The Evils of the Tongue and How it Leads to Your Destruction
One of the most dangerous and common habit today is a loose tongue. We often find ourselves running our mouths forgetting that we will be held accountable for what we say. To find one free of backbiting and slander is like a search for the red she-camel. This is because people take pride in this ugly act without remorse. In fact, some are now professionals at it and get paid for running online gossip channels. This is what will lead to the destruction of many on the day of resurrection.
Owing to the dangers of the tongue, Allah’s Messenger peace be upon him stressed in the following narrations viz:
On the authority of Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him): “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must either speak good or remain silent.” — Muslim
Sahl bin Sa’d (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: “Whosoever gives me a guarantee to safeguard what is between his jaws and what is between his legs, I shall guarantee him Jannah.” — Bukhari
Narrated Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him): I heard the Prophet peace be upon him saying, “A person utters a word thoughtlessly (i.e., without thinking about its being good or not) and, as a result of this, he will fall down into the fire of Hell deeper than the distance between the east and the west.” — Bukhari and Muslim.
Al-Imam Ash-Shafi said: if you want to talk, it’s required of you to think before speaking. If there’s no harm then say; otherwise, don’t speak. It’s incumbent upon anyone in a position of responsibility to guard their tongues conscientiously and continuously. Silence is better than running the mouth lose. A speech which is of no benefit or that incites harm is forbidden in Islam. Remember the word when spoken cannot be taken back. Hence there’s a need to control your tongue otherwise you will be punished.
On the authority of Muadh ibn Jabal: I accompanied the prophet peace be upon him on a journey and I asked him to tell me an action I will do that will admit me into Jannah and save me from hell. He said: ‘you’ve asked me something important and easy for the one Allah makes it easy for. Worship Allah and do not associate partner with him, observe salah, give the required charity, fast Ramadan and perform hajj. Should I not guide you to the doors of goodness? Fasting is a shield, charity pushes out the sins like water extinguishes the fire. So also is praying in the middle of the night. Shall I not tell you the head of the entire matter and it’s pillar? The head is Islam, the pillar is salah and it’s hump is jihad. Should I not tell you what governs it all? Yes, O Messenger of Allah! It’s the tongue, restrain this. Muadh ask, will we be accountable for the tongue? He peace be upon him said: May your mother grieve your loss o Muadh! Are people not thrown into the fire only because of what their tongue has done? — At-Tirmidhi
The tongue and the heart are the best parts of the body. If they are straight other parts of the body will be straight as well. And if they are crooked, others will be crooked too.
Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet PBUH said, “When the son of Adam gets up in the morning, all the limbs humble themselves before the tongue and say: ‘Fear Allah for our sake because we are with you: (i.e., we will be rewarded or punished as a result of what you do) if you are straight, we will be straight; and if you are crooked, we will become crooked.”’ — At- Tirmidhi
Actions to Avert in order to safeguard yourself
Abdullah Ibn Umar related, Allah’s Apostle PBUH said: do not talk too much without remembering Allah. For indeed too much talk makes the heart hard. And the farthest from Allah is the one with a hard heart. — Tirmidhi
Abstain from these actions in order to avert Allah’s punishment:
- Backbiting even if it is the truth.
- Gossiping
- Slandering
- Rumor mongering
- Lying
- Defamation of character
- Idle and excessive talking with no benefit
And here are a few ways to control yourself
- Think before you speak because every word you utter is recorded by a guardian angel.
- When you fall short, ask for forgiveness from Allah for yourself and also on behalf of the one you’ve wronged with your tongue.
- Engage in remembrance of Allah often as much as you can.
- Control what you see and share on social media. there are too many lies out there.
- Remember the consequences of a running tongue. It will mislead some faces to be dragged on their nose in the fire.
- Be in the circle of good friends and companions.
- Apply the Triple Filter Test when people come to you with stories about others.
The Tripple Filter Test
Here’s a story between a scholar and his acquaintance. One day an acquaintance met the great scholar and said, ‘do you know what I just heard about your friend?’ “Hold on a minute,” The scholar replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”
‘Triple filter?’ “That’s right,” The scholar continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. The first filter is the Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?” ‘No!’ the man said, ‘actually I just heard about it and…’ “All right,” said the scholar. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?” ‘No, on the contrary…’ The scholar continued: “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though because there’s one filter left — the filter of Usefulness. Is what you
want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?” ‘No, not really.’
Then the scholar concludes: “if what you want to tell me is neither
true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”
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Yaumul Jum’ah 16th Dhul Qadah 1440H // Friday 19th July 2019.
