[masterboyz]

In Islam it seems as though it's mostly what one does or doesn't not do that determines whether something is sinful. That is it is our actions make which something a sin and it is this that will ultimately be used by God in the Day of Judgement to judge whether one will go to Hell or not.

Okay, let's say that Muslim had the urge to steal and has an opportunity to but refrains from doing so. This wouldn't be sinful.

So, is it sinful to think about sinning (but refraining)?

[nushentelve]

Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) reports that the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) reported from Allah Most High that:
Verily, Allah has written the good and the bad, and then explained it. So whoever inclines to perform a good deed but does not perform it, Allah writes it for him as a complete good deed. Then, if he inclined towards it and actually performs it, Allah writes it for him as ten good deeds to seven hundred time, to many times over. And if he inclines towards a bad deed but does not perform it, Allah writes it for him as a complete good deed. If he inclined towards it and then performed it, Allah writes it as one bad deed. [Bukhari, 6010 & Muslim, 187]

[VEGLAS - SPB]

Ibn Abbas, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, related from his Lord (glorified and exalted be He):

"Verily Allah has recorded the good deeds and the evil deeds." Then he clarified that: "Whosoever intends to do a good deed but does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it with Himself as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times, or more than that. But if he intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it down as one single evil deed."
[Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

But,

You should not think about sinning deliberately, and you should not nourish those thoughts. Ignore them. Fantasizing about a sin (e.g. zina) is Haram.

[nushentelve]

It is mentioned in al-Bazzaziyya that, “If one inclined towards committing sin, this is not sinful, unless one fixed one’s determination on doing so. If one determined to do, one sins, but not the [complete] sin of the actual action.” [Ibn Nujaym, al-Ashbah wa al-Nadha'ir]

This corresponds to what Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (Allah have mercy on him) explained in his Fath al-Bari, commenting upon the hadith of Ibn Abbas, and he stated that this was the position of Baqillani, and that Qadi Iyad stated that this was the position of the majority of the early Muslims and of the scholars.

http://seekersguidance.org/ans-blog/...-our-thoughts/