As for the hypocrite, if desires and opinions associated with hypocrisy arise in him and he neither hates nor rejects them, then the evil of disbelief has arisen in him without any good arising from faith to counteract or dispel it. Both faith and hypocrisy may arise in hearts: sometimes one predominates, and sometimes the other.
The words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
“Allah has pardoned my community for the whisperings or thoughts that arise within them,”
as found in some wordings in the Sahīh, are restricted to pardoning believers, not those who are outwardly Muslim but inwardly hypocrites. Such people have been numerous among those professing Islam, both in earlier times and more recently. In these later times, in some places, they are more numerous than they were when faith first prevailed. Whoever professes faith sincerely, avoiding whatever contradicts or weakens it, is pardoned for thoughts that he could express in speech or put into action, but not for what is otherwise, as the wording of the hadith indicates.
Thus, the two categories in which we have explained that a person is rewarded or punished for actions of the heart fall outside the scope of this hadith. Likewise, his words,
“Whoever intends a good deed,”
and
“Whoever intends an evil deed,”
refer only to a believer who intends an evil or good deed that he is capable of doing, and who may either do it or leave it undone. For he stated that a good deed is multiplied seven hundredfold, and many times beyond that.