The person who gives up sin

When a person gives up a bad deed and does not indulge in it, then it can be a result of three reasons:

At times he did not indulge in the bad deed for the Sake of Allaah. In this case, a good deed will be written for him because he refrained from the bad deed for the Sake of Allaah. This constitutes of both action and intention. That is why we have the following words in some of the hadiith:

Allah's Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "Allah says, 'If My slave intends to do a bad deed then (O Angels) do not write it unless he does it; if he does it, then write it as it is, but if he refrains from doing it for My Sake, then write it as a good deed (in his account). (On the other hand) if he intends to do a good deed, but does not do it, then write a good deed (in his account), and if he does it, then write it for him (in his account) as ten good deeds up to seven-hundred times.' "

[Sahih al-Bukhaari Hadith No. 7501]

At times a person gives up a sin out of forgetfullness. In this case there is no reward for him. Neither is there any sin on him. This is because he did not intend to do good but he also did not do any evil.

Then there is the situation when a person gives up an evil deed out of laziness or because he is not able to carry it out after having taken up all the required means to carry it out. In this case he is at the same rank as the one who does it and evidence for this is the following hadiith:

Narrated al-Ahnaf bin Qais:

While I was going to help this man ('Ali Ibn Abi Talib), Abu Bakra met me and asked, "Where are you going?" I replied, "I am going to help that person." He said, "Go back for I have heard Allah's Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) saying, 'When two Muslims fight (meet) each other with their swords, both the murderer as well as the murdered will go to the Hell-fire.' I said, 'O Allah's Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam)! It is all right for the murderer but what about the murdered one?' Allah's Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) replied, "He surely had the intention to kill his companion."

[Sahih al-Bukhaari Hadith No. 31]

Sharh of the 40 Hadiith by عبد المحسن العباد

واعلم أن تارك السيئة الذي لا يعملها، على ثلاثة أقسام

تارة يتركها لله، فهذا تكتب له حسنة على كفه عنها لله تعالى، وهذا عمل ونية؛ ولهذا جاء أنه يكتب له حسنة، كما جاء في بعض ألفاظ الصحيح: "فإنه تركها من جرائي"، أي: من أجلي

وتارة يتركها نسيانًا، وذهولًا عنها، فهذا لا له، ولا عليه؛ لأنه لم ينو خيرًا، ولا فعل شرًّا

وتارة يتركها عجزًا، وكسلًا عنها بعد السعي في أسبابها، والتلبس بما يقرب منها، فهذا بمنزلة فاعلها، كما جاء في الحديث الصحيح عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: "إذا التقى المسلمان بسيفيهما، فالقاتل والمقتول في النار، قالوا: يا رسول الله! هذا القاتل، فما بال المقتول؟ قال: إنه كان حريصًا على قتل صاحبه