Subhanallah! Our toungue is a small organ, but very powerful in its destructive ability, and the truth is you find that most of us are guilty and engaged in sins of the tongue, knowingly or unknowingly.
Most common type of sins we commit through our tongue are lying, backbiting and slander, we find it really difficult to saveguard our tongues and in most cases we take these sins very lightly.
We are so into lying, gossip, slander, backbiting, spying (for its when you see you’ll have something to say), sharing fabricated stories and even acussing people what they are not. We’ve made them our daily habit, that we can’t do with out engaging in them.
At times when you see people backbiting others and you try correcting them, the most common phrase is But what am saying is true! Or it’s not as if am falsely acussing them, am saying the truth. Stop decieving! do you really know the true meaning and difference between backbiting and slander?
The definition of slander & backbiting:
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam asked his companions: “Do you know what backbiting is?” They said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He then said, “It is to say something about your brother that he would dislike.” Someone asked him, “But what if what I say is true?” The Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “If what you say about him is true, you are backbiting him, but if it is not true then you have slandered him.” [Muslim]
Allah azzawajal compares Backbiting to eating the flesh of your fellow human in the Quran:
O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful. Surah Al-hujurat [49:12]
Yet you see backbiting, and other sins related to the toungue as something normal, negligible and insignificant? Do you still believe you won’t be held accountable for things you say, hear, see, and feel? Then take a moment to ponder over these verses:
And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those [one] will be questioned. Surah Al-isra [17:36]
Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record]. Surah Qaf [50:18]
It is very important that we become mindful of things we say, see, hear, and things we think of, and also realize that for every word we utter, weather Good or Bad will be recorded and we would be held accountable for it on the day of judgement.
Are you the type that loves talking alot alot? Do you know about this hadith of Umar ibn khattab (R.A)? Where he said:
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said: “do not engage in excessive talk, except in remembering Allah, for excessive talk without remembering Allah hardens the heart, and those who are far away from Allah are those with hard hearts.”
Its actually a good thing to be a friendly and jovial person, but at times we go beyond limits, we need to take heed.
Some of us love talking alot, we just can’t keep quiet for a minute, you talk, talk and talk to the extent that there’s nothing left to be discussed, those are moments you find yourself lying, bringing up topics about other people just because you can’t do without talking, and in this process Backbiting and slander comes in, before you realise, you’ve become an expert in gossip, lying, backbiting an so on.
But Remember :
On the authority of Abu hurairah (R.A) Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good things or keep silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his neighbor. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should be courteous and generous to his [traveling] visitor.”. [Recorded by Sahih Bukhari and Muslim]
Umar ibn khattab (R.A) once said, “The one who speaks a lot commits a lot of mistakes. The one who makes lots of mistakes commits lots of sins. The one who commits lots of sins will have the Hell-fire as the first place for him.”
Let’s learn to be modest in our speach, and we ask Allah to keep us steadfast on the Deen and grant us the ability to guard our tongue. Ameen
Continuation of the article coming up soon Insha Allah!
