Punished for thinking about bad actions?

Taken from islamiccentre.org

Question: I have been thinking of something bad to do but didn't really have the guts to do it - so will I get punish for even thinking about it?

Answer:
There is a famous Hadith Qudsi which has been reported by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Verily Allah has written the good actions and the bad actions and has then explained them. So whosoever intends a good deed and then does not carry it out, Allah will grant him one full unit of reward.

If the person intends a good deed and does carry it out, Allah will then grant him anything between ten and seven hundred units of rewards, and beyond.

Whosoever intends a bad action and then does not perform him, Allah will right a good deed for him. If the person intends a bad action and then perform its, Allah will write for him one unit of sin.’

From this beautiful narration, we learn that if a person intends to do a bad action, but then does not carry it out, then Allah will actually reward him for refusing to carry out that bad action.

It must be noted however, that this applies to when a person intended a bad deed, and then did not carry it out because of his fear of Allah.

If he didn’t carry it out because he was thwarted, then this is deemed as a sin. For example, if a person was about to rob a bank, but then stopped due to his fear of Allah, he will be rewarded. If he stopped because he did not have a weapon with him, or because his transport was inadequate and so on, then he will be punished.