By Ustadh Dr Adekunle Mikail
Whosoever believes in Allah and the Day of recompense, let him say good or he keep mutes _ Prophet Muhammad salla-llahu alehi wasalam
Prologue
Behind every war and peace, behind every desolation and joy behind every cry and laugh and behind every hellfire and paradise lies words, only that these words are demarcated by the intentions of who say them!
Surely, it goes that a bad word, no doubt , is an harbinger of war, desolation, cry and hellfire ,while at its opposite is good word, which is without doubt, the precursor of peace, joy, laugh and paradise!
Undoubtedly, good words, speech and talks are fast depleting in our midsts ! Even in places of worships of the Almighty and among the very people who are commissioned to say to others good words in their times of tribulation, desolation and felicitation !
In these places of remembering God, abusive words, total condemnation of others’ views and sordid speeches are the order of the day. These sacred places are fast becoming a town hall where every good and rouble rouser is given the ground to say whatever he has in his inner mind without caring for honour in good speech!
Besides, men of dignity, positive value and rectitude who are conversant with the benefits accrued in good speech are fast becoming something else! The effects of the time we are living is having a great albeit negative outcome on the men of positive talks too _ poor standard of living which is a product of poor traditional schooling, unemployment and poor economic state of the nation is to be blamed for this!
The fall-out of this negative state of the nation can be felt in every child who is juvenile ; in every husband who is irresponsible; in every wife who is wayward ; in every
compound- head who is irresponsive to the needs of his subjects; and in every leader, temporal or spiritual; who is negligent of their duties towards the governed!
The Utterance Of Good Words Brings Salvation
In the glorious Quran, it has been established that the ways to man’s salvation in this life and the hereafter are through the fear of Allah and the uttering of good words. We read Qur’an 33 vs 70-71 as follows:
” O ye who believe!
Fear Allah and make your utterance straight forward (good):
So that He ( God) may make your conduct whole and sound
And forgive you your sins:
He that obeys Allah and His messenger
Has already attained the great victory (salvation)”
And when the Allah would take covenant from the children of Israel, He had made ‘speaking good’ to the people central to the covenant. The Qur’an says :
” And remember we took a covenant from the children of Israel (that they ):
Worship none but Allah;
Treat with kindness your parents and kindred ,
And orphans and those in need; and
Speak fair ( good) to the people;……” Qur’an 2 vs 83
Speaking Good Or Fair To People Is Central To The Good Of Human Spirit
Human spirit is the bulwark of human brain! If it is well, the human brain works well and aids human character. But if it is dampened, it gives negative sign to human brain; derails it and adversely misleads human character!
And nothing has aided human spirit as human speech,especially , the one that comes from others . To say the obvious, it is the Ginger that inspires its action . And if it is good , human behaviour will be good but if it is negative, nothing will ever come out of human behaviour except its cruelty !
The connectivity of human spirit to human behaviour is also central to how a society will be fairing ! If man spirit is buoyed, it will inspires the greatness in man and this will in turn helps him in proffering solutions to the myriad of problems in his environment!
Same thing can be said of a society whose men are disconsolate spirit wise. Everything therein will be dry, cheerless and the problems in that society will lack men who would have strived to solve them are they being they are spiritedly buoyed!
This is the reason the last prophet of Allah’ s prophet, Muhammad salla-llahu alehi wasalam has posited in one of his golden sayings that :
” Whosoever believes in Allah and the Day of recompense must talk good or else he remained muted ” ,so that he will not say what can adversely dispirit human spirit!
Many A People’s Problem Would Have Been Solved If They Had Known How To Say What Is Good!
Inability to talk straight, good and to say to oneself in the face of damning verdict about life or tribulation , positive speech, has in no small measure, elongate the duration one’s problem would have lasted or solved!
Simple and good talks such as ” I will be fine by God’s grace”, ” no evil will betide you mansha-llah” , ” I trust my God”, and many others that give assurance to man in difficulty or which reduce the pressure life’s eventuality have placed on people’s hearts, are antidotes to many woes that befall man in this life!
Likewise, many marital fracas, family disputes ,communal feuds and national and international conflicts can be solved using good words! In Yoruba culture, it is said that ” Oro ni gbogbo nkan; oro niyobi lapo, ouna niyoda lapo” , which is roughly rendered in English language as ” Speech is everything; it is the one which procures colanut(gift) for its owner in one instance, as it procures sword ( penalty) for its owner in another instance!
The Example Of Prophet Jacob (Yaqub) ,The Father Of Prophet’s Yusuf In Good Speech In The Time Of Tribulation
Prophet Jacob (Alehi Salaam) having lost Yusuf to the treachery of his other children save Benjamin( Bunyamin) , Yusuf’s brother, early in life had been more dejected when the story of Bunyamin false thievery came to him!
Judah, for fearing the negative effect the news of Bunyamin’s detention in the court of the minister in Egypt, which unknowingly to them, was Yusuf, their lost brother, having taken oath alongside his other brothers that nothing bad would happened to Yusuf in the beginning, had vowed that he would not leave the land of Egypt until he heard from his father or Allah permitted him”
When prophet Yaqub heard the news of Bunyamin’s detention on the account of his allegation of thievery, he was absolutely stunned and despite the fact that it was an heartbreaking one, he did not loss control of his brain nay his mouth!
Instead of cursing his situation and that of his child, or to bewail the loss of his three children; Yusuf, Benjamin and Judah who had vowed that he would not return home unless he heard from his father or Allah gave his judgement; he said assuredly as follows :
” May be Allah will bring them back ( his children) all to me, in the end. For He is indeed full of knowledge and wisdom!”.
Not only that, he also affirmed earnestly to God that :
” I only complain of my distraction and anguish to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you know not!”
A Point To Reflect:
If you are tested with a test, do not say to yourself negative things that may compound your woes. Instead say God will take control of your situation and He will surely do!