you have sinned by it or not. If you are told, “You have sinned,” you renew your repentance; but if you are told, “You have not sinned,” your heart finds relief. When the command first reaches you, however, do not ask whether it is recommended or obligatory. Follow the etiquette of the Companions with the Messenger ﷺ: they carried out whatever he ordered and abandoned whatever he forbade and censured.

Yet we bring you glad tidings of a hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has pardoned my ummah for whatever thoughts cross their minds, so long as they neither act upon them nor speak of them.” Praise be to Allah—He has lifted the burden. Whatever passes through your mind is excused as long as you do not cling to it, act on it, or utter it, even if it were greater than the mountains. All praise belongs to Allah.

So much so that the Companions once said, “O Messenger of Allah, we find in our hearts thoughts so terrible that we would rather be reduced to burning coals than speak of them.” He replied, “That is clear faith,” meaning pure faith; for Satan does not sow such misgivings in a ruined heart, one afflicted with doubt. Rather, he attacks—may Allah protect us—a sound, believing heart in order to corrupt it.

And when it was said, “The Jews experience no whisperings when they enter their prayer,” he said, “And what…"