanted to interpret these verses without resorting to the hadith. They said, for example, This thing that a person hides in his heart is in one of two states: either it becomes established in his self and his heart

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, so he is held accountable for that. Or it is a fleeting thought that comes and then goes, and this is what he is not held accountable for. They tried to reconcile the preceding verses with the succeeding ones, whereas the last hadith, specifically , clarifies that a thought that occurs to a person of obligation, then becomes established in his heart and he resolves to carry it out, but it does not emerge into the realm of obligation—which is one of two things: either he speaks of it or acts upon it—this is a pardon and forgiveness from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and He does not hold His believing servants accountable for it. Whereas He had said at the beginning of the verse: This is the verse, okay.

The questioner : Yes, that is right.

The Shaykh : There is no punishment for what settles in the hearts of people as long as they do not speak of it or act upon it. Thus, we are in need of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to understand the pardon of Allah, His grace, and the vastness of His mercy, specifically regarding His saying in the previous verse: Allah the Exalted will not punish for what is settled in the hearts, on the condition that one does not speak of it or act upon it. This is a great and very great matter, as it establishes that Allah the Exalted, after He revealed that He punishes or may punish, then our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) has bestowed a favor upon His servants by not punishing them for what is settled in their hearts. It is said here: Do you see this as abrogation or specification? It can be said that this is abrogation, considering that His saying (Mighty and Majestic) was abrogated in its entirety, unlike the word “nearest relatives” which includes many parts. So this text was specified by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) . But here, by his saying “has been lifted,” it is a valid example of a verse in the Qur'an that was abrogated by a hadith from the speech of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that did not reach the level of mutawatir, but the verse was not abrogated in its entirety, from its beginning to its end. Rather, a section of its sections was abrogated, which is His saying (Mighty and Majestic) . Thus, this word was abrogated. And at that time, sound reasoning asks: What is the difference between a part of a verse containing a confirmed meaning being abrogated by an ahad hadith, and a complete verse, whether long or short, being abrogated by an ahad hadith? Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Welcome.