The above caption is an excerpt from one of the sayings of the noble prophet Muhammad (salla-llahu alehi wasalam). It is a golden advice to all and sundry while it gives direction to mankind on the essence of talking good every time they want to talk.
The prophet (saw) is not alone in advising mankind to be moderate in their sayings. Allah, the God of mercy and power is the first to have admonished His creatures especially human folks to think twice before talking. He says in the Quran:
“And tell my servants that they should only say those things that are best: for Satan does sow dissension among them: for Satan is to man an avowed enemy” _ Qur’an 17:53.
The above command refers to two situations in its broader sense. In the first place, even to your enemies and the enemies of Allah, you should speak fairly. For if you desist from being fair in your engagement with them, you will give Shaitan, the accursed; the chance to divide mankind the more.
Secondly, amongst yourselves, in the midst of the believers also ; you should not entertain bad words but speak politely according to the best standards of human speech.
By avoiding false or unkind word, you have avoided all that can destroy the unity and camaraderie among the mankind! It is even evident from the Hadith of the prophet which says ; “talk moderately or be quiet “; that quietness is better than bad talk!
In the same vein, behind many an enmity, war, fight, and division which ensued among men, tribes, nations and countries, lie, bad talk, false speech and immoderate utterance! This is why a special place is given to speech making or talk in islam. Since in Islam, an utterance can make one a Muslim in a breadth while at another breath, an utterance can expel one out of the canopy of Islam. Further more, an ordinary statement can give one a passport to the paradise or to the hell fire, as the case may be.
Imam Nawawi, ( Muyideen Ibn Nawawi) a Shaafii legalist and Hadith enthusiast, in his magnum opium, “Riyadh-Salihuna” while explaining the meaning of the Hadith:
“Whoever believes in God and the Day of resurrection must say what is good or be quiet”, said that ”this Hadith is a direct advice which shows the reason why man should not talk unless the talking is righteous and why he should be quiet when he does not know the good thing he can say on any matter!”
The companions of the prophet had exemplified the above Quranic and sunnatic nuggets sincerely more than any other persons in their dealings with both believers and the non believers! Abass the elder brother of the prophet was asked: “between you and the prophet who is older?” And despite the fact that Abbas was some months older than the prophet (saw), instead of bragging to the questioners as many of us will do, he retorted “he is more older than I am but, I was just born before him”!
He had picked his words in such subtle manner so as to show respect to prophet Muhammad who had been given apostleship of God ahead of him and more intently, to save his soul from unnecessary show-off which accompany the words of those who are older in age to their counterparts!
It is should be noted here while we should not say bad thing to others we must not also utter it to ourselves either! As the religion of Islam wants us to be upright in our utterances to others, it has made it compulsory for us to say good things for our own minds too! For example, the prophet had said:
“Nobody among you should say my soul is dirty but let him say my soul is stubborn”. Because why the stubbornness of the mind is easier to wipe away quickly, its dirtiness, is more cumbersome to purge!
In short, the essence of being moderate in our speech cannot be overemphasized. It is even the thread that binds men of different backgrounds, tribes, clans and religions together. A people who respect others in their speech to them will get the respect of others for a long time while the relationship that ensues among them will be cordial despite their different experimences and temperaments, thereby, the peace of the world will be continuously maintained.
On the other hands, a world which is full of false talks, bad utterances and immoderate speeches is an endangered one where every evil is possible for Satan like to use the people’s utterances to sow discord among them. And when discord permeates the life of a people no peace will last there in. This is why human beings must be moderate in their utterances and speeches to others.
This is the reason the prophet (salla-llahu alehi wasalam) has given as parts of manners and deeds that predispose people to the Paradise or the Hellfire, the usages we deploy our tongues for! It goes that, a person who is cultured in his words and who says what is good to himself and others will be rewarded here in this life with what he has wished himself and others whereas in the hereafter, he would be given the same opportunity and be caused to reap the fruits of his good sayings in the garden of Bliss.
On the contrary, the man of negative words and disposition who sees no good words to spread or say to others would also be rewarded in kinder manner here in this passing words where the same lots will be his on the day of accountability. For the success or failure of man in this life and the hereafter lies in how well he can control his tongue.
Success Lies In How Well A Soul Controls His Tongue
According to ‘Uqbat Bn ‘Aamir ( Radiya-llahu anhu) who said that I asked the apostle of Allah ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) where is the success? The prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam, had answered him thus:
” Guard your tongue, be accommodative in your home and cry over your mistakes”!
‘Umar Bn Khattab Knew The Importance Of Good Words!
‘Umar Bn Khattab ( Radiya-llahu anhu), who was the second rightly guarded caliph of Islam after the demise of prophet Muhammad (salla-llahu alehi wasalam), was a man of many positive illuminations and acts who knew the importance of good words to the extent that he would prefer his death to living in the absence of them.
It is reported in the stories of lives of the companions that ‘Umar Bn Khattab used to say that:
” I swear in the mighty name of Allah, if not for the fact that I do sit with some of my brothers who pick their good words like those who pick good seeds from rotten ones, I would have preferred dying and encountering Allah now than any other times! ”
Subhanallah! See how our predecessors deferred to good words! See how they could have exchanged their precious lives for death in the absence of good words and compare them with the life we are living now! See how we prefer saying bad words to ourselves and others and how we love to spread negative words into our already beleaguered world when the Creator of our words and worlds Has asserted in His Book as follows:
” And say to my servants that they speak that which is best ; surely the Shaitan sows dissensions among them; surely the Shaitan is an open enemy to men!” _ Qur’an 17:53
It is the Shaitan who spoils people’s souls when they do not inculcate the habit of saying good things among themselves and influence their actions until he makes them inclined to fight with others on matters which required no negative responses not to talk of fights and as they say in every culture; “words predate war”!
When You Are Upright O You Our Tongue, We Will Also Be Upright
This is the crying of all the parts of human body whenever they wake up in the morning! According to a tradition of the prophet (salla-llahu alehi wasalam) reported by Abiy Sa’id Al-Khudriy ( Radiya-llahu anhu) who narrated it from the prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam that:
” Whenever the Son of Adam wakes up in the morning, his body parts will warn his tongue and says:
” Fear God with us (oh you our tongue) ; for we are parts of you ; and when you are upright, we will also be upright but when you derail we will also get derailed!”
What piques one is the character of good people who are known for embracing every good and avoidance of every bad things but who out of habit are given to bad words! In the words of Imam Ibn Qayyim ( may the good Lord continue to bless him), he opined that:
” Part of surprises of this world is that there are people who are ardent at avoiding eating illegal food, evil, adultery, thievery, boozing and at abandoning gazing at immorality and its like but who are poor at guarding their tongues from bad words until you would see a man who is known for righteousness in all its forms, who is given to shabby talk and saying of gibberish!”
Brethren! There are some people you see around you who are given to godliness and honesty but whose tongues have endangered those who are around them and this had eventually led to their fall and disgrace!
The Story Of A Devout Woman Of The Prophet’s City
There is a story in the Hadith of the prophet of a devout woman in matters of religion who was said to have regularly prayed in the afternoon and stood in devotion to her creator also in the wee hour of the night for all her life but who was reported to the prophet ( salla-llahu alehi wasalam) that she was in the habit of using her mouth to cause pain in her neighbourhood!
When her matter was reported to the prophet salla-llahu alehi wasalam, he said : “she is one of the dwellers of hellfire!”
Brethren! Your tongues and your tongues! For it is your guide to your paradise or your hellfire! It is also through it that man can attract the good of this world into himself and to friends alike while it can still be the reason for his downfall, disgrace and death!