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Are We Responsible For Our Thoughts
To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.surah baqrah 284
My question is that are we accountable of our thoughts will we be asked for them too and what about feelings?
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4 Replies
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Are We Responsible For Our Thoughts
updated 1 year, 9 months ago
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Replies
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Quran tells us that humans are prone to evil whispers and thoughts which come from Shaitan (7:20, 114:4-6, 2:168-169). However, these are merely invitations to sin. We are accountable only if we act on his whispers (14:22).
But the verse you have quoted does raise an interesting point about the extent of human responsibility for thoughts and beliefs. Th verse 2:284 suggests that certain thoughts may be sinful. Perhaps it is when we willfully dwell on negative thoughts or let them breed in our minds freely, and give in to them? This view is supported by verse 49:12 which says that certain suspicions are sinful.
However, verse 2:284 also talks about Allah’s mercy and forgiveness afterwards, so there is reason to believe that an ordinary or passing negative thought will not count as sin, as long as we don’t entertain it or act upon it.
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And what about feelings are we accountable for our feelings too?
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More than an end in themselves, having too much negative feelings can be a symptom of timidity or weakness of mind or thought process. For instance, if one is overly judgemental about people they would easily develop feelings of hate, disgust, or enmity against people over petty matters. But more worrying is that this judgemental tendency comes from being unkind and shows lack of compassion in one’s nature. This will eventually translate into a lot of negative and unkind actions which that person is prone to commit, and this is a more serious matter. So feelings have more of an indirect connection to what one will be held accountable for, I think.
But we should also remember that as humans, we cannot live without feelings and it is often beyond human control to not have any negative feelings at all. That’s why Allah promised that if we otherwise qualify as good Muslims, he will remove any left over negativity from us. Pls see 15:47:
15:47 AndWe removed what animosity was in their chests, they are brothers in quarters facing one another.
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We are only accountable for our deeds. The verse is related to the hidden sinful acts that are only known to a person. This also goes for good acts and a persons intention behind them. If someone is apparently very charitable but in his mind the charity work is to show off his wealth and win elections.
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