. J; 1," (cont.)

Once again, if the person does not act upon it nor give it any further consideration once it leaves him, he is not sinful or held responsible for that thought. The third notion is "the speech of the person to himself' (௑I ȟ). This goes beyond the above levels in that the person actually contemplates whether or not he should perform the act that he is thinking about. 3 In the above cases, there was no such consideration. If the act that he thought about was an evil act and he did not follow it through, he will not be held responsible for this thought that occurred to him. Again, by the mercy and grace of Allah, the person is not held responsible for any of the above types of thoughts that occur to his mind. When Allah revealed the verse, ,,. ,,. A. ,,,. ,,. CD ji ;: JQ.ji -j q \)ख 01) ..oj'0\ J qj -:.> ' + '( # 1\ J q JJ J- - r ,,,. ൹,. " U' ,,. ൻ ,... ,,. ,,. / / / / !I. J i.. J F dlj :1 /l  yѝj :1/. /l E ѩ dI Dž औक ,,,. ,,,. .,. ,...  ..LI • f.. / ;(..S""'"' "To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, and whether you disclose what is in your ownselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. Then He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is able to do all things" (al-Baqara 284), the Companions found this very difficult. No human can control the thoughts that comes to his mind. This verse implies that a person will be held responsible even for those 1 Taataay, p. 370. 2 Taataay, p. 370. 3 Taataay, p. 370; al-Sadlaan, al-Niyyah, vol. I , p. 1 24. 1 109 - Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi thoughts whose appearance he did not intend and cannot repel. The Companions stated that they are able to pray, fast and make jihad but this was beyond their means. Then Allah revealed the verses correcting the above misunderstanding. Allah said, Ji. ... ,,. ,,. (. ,,,,. ... J ... £) ,: */ /-"4=\ G 4;.lcj 3 G 4J ) ƉI 1" ti +\, - / ., ... / (.. .,,,,.. .... ,,. ,,,. J¯ී1::_ ் 141 15:1c "1+:_/7 '9) £) lii.W-i ji r_ ¥; 01 -c61y - ௌ ,.. ... :z J ,.,, ; .... ... .,, (. :z,.,, / ௎ @lj d.J u tll.b '9 G ৌ '9) Ll/ l5IJ • ..4 F ..:U \ Iശ . ,,. .J ,... · u,... ೧,,. ൺ "Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets rewarded for that which he has earned, and he is punished for that [evil] which he has earned. 'Our Lord, punish us not if we forget or fall into error. Our Lord, lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us. Our Lord, put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our protector. Give us victory over the disbelievers'" (al-Baqara 286). The Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned that Allah has answered positively to all of those supplications mentioned in that verse. (Recorded by Muslim.) Another hadith, recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim, states, "'"" ... 0 ... J ,,,. ... ר ,;. J "' ऋ :,r µ tJ u ্r U ௐ:'.t;.. u ¹1 :;. j)b.J DŽ1 0P "Verily, Allah has overlooked for [the members of] my nation what their souls think about as long as they do not act on it or speak about it." Although one is not held responsible for the above types of thoughts, if evil thoughts do come to one's mind, the person should seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. Those evil thoughts should then be repelled. However, there are times in which the person's faith might be weak and he allows those thoughts to grow. Hence, he should immediately seek refuge in Allah from those evil thoughts in order not to allow them to blossom into anything more harmful. Allah has said, ;;:; (. .... ,., .,, ,.,, J J. ... :z ,., .... ऍ ऎ JएI Ji ௏G ऌjj ऐI ऑऒओ 7lj ,,. i._.: .... .... .... ,,.. l.; / ,... "And if an evil whisper comes to you from Satan, seek refuge in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, All-Knower" (al-Araaf 200). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also said, 1 1 10 Hadith #37: "Allah recorded the Good Deeds . . .