Lesson 3 of 6 · The sunnah already said this
The two reports that answer it directly
The first two remove the sin from the thought, in plain terms, and they are the same statement in the two soundest collections. The second of them uses the word promptings, which is the waswasa vocabulary itself. The third is the one worth reading twice. Companions came saying they found something in themselves too grave to say out loud. He asked whether they had really experienced that. They said yes. He said that is clear faith.
Qur’an and Sunnah
That removes the sin from the thought in plain terms, and it is the first of the pair from the two soundest collections.
Narrated Abu Huraira:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forgiven my followers the evil thoughts that occur to their minds, as long as such thoughts are not put into action or uttered." And Qatada said, "If someone divorces his wife just in his mind, such an unuttered divorce has no effect.:
Sahih al-Bukhari 5269graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
The second of that pair, and its wording matters. It uses the word promptings, which is the waswasa vocabulary itself.
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) observed:Verily Allah forgave my people the evil promptings which arise within their hearts as long as they did not speak about them or did not act upon them
Sahih Muslim 127graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
The third, and the one worth reading twice. They came saying they found something in themselves too grave to say out loud. He asked whether they had really experienced that. They said yes. He said that is clear faith.
Abu Hurairah said; His companion came to him and said; Messenger of Allah! We have thoughts which we cannot dare talk about and we do not like that we have them or talk about them. He said:Have you experienced that? They replied: yes. He said : that is clear faith
Sunan Abi Dawud 5111graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading