Allah has forgiven my Ummah for the thoughts that come to their minds, unless they act upon them or utter them

Arabic text

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَجَاوَزَ عَنْ أُمَّتِي مَا حَدَّثَتْ بِهِ أَنْفُسَهَا، مَا لَمْ تَعْمَلْ أَوْ تَتَكَلَّمْ».

Translation

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah has forgiven my Ummah for the thoughts that come to their minds, unless they act upon them or utter them."

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informs that a Muslim will not be held accountable for evil thoughts he has in his mind before he acts upon them or speaks about them, as Allah has lifted the restriction and pardoned. He does not hold the Ummah of Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) accountable for what comes to their minds and wavers in their souls, without being settled therein. If it settles in a person's heart, like arrogance, conceit, or hypocrisy, or he acts upon it with his limbs or says it with his tongue, then he will be held accountable for that.

Benefits

• Allah Almighty forgives and pardons such transient thoughts and obsessions that come to a person’s mind.
• If a person thinks of divorce and it comes to his mind, yet he does not utter it or write it down, it does not count as divorce.
• A person is not held accountable for his inner thoughts, no matter how grave they are, unless they are settled in his soul and he acts upon them or utters them.
• The Hadīth demonstrates the great status of the Ummah of Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), as they are particularly favored with this advantage of not being held accountable for inner thoughts, unlike the previous nations.

Topics

• Jurisprudence and Juristic Principles
• Family Jurisprudence
• Divorce
• Words of Divorce