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It's one of the greatest sins and yet it's something we do day after day. Sometimes we don't even realize 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 'Neighbors', soaps based on lying, backbiting and cheating. But look at what the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam said about it:
The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam said to him: "Pick your teeth!" "But I haven't eaten anything", the man protested. "No", the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam said "you have eaten the flesh of your dead brother!" As Allah tells us in the Qur'an: "Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would hate it." [al-Qur'an 49:12]
But what if it's true?
The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 backbitten and if it is false then you have slandered them!" [Muslim]
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 Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 Subhanahu wa Ta'ala warns us against such behavior:
Don't forget that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala 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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam said that "abusing a Muslim is a sin and fighting with him is disbelief" [Muslim].
So let us follow this beautiful advice of the Prophet and remember that anger is from Shaytan. 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 Qur'an "Repel evil with what is better. Then he who was your worst enemy will become your best friend." [al-Qur'an 41:33]
It wasn't me who said it!
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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam was once asked "Can a Muslim be a coward?" He Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam replied "Yes". He was then asked "Can a Muslim be a miser?" and the reply was "Yes". The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam was again asked "Can a Muslim be a liar?" The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam replied "No! A Muslim can never be a liar".
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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam was once asked "Can a Muslim be a coward?" He Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam replied "Yes". He was then asked "Can a Muslim be a miser?" and the reply was "Yes". The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam was again asked "Can a Muslim be a liar?" The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam replied "No! A Muslim can never be a liar".
But it's only words!
One day, one of the Companions asked the Prophet : "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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says: "Who is better in speech than one who calls (people) to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and works righteousness and says I am one of those who bow down in Islam" [al-Qur'an 41:33]
Your tongue can save you!
Indeed if you control your tongue and speak good then paradise can be yours. The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 must be doomed!
"I have lied, backbitten people, and swear all the time. I must be going to hell!"
No! Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala tells us in the Qur'an: "O my servants who have wronged themselves, never despair of the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala- for truly He forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [al-Qur'an 39:53]
So if you really repent and turn back to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala 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 backbitten and apologize 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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam and he is the best of example for mankind. If we follow him we can never go wrong. Aisha Radi Allahu anha, the Prophet' Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam wife, described the Prophet' Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam conduct as follows "He was neither an 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 word of advice
A beautiful saying of the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam that will ensure the protection of our tongue. The Messenger of Allah said:
"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last day, LET HIM EITHER SPEAK GOOD OR KEEP SILENT!"
I pray that we all protect our tongue and stay on the straight path Inshallah.
One day, one of the Companions asked the Prophet : "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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says: "Who is better in speech than one who calls (people) to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and works righteousness and says I am one of those who bow down in Islam" [al-Qur'an 41:33]
Your tongue can save you!
Indeed if you control your tongue and speak good then paradise can be yours. The Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam 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 must be doomed!
"I have lied, backbitten people, and swear all the time. I must be going to hell!"
No! Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala tells us in the Qur'an: "O my servants who have wronged themselves, never despair of the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala- for truly He forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [al-Qur'an 39:53]
So if you really repent and turn back to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala 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 backbitten and apologize 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 Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam and he is the best of example for mankind. If we follow him we can never go wrong. Aisha Radi Allahu anha, the Prophet' Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam wife, described the Prophet' Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam conduct as follows "He was neither an 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 word of advice
A beautiful saying of the Prophet Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam that will ensure the protection of our tongue. The Messenger of Allah said:
"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last day, LET HIM EITHER SPEAK GOOD OR KEEP SILENT!"
I pray that we all protect our tongue and stay on the straight path Inshallah.
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