Q: What is the ruling on a person thinking of doing haram (prohibited) acts like stealing or committing adultery, while he is sure that he will not do them even if it is very easy for him to do?
A : If something crosses a person's mind, such as thoughts of zina, stealing, consuming intoxicants, and so on, but he does not do anything, then he is forgiven for that and is free of blame, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Allah has forgiven my ummah the evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as long as such thoughts are not put into action or uttered. (Agreed upon by Imams AlBukhari and Muslim).The Prophet (may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) also says: "Whoever intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, it will not be recorded for him. In another version he said: "It will be recorded a good deed for him, because he does not do it (the evil deed) for My sake''. (Agreed upon by AlBukhari and Muslim from the Hadeeth of Ibn 'Abbaas, may Allaah be pleased with him).
This means that if a person refrains from a bad deed that he was thinking of for the sake of Allah, He will record one hasanah for him, and if he refrains from it for any other reason, then no sayi'ah (bad deed) will be recorded against him, but no hasanah will be recorded for him either. This is the bounty of Allah (Exalted be He) to His slaves; to Him be praise and thanks, there is no deity but Him and no lord beside Him.