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How can God not hold people accountable for what goes on within themselves without it being uttered, yet hold them accountable for malice, hatred, loathing, and hypocrisy, which may reside within the self and not be declared?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

What is forgiven regarding inner thoughts is what crosses one's mind without intention, as long as it does not settle and persist within the person. This is unlike the settled intention and resolve in the heart, just as all actions of the heart, whether good or evil, are accounted for, such as love, hatred, fear, hope, reliance (on Allah), malice, rancor, and hypocrisy. Inner thoughts are not considered an action unless one resolves to act upon them.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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