Angels Knowing What is Hearts of Man

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Al-Bukaari
and Muslim narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, relating from his
Lord, may He be glorified and exalted: “Allah decreed good deeds and bad
deeds, then He explained that. Whoever thinks of doing a good deed then does
not do it, Allah will write it down as one complete good deed. If he thinks
of doing a good deed and then does it, Allah [may He be glorified and
exalted] will write it down between ten and seven hundred fold, or many
more. If he thinks of doing a bad deed then he does not do it, Allah will
write it down as one complete good deed, and if he thinks of it then does
it, Allah will write it down as one bad deed.”

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari.

This
indicates that the angel can see what is in the heart of the human being,
either because Allah informs him of it or because Allah has granted him some
knowledge by means of which he is able to find it
out.

The
former view is supported by the report narrated by Ibn Abi’l-Dunya from Abu
‘Imran al-Jawni who said: He calls out to the angel: “Write down such and
such for so and so”, and he says: “O Lord, he did not do it”. He says: “He
intended it”.

And
it was said that the angel detects a foul odour when a person is thinking of
doing a bad deed, and he detects a good smell for a good deed. That was
narrated by al-Tabarani from Abu M’ashar al-Madani. A similar report was
narrated from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about
the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “When a
person thinks of doing a good deed but does not do it, one good deed is
recorded for him …” If his thinking about it is something hidden and is
between him and his Lord, how can the angels see it?

He
replied:

In
fact, Allah is able to tell the angels what is in a person’s heart in
whatever manner He wishes. End quote.

Majmoo’ al-Fataawa

And
he (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:

Even
if they smell the good scent and foul odour, their knowledge is not
dependent on what they smell; rather they know what is in the heart of the
human being, they can hear it and see the whispers of his nafs (soul). Even
the shaytan gets hold of his heart, and when he remembers Allah he retreats,
but if his heart neglects to remember Allah he starts to whisper. He knows
whether he is remembering Allah or neglecting to remember Him, and he knows
what his nafs desires or is inclined towards, and he makes that attractive
to him.

It is
proven in al-Saheeh from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) in a hadeeth (report) narrated by Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with
her) that: “The shaytan flows through the son of Adam like blood.”

The
fact that the angels and the shaytan are close to a person’s heart is
something that is mentioned in numerous reports which reach the level of
tawatur (transmitting a narration or religious text by a group of narrators
from a group of narrators, generation after generation and so forth, and
they are all trustworthy people and it is absolutely impossible for them to
agree on a lie), whether the person is a believer or a disbeliever. End
quote from Majmoo’ al-Fatawa.

As
for what a person thinks in his heart without moving his tongue and uttering
it, he will be rewarded for that, but it is not the particular reward that
is bestowed by the Lawgiver to the one who mentions that, rather that reward
comes for speaking, and speaking is only achieved by uttering the words. But
there are some scholars who say that moving the tongue is sufficient even if
there is no sound that can be heard. This is the view of the Malikis and is
the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, that it is sufficient to
move the lips even if the words cannot be heard. End quote.

The
majority of scholars think that it is essential to speak the words loud
enough to be heard by oneself. Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said
in Sharh al-Muhadhdhab: If he cannot hear himself then it is not an
announcement or speech. End quote.

He
also said: It should be noted that the adhkar (remembrance of Allah) that
are prescribed in prayer and elsewhere, whether they are obligatory or
mustahabb (preferred), do not count for anything unless they are uttered so
that he can hear himself if his hearing is sound. Al-Adhkar.

With
regard to a man being brought to account for what he thinks about to
himself, this has been answered in question no.

99324.

And Allah knows best.