…by sending a messenger who conveys, by His permission, whatever He wills.”

Opinions—and the mistakes that attach to them—are likewise cast in by Satan, even when the one expressing them is a mujtahid who will be excused. More than one of the Companions, such as Abu Bakr and Ibn Masʿūd, said in certain matters, “I am speaking here according to my own judgment: if it is right, then it is from Allah; if it is wrong, it is from me and from Satan, and Allah and His Messenger are innocent of it.”

Whatever comes from Satan but a person is unable to repel carries no sin. A sleeper may see confused dreams from the Devil or experience a nocturnal emission; yet, although these are from Satan, the Pen is lifted from the sleeper until he awakens.

The same holds for the evil thoughts a person voices only within himself. Allah has pardoned such thoughts until one speaks of them or acts upon them, even though they originate with Satan. In the two Sahihs the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Allah has excused my community for what they say to themselves so long as they do not articulate it.”

Likewise, the two Sahihs record through several chains from Abu Hurayrah and Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet said: “When a servant intends a good deed, one good deed is recorded for him; if he then performs it, ten good deeds are written. When he intends an evil deed, do not record it against him; if he commits it, write it down as one evil deed, but if he refrains from it, record for him a good deed—for he refrained from it for My sake.”

Another authentic report relates that the Companions asked the Prophet about the intrusive whisperings they found so hateful…