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Guard The Tongue - By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Guard The Tongue
By Shaykh Ashraf Salah
Dear Muslims: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "The
whole of the Muslim is sacred, his blood, his property and his honour. "
[Muslim]. And in his farewell Khutbah, he (PBUH) said: "..Indeed your
blood, your wealth and your honour are all unlawful (sacred) to each other,
just as this day is sacred, in this sacred month (Zul Hijjah) in this sacred
place (the place of Hajj). [Al-Baihaqi].
It is common
to find many Muslims involved in misusing the tongue, without even recognizing
its inherently evil consequences. To this effect, the Messenger (PBUH) also
said: "The servant says something that he thinks is harmless, and for
which he will be plunged into the depths of the Fire for seventy autumns
(years)." [Al-Tirmidhi].
Dear
Muslims:
One of the most dangerous evils of the tongue is backbiting. Allah (SWT) says:
"Do not backbite one another, would any one of you love to eat the flesh
of his dead brother, verily you detest this...." [Al-Hujuraat 43:12].
The
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Backbiting is mentioning something about
your brother that he dislikes. " [Malik]. And in another narration, he
(PBUH) said: "Do you know what is gheebah (Backbiting)? They said:
"Allah and His Messenger know best." He (PBUH) said: "Mentioning
about your brother what he would hate (in his absence)'. It was said: 'What
about if what I say about my brother is true?' He (PBUH) said: "If what
you said about him is true then you would have backbitten him, and if it is not
true, then you have slandered him. [Muslim]
Backbiting
is unlawful and the person who involves in it should repent. Moreover, the
backbiter should be corrected, stopped and warned that he is involved in a
great sin. The one to whom the backbiter comes should defend the brother/sister
who is being backbitten. Also, the person who listens to the backbiter should
be aware that he is encouraging an evil, and if the backbiter does not stop,
then he should walk away from him.
Dear
Brothers And Sisters In Islam: Slander, and the making of false
accusations, are considered to be major sins in Islam. This involves
fabricating or spreading a lie about your brother (Muslim) in his absence. Of
course, slander is a more heinous sin than backbiting, since it involves not
only backbiting but also lying with intent to maliciously dishonour a Muslim.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) also said: "...And whoever knowingly argues
uselessly, Allah will continue to be angry with him until he refrains from it,
and whoever says about a believer, that which is not in him Allah will house
him in a mill of the people of the fire of Jahannam (hell) until he leaves off
what he said..." . [Abu Dawood,
Al-Hakim & others].
The
one who does not cease and repent from backbiting and slandering would be
punished severely in the grave. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "...On the night
that I was taken (to Jerusalem
Ibn
'Abbaas (RAA) said, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) passed by two graves and
said: 'The inhabitants of (these graves) are being punished for major sins; one
of them used to engage in slandering others...". [Al-Bukhari].
Furthermore, Whoever backbites or slanders, Allah (SWT) vows to expose his
faults. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "O you who believe with your tongue and
not your hearts, do not seek after the faults of Muslims, nor pry into their
mistakes or downfalls. For whoever amongst you will investigate the mistakes of
Muslims, then Allah will go after his mistakes and expose him, even if that
mistake was committed (secretly) in the privacy of his house".
[Abu-Dawood].
Dear
Muslims: Among
the other blatant misuse of the tongue is witnessing to falsehood or bearing
false witness. Allah, the Glorious said: "...And shun lying speech (false
statement)" [Hajj:30]
The
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Shall I not inform you about the greatest
of sins." We said: "Most assuredly" He (PBUH) said: "Shirk!
(Associating partners) with Allah (SWT), ungratefulness to parents, he was
reclining but now sat up and said: 'and bearing false witness', he continued to
repeat it so much that we said: We wish that he would stop speaking."
[Bukhari & Muslim].
Also,
Allah (SWT) said: "Verily, those who accuse chaste women who never ever
think of anything touching their chastity, and (who) are good believers, (their
accusers) are cursed in this Life and in the Hereafter, and for them will be a
great torment " [An-Noor 24:23]. Allah (SWT) is making it clear in this
verse that anyone who slanders pious women is cursed in this world, and in the
Hereafter, he will have a severe torment.
One
should never tell a lie. Ibn Mas`oud (RAA) said that the Messenger of Allah
(PBUH) said:
“Truth
guides to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Jannah and indeed a person
would involve in truth until he is written with Allah as truthful. And lying
guides to immorality that guides to Jahannam, and a person would lie until he
is written with Allah as a liar”. [Bukhari & Muslim].
Dear
Brothers And Sisters In Islam: Strife making or scandal is also one of
the evils of the tongue that should be avoided. Allah (SWT) said: "And
obey not everyone who swear much and is considered worthless, a slanderer going
about scandal-mongering, hinderer of good, transgressor, sinful.. "
[Al-Qalam 68:10-12].
The
Prophet (PBUH) said: "The scandal-carrier would not enter Al-Jannah".
[Bukhari & Muslim]. And in another Hadith he (PBUH) said: "Do you know
what is scandaling (carrying tales)? It is transferring of the speech of
someone to another person to cause trouble between them. [Al-Bukhari].
Dear
Muslims: It
is evil enough for a Muslim to misuse his tongue, by indulging in mockery,
sarcasm, debasing Muslims, scoffing etc. Mockery is to highlight someone's
weaknesses and faults, in such a way that it is laughed at. This could either
be by statement, or action.
These
and other related characteristics, like irony and taunting are all prohibited
in Islam. Allah (SWT) says: "O you who believe! Let not a group mock at
another group, it may be that the latter is better than the former, nor let
some women mock at other women, it maybe that the latter are better than the
former.. " [Al-Hujuraat 43:11].
This
is because, in most cases, it is used to debase the person that is mocked at.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "...It is only evil that causes a man
to debase his Muslim brother..." [Muslim].
Dear
Brothers And Sisters In Islam: We are forbidden from disclosing and
spreading the secrets of people. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "If
someone confided something (to another person), then it is a trust. [Abu
Dawood, Ahmad and others].
So,
spreading of secrets would thereafter be faithlessness, or betrayal of a trust.
If there is harm resulting from this, then this is unlawful. If there is no harm,
then it is blameworthy because Allah (SWT) said:
"Fulfill
your trusts..." [Al-Israa 17:34].
Dear
Muslims:
I would like to conclude my khutbah by reminding you and myself that the
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Whoever says 'shut up' to his brother while
the Imam is addressing the people (in the Khutbah) on the Day of Jumu'ah has
done an evil act. " [Al-Bukhari].
This
means that guarding the tongue is very important for the acceptance of our
Jumu'ah prayer.
In
this Hadeeth the person who is telling the other to be quiet is actually
involved in "commanding good and forbidding evil". However, the
gravity of speaking during the Khutbah, while the Imam is speaking, is so
great, that even this noble act cannot be done.
Abu Ad-Dardaa said: "The Messenger of
Allah (PBUH) was on the Minbar, addressing the people, and he (PBUH) recited a
particular verse. Ubay Ibn Ka'b was sitting next to me, so I asked him:
"When was that verse revealed?" He refused to speak to me, until the
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) came down from the minbar, and then he said to me:
"You have nothing from the Friday Prayer but your vain speech." When
the Prophet (PBUH) had finished, I went to him and informed him of what has
happened, and he (PBUH) said: "Ubay has spoken the truth, if you hear the
Imam speaking, be quiet until he finishes". [Ahmad & At-Tabaraanie].
May Allah (SWT) help us to guard our
tongues, bless, guide and forgive us all. (Ameen).
