the hadith narrated by Abū Hurayrah from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

“Allah has pardoned my community for what they say within themselves, so long as they neither speak of it nor act upon it.”

For when a servant intends something that he is capable of saying or doing, but neither says nor does it, his will to do it is not firm. Such things are among those that Allah does not record against him, as attested by his words:

“Whoever intends a bad deed but does not perform it.”

The consensus reported by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr and others on this issue, on the basis of this hadith, is correct when understood in this sense.

Someone who intends a bad deed either abandons it out of fear and awe of Allah or abandons it for some other reason. If he abandons it out of fear of Allah, Allah records it with Him as one complete good deed, as explicitly stated in the hadith. Another hadith likewise states:

“Record it for him as a good deed, for he only abandoned it for My sake”—or he said, “on My account.”

If, however, he abandons it for some other reason, it is not recorded against him as a bad deed, as stated in another hadith:

“If he does not perform it, it is not recorded against him.”

In this way, the meanings of the hadiths are reconciled.

If he does perform it, only one bad deed is recorded against him. For Allah Most High does not multiply bad deeds apart from the doer’s own actions, nor does He recompense a person in the Hereafter except for what that person himself has done. Hell will be filled only with the followers of Iblīs among the jinn and humankind, as Allah Most High says:

“I will surely fill Hell with you and all those among them who follow you.”

Thus, it is established in the two Sahīh collections, in the hadiths of Abū Hurayrah and Anas:

“There will be space left over in Paradise, so Allah will create people for it in the Hereafter. As for the Fire, parts of it will draw in toward