Is a person held accountable for the whispers and thoughts in his mind?
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Question:
The questioner says in his second question: Is a person held accountable for the words, imaginations, and questions that revolve in his heart regarding the state after death? And how can one get rid of these thoughts?
Answer:
The whispers that occur to a person in his mind, and do not settle, he is not held accountable for them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Bulugh al-Maram 8:133 So the whispers in the hearts are forgiven, except if they become an action. When the Companions asked him about the whispers and said: O Messenger of Allah, one of us finds in his heart something that would be easier for him to fall from the sky than to speak it, or easier for him than to speak it, he said: .
So Satan may come to him and whisper to him about his Lord, or about Paradise, or about the Fire, or about the resurrection and rising. If he finds that, let him say: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and let him say: I believe in Allah and His messengers, and let him stop. This is how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught.
As for the thoughts that occur and then disappear, they do not harm and are forgiven, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Bulugh al-Maram 8:133 But if they settle and cause him harm, he says: I believe in Allah and His Messenger, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and let him know that Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) will forgive him for this thing which is not by his choice. But if they become frequent for him, he says: I believe in Allah and His messengers, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and he stops.
The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
The questioner says in his second question: Is a person held accountable for the words, imaginations, and questions that revolve in his heart regarding the state after death? And how can one get rid of these thoughts?
Answer:
The whispers that occur to a person in his mind, and do not settle, he is not held accountable for them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Allah, the Most High, has forgiven my followers what they contemplate on within themselves (i.e. evil thoughts) as long as they do not act upon or speak about them.
إن الله تجاوز عن أمتي ما حدثت به أنفسها، ما لم تعمل، أو تكلمThat is the whisper—and in another wording: that is clear faith—so if one of you finds that, let him say: I believe in Allah and His messengers; let him seek refuge in Allah from Satan, and let him stop.
تلك الوسوسة -وفي لفظ: ذاك صريح الإيمان-، فإذا وجد أحدكم ذلك فليقل: آمنت بالله، ورسله؛ وليستعذ بالله من الشيطان، ولينتهSo Satan may come to him and whisper to him about his Lord, or about Paradise, or about the Fire, or about the resurrection and rising. If he finds that, let him say: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and let him say: I believe in Allah and His messengers, and let him stop. This is how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught.
As for the thoughts that occur and then disappear, they do not harm and are forgiven, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Allah, the Most High, has forgiven my followers what they contemplate on within themselves (i.e. evil thoughts) as long as they do not act upon or speak about them.
إن الله تجاوز عن أمتي ما حدثت به أنفسها ما لم تعمل، أو تكلمThe presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.