What are the internal matters for which a person is held accountable, based on the the verse: "And whether you disclose what is in your hearts or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it"?
The thoughts and obsessions that occur within the soul when intending to commit a sin are of five levels: the hajis (fleeting thought), then the khatir (passing thought), then al-nafs (self-talk), then al-hamm (resolve/intention), then al-azm (firm determination). A Muslim is not held accountable for the hajis by scholarly consensus, nor for the khatir or hadith al-nafs; because they are pardoned according to the authentic hadith. As for the intention to do a good deed, it is recorded as one good deed, and the intention to do a bad deed is not recorded as a bad deed. If one abandons it for the sake of Allah, it is recorded as one good deed, but if one commits it, it is recorded as one bad deed. This means that what circulates within the soul is not accounted for unless one acts upon it or speaks it.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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