When One Intends To Do A Wrong, But Does Not Do It, A Good Deed Is Recorded For Him

Question :

I often think about saying or doing evil, but often I do not end up saying or acting upon the evil I thought of; am I sinning when this happens?

Answer:

If a person proposes to himself that he will do something unlawful, whether that is by not doing something that is obligatory, or by doing something that is unlawful, but then he leaves this suggestion, and acts according to what is required of him, staying away from what is unlawful for him, then he is rewarded for his restraint because he avoided doing it for the sake of Allah Almighty. It is confirmed in an authentic Hadith that when one intends to do an evil then does not act upon it, a complete good deed is recorded for him because he avoided doing it for the sake of Allah Almighty.

But there are some details necessary to understand if one is rewarded or not rewarded for avoiding the unlawful. Avoiding the lawful is either one of three categories:

1) A person who tries his utmost to do the bad deed but is unsuccessful in his attempt; the performance of the intended evil deed is written for this person. This is because the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ said:
"If two Muslims meet with their swords (to fight), the killer and the slain are in the Fire."

His Companions asked, "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ ,(we understand) about the killer, but what about the one who was killed?" He said:
"He was indeed determined to kill his opponent."

2) A person who abstains from evil because he fears Allâh Almighty; a complete good deed is written for this person because he abstained from the evil act for Allâh Almighty.

3) A person who abstains from a bad deed not because he first intended it and then later changed his mind, but because he never thought about or intended to do the evil deed in the first place; there is no sin upon this person, and he will not be rewarded.

Then there may also be a fourth category: A person who abstained from an evil both because he was incapable of performing it and because he never made an actual attempt at performing it. He only intended and hoped that he would perform that sin. Upon this person is a sin in proportion to the intensity of his intention, but he is not as sinful as the person who actually took the steps to perform the evil act and was then unsuccessful in his attempt.