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The
Tongue
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)
http://www.themodernreligion.com/misc/hh/gheebat.html
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