Desiring a Sin but Not Committing It

27-1-2021 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum. I hope Allah grants you guys Jannah. I want to know if it is considered life if someone misses doing something haram that he used to do in the past and he reminisces about it (music or looking at women for example)? And what if he sees it as a memory (music and looking at women for example)? And what if he does the same haram act again and feels a memory for that action? Are any of the things written above considered kufr? JazakAllahu khairan for you help.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It seems that you are suffering from some kind of obsessive whisperings. You should know that nothing of what you mentioned entails Kufr (disbelief) nor does it fall under the category of the acts that take the doer out of the fold of Islam in the slightest. However, the perfection of repentance entails that a person should hate the sin, find its memory painful, and wish that he had not committed it, whereas his longing for it and emotional attachment to it indicate the imperfection of his repentance. However, if he strives against his ‘self’ and refrains from dwelling on such feelings and thoughts out of obedience to Allah, The Exalted, it is hoped that he would be rewarded and would be from the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for righteousness.

In his Tafseer, Ibn Katheer said: “Imaam Ahmad said in his book Az-Zuhd: ‘Abdur-Rahmaan narrated on the authority of Sufyaan, narrating from Mansoor, that Mujaahid said, ‘A message was sent to ‘Umar, reading, ‘O Commander of the Believers, who is better; a man who does not desire sin and does not commit it or a man who desires sin and does not commit it?’ ‘Umar wrote back, ‘Those who desire sin and do not commit it are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for righteousness. For them is forgiveness and great reward.’” [End of quote]

If a person commits the sin of which he repented again, this does not affect his faith. Rather, he has to repent again and return to Allah, The Exalted, and should not despair of His Mercy, for the Mercy of Allah encompasses all things.

Allah Knows best.