The Tongue
AUTHOR
UNKNOWN
Pick Your
Teeth!
It's one of the greatest sins and yet
it's something we do day after day. Sometimes we don't even realise
it. You're just chatting away with your friends and you begin to talk
about somebody else. Our whole lives are based around 'Home and Away'
and 'Neighbours', soaps based on lying, backbiting etc. But look at
what the Prophet (saw) said about it: The
Prophet (saw) was sitting with his companions one day and one of them
was speaking badly about someone who wasn't there. As the man got up
to leave the Prophet (saw) said to him: "Pick Your Teeth!"
"But I haven't eaten anything." The man protested. "No"
the Prophet (saw) said "YOU HAVE EATEN THE FLESH OF YOUR DEAD
BROTHER". As Allah tells us in the Quran "Would
any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would
hate it." (Ch49: v12)
But
What If It's True?!
The Prophet (saw) told us
"Backbiting is to say something about
someone they wouldn't like said about them....If what bad you said
about them is true, then you have backbited and if it is false then
you have slandered them." (MUSLIM)
If you're still
not convinced of how big a sin backbiting really is, then look at the
punishment Allah has in store for the backbiters. The
Prophet (saw) described: "On the night of mirage I passed by
some people who had metal hooks in their hands and were clawing at
their faces and their necks with them. I asked Gabriel 'Who were
these people?' He said 'These are the people who eat the flesh of
human beings and disgrace them' (Abu Dawud).
This
is how big of a sin backbiting is looked upon and yet we continue to
backbite without a second thought, next time you lie, talk about
somebody, remember Allah (swt) and the Prophet (saw) and put them in
front of you before you speak.
Just
having a Laugh!
May be we think it's all right
to take the mick out of someone so long as we say it to their face.
'We'll make fun of the way someone talks, walks, or how they look.
Allah warns us against such behaviour: "O
you who believe. Let not some men laugh at others, it may be the that
they are better than you. Nor let some women laugh at others it may
be that they are better than you. Nor abuse each other , nor be
sarcastic to each other by using offensive nicknames..."
(Ch49v11)
Don't forget that Allah made us the
way we are, so how can you even think of making fun of his
creation?
Cool to Swear?
Listen
to yourself and to your friends speaking one day - nearly every
sentence will have a swear word in it, thinking it's cool and macho
to swear, copying the idols of TV and the cinema. Is it really 'cool'
to swear? The Hellfire is far from being cool. People will wish they
were cool then rather than being cool in this world. Remember! That
every time you speak , an angel writes down what you say, and that
one day you will have to answer for every single word you ever
uttered. So if you swear at someone then it's written down as a sin
against you. You're only harming yourself. The Prophet (saw) said
that "Abusing a Muslim is a sin and
fighting with him is disbelief." (MUSLIM).
'But
sometimes you just have to swear'!
We've all
been there - you're just so angry with somebody and the only way you
can express yourself, is to swear at them. The solution? ...
Don't
get angry in the first place
A man came to the Prophet (saw)
one day and said "Advise me". The prophet (saw) said "Don't
become angry. Don't become angry. Don't become angry"....
"When
one of you gets angry while he is standing up, he should sit down.
Then anger will leave him, and if not then he should lie down"
(Ahmad). So let us follow this beautiful advice of the Prophet
(saw) and remember that anger is from shaitan. If someone angers you
or swears at you then don't harm yourself by doing the same but
respond in a better way as Allah says in the Quran "Repel
evil with what is better. Then he who was your worst enemy will
become your best friend." (Ch41v33)
"It
wasn't me. Honest."
How often do we say
such a phrase or say that "I was only joking". We treat
lies as being trivial. However we are told that "Allah's
messenger did not hate anything more than lying"(Ahmed).
The Prophet (saw) was once asked "Can a
Muslim be a coward?" He (saw) replied "Yes." and then
asked "Can a Muslim be a miser?" and the reply was "Yes."
The Prophet (saw) was then asked "Can a Muslim be a liar?"
The Prophet (saw) replied "NO! A Muslim can never be a liar".
Furthermore, he said "Truth leads to virtue and virtue leads to
paradise...Lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to the
hellfire." (Bukhari). As we know that one lie leads to
another ten lies which lead to bad actions. Remember you can lie and
think that you have got away with it but on the day of Judgement your
hands, tongue and feet will bear testimony against you and tell the
truth.
But it's only words!
One
day one of the companions asked the Prophet (saw) "O Messenger
of Allah. Will we be called to account for what we say?" He
replied "May you be lost to your mother - people will be thrown,
faces down into the hellfire, only on account to what their tongues
said." (Tirmidhi).
Indeed the tongue controls the
rest of your body. A well controlled tongue will keep us within Islam
but a loose tongue will destroy us. The Prophet (saw) said "When
a person gets up in the morning, all the parts of his body make a
plea to his tongue saying; 'Fear Allah regarding us, because we
follow you. If you are right then we shall also be right , and if you
are wrong then we shall also be wrong." (Tirmidhi)
Instead
of swearing, lying and engaging in useless talk we can use our
tongues in better ways and what better than telling people about
Islam. Allah says "Who is better
in speech than one who calls (men) to Allah and works righteousness
and says I am one of those who bow down in Islam" (Ch
41v33)
Your tongue can save you
as well!
Indeed if you control your tongue and
speak good then paradise can be yours. The Prophet (saw) said
"Whoever can guarantee me two things I can
guarantee them Paradise." The companions asked "What O
Messenger of Allah?" He replied "What is between his jaws
(his tongue) and his legs (private parts)." (Bukhari)
I've
lied and backbited, sworn and made fun of others. I must be doomed I
must be going to hell!"
NO! Allah (swt) tells us in the
Quran: "O my servants who have
wronged themselves. never despair of the mercy of Allah for truly he
forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."
(Ch39v53)
So if you really repent and turn
back to Allah and promise not to commit the sin again then truly
Allah's promise is true and He will forgive you.
If
you've backbitten someone - go and tell the person whom you backbited
and apologise sincerely and ask them to forgive you. But if you think
that the situation will get worse then turn back to Allah sincerely
begging for his forgiveness then to make up for what you said, go
around and talk good of him.
The
Best Example
As we know that the best person
to have ever lived is the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and he is the best
of example for mankind. If we follow him we can never go wrong.
Ayesha (RA) the Prophet's wife described the Prophets conduct as
follows "He was neither a obscene talker
nor a user of bad words. He did not shout nor did he repay evil with
evil. He used to forgive people and overlook their sins."
(Tirmidhi)
Final Advice:
A
beautiful saying of the Prophet (saw) that will ensure the protection
of our tongue. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said "Whoever
believes in Allah and the Last day, LET HIM EITHER SPEAK GOOD OR KEEP
SILENT" (Agreed upon)
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