, and that He punishes whom He wills and forgives whom He wills, and that Allah has power over all things?” And other similar verses.

He has taught us that He does not forgive associating partners with Him, that He does not punish the believers, and that He forgives those who repent. The same applies to His words:

“Whether you disclose what is within yourselves or conceal it,”

and the remainder of the verse.

This verse indicates that He—glory be to Him—calls people to account for what is within their souls. ‘Umar said: “Weigh yourselves before you are weighed, and call yourselves to account before you are called to account.” “Calling to account” entails that these things are reckoned and enumerated.

As for “forgiveness and punishment,” the Book and the Sunnah indicate that anyone whose heart harbours unbelief, hatred of the Messenger, and hatred of what he brought is a disbeliever in Allah and His Messenger. Allah has pardoned this community—those who truly believe and harbour no doubt—for their inner thoughts, so long as they do not utter them or act upon them, as recorded in the two Sahīh collections in the reports of Abū Hurayrah and Ibn ‘Abbās. It is also reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Whoever intends a good deed has it recorded for him, while whoever intends an evil deed does not have it recorded against him until he does it,”

provided he is a believer who habitually does good deeds and refrains from evil deeds. If he refrains from an evil deed for Allah’s sake, a good deed is recorded for him. When a servant expresses the evil within himself through words or deeds, it becomes one of the actions for which he deserves blame and punishment.