Bismillahir
Rahmaanir Raheem
By Hadhrat Moulana AbdulHamid Is`haq Saheb (Daamat
Barakaatuhum)
The tongue is a great Ni'mat (bounty) and favour of Allah
Ta’ala if used correctly; otherwise it becomes a curse if used wrongly.
The tongue, out of control, is worse than a car or plane which
is out of control. That car or plane may
crash and life or lives are lost. However, when the tongue is out of control,
then it causes such crashes and such havoc and such devastation, that Imaan is
lost, marriages come to an end and innocent ones have to contend with suffering and
untold hardship.
The word that comes out of the mouth is really no different
from the bullet that leaves the barrel of a gun. Once the bullet leaves the gun, there is no way it can return. Similarly, when a word leaves
the tongue, there is no possibility of it being taken back. Whilst a bullet
hits and causes harm to the physical body, a wrong word uttered hits and injures
the heart.
Some people fire the bullets of three Talaaqs at once. One
bullet is sufficient to kill a person. One Talaaq is sufficient to end a
marriage – but they bring in their own kind of "comparative" and "superlative" and make the
marriage, ‘deader’ and ‘deadest’ - with three Talaaqs, all at once. …And then they seek a "birth certificate" from
the Muftis because they want to give life to a dead Nikah – because they want
to reconcile with their wives.
No matter how regretful and remorseful the person may be, if the
three bullets of Talaaq were fired, the marriage is over.
In handling guns, the basic lesson and the first rule is to
consider the gun loaded at all times. We are told to treat a gun as though it
can fire at any time.
Even though the gun has a “safety” that prevents the gun from discharging accidentally, a person
will be told not to be careless in handling the gun, thinking that the safety
is on. Similarly, Allah Ta’ala has also given us a "safety" in the form of our
lips.
Despite this measure of protection, we cannot be confident
that we have full control of the tongue and can say as we like. There is a need to think before we speak –
something which many people don’t do these days. As a result, the tongue is
constantly firing words of abuse, vulgarity, gossip, slander, mischief, etc.
On one occasion, when advising Hadhrat Mu’adh ibn Jabal
(Radhiyallahu ‘anhu), Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam), took out his
own tongue, held it with his fingers, and said: “Guard this.” – emphasizing that we have to watch our
words.
When the tongue is left unguarded,
then the consequences in the Hereafter are also very severe.
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallahu ‘anhu) related that
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: "A person utters a word thoughtlessly (i.e. without thinking
whether it is good or not) and, as a result of this, he will fall into the fire
of Hell deeper than the distance between the east and the west.''
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) mentioned: “When
the son of Aadam 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.”
When a person uses his tongue to swear, abuse or accuse
another person, then that person does not grab hold of the tongue and hit, punch
or kick the tongue. If the person swears him, it is his ears that have to contend
with listening to swearing and vulgarity. So the damage was caused by the
tongue but it is the other body parts that are the recipients of the harm and
consequences.
We should endeavour to exercise control over the tongue since
excessive talk is a general weakness of people and excessive talking causes
great, great harm to one’s spirituality.
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ’alayhi wa
sallam) said: "Do not indulge in
excessive talk except when remembering Allah. Excessive talking without the
remembrance of Allah hardens the heart; and those who are the farthest from
Allah are those whose hearts are hard."
We should keep before us that we are constantly in the
attendance of Kiraaman Kaatibeen, who are taking note of every word and every
deed. This reality will assist us in weighing our words before we utter them:
"Not
a word does he (or she) utter, but there is a watcher by him ready
(to
record it).''
[Surah Qaaf : 50:18]
When the tongue is restrained and disciplined, then goodness
and righteousness comes forth from it, in the form of Zikrullah, Amr bil
Ma’roof, Nahy anil Munkar, Tilwat of the Qur’aan Sharief, putting happiness in
the hearts of parents, spouse, children and others. All of which becomes a
cause for great, great rewards.
The one who masters control of his tongue and guards his
tongue secures for himself Jannah, if he
also safeguards his chastity. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said: "Whosoever
gives me a guarantee to safeguard what is between his jaws and what is between
his legs, I shall guarantee him Jannah."
May Allah Ta’ala grant us the Taufeeq of speaking less and
when we speak, we speak only good.
