Take an Account of Yourself Before addressing others take a glance at yourself, and ask yourself whether this is an occasion which demands speaking. If the answer is in the affirmative, then speak, otherwise silence is much better. To avoid talking unnecessarily on appropriate occasions is a worship of great rewards. Abdullah bin Masood says: By the Being other than whom there is no God, on this earth there is none more deserving of long imprisonment than the tongue. (Tibrani) Abdullah Ibn Abbas says: Five things are more valuable than the ,horses with the black-striped legs: 1. Do not indulge in senseless talk, because it is useless and absurd, and I am uncomfortable from the fear of your committing a sin. 2. Talk purposefully when there is an occasion for it, for there are many people who talk without an occasion. This is a drawback. 3. Do not indulge in hot discussion with an intelligent man or with a fool. If he is intelligent, he will be angry with you and will hate you, and if he is a fool and uneducated, he will try to harm you. 4. In the absence of your brother speak of him in the same words in which you would like him to speak of you in your absence, and consider him innocent of the thing which you would like him to consider you innocent of. 5. Act like a man who thinks that he will be rewarded for a good deed and will be punished on committing a crime. (lbn Abi-al-duniya) A Muslim can develop these attributes in himself only when he keeps his tongue in control, and is able to keep silent wherever necessary. He should be able to hold the reins of his tongue in his hand; wherever necessary he should speak, and wherever it is not necessary he should keep quiet. Those who are ruled by their tongue, they are pushed back, and in the fields of life they receive insults and disrepute. Safety lies in Silence One loses sense in talking absurdities and aimlessly. Those who want to impress others in meetings by their talk, they speak so glibly and endlessly that the words come out from their mouth like rainwater. Although they try to convince others that they are very wise, intelligent and farsighted, but sometimes the impression created by their long-winding speeches is quite the contrary, and from their talks people feel that there is no relation between what they want the people to believe about them and what actually they are. When a man wants to contemplate over his position and wants to organize his religious thoughts, he runs away from the atmosphere of noise and uproar and takes shelter in a quiet place. And therefore if Islam recommends silence and considers it a means of civilized training, then it is not at all surprising. The Prophet had, among other things, advised Hazrat Abu Zar in this way: “Adopt silence. This is a way of causing Satan to run away, it is a support to you in the matter of your religion. (Ahmed) Undoubtedly the tongue is a rope in the hands of Satan. He turns it anywhere he likes. When a man is unable to control his affairs, his mouth becomes a passage for all the negative talk which contaminates the heart and covers it with the sheet of negligence. The prophet has said: The faith of a man cannot be straight unless his heart is straight, and his heart cannot be straight unless his tongue becomes straight. (Ahmed) The first stage of this straightness and correctness is that man should wash his hands off all the irrelevant matters and he should not interfere in those things about which he is not answerable. It is the excellence of a mans faith that he gives up meaningless work, (Tirmizi) Avoidance of Nonsense is a Condition of Success To avoid irrelevant and nonsensical things is a condition for success and is a proof of perfection. Quran has mentioned it in between two essential duties (Faraiz) of Muslims, which gives an idea of its importance : Successful indeed are the believers who are humble in their prayers, and who shun vain conversation, and who are payers of zakat. (AI-Muminoon .. 1-4) If all the men of the world count their efforts which they make in indulging in vain conversation and acts, they will come to realize that a very large part of the long winding tales and stories, widely circulated news, narratives, speeches and broadcasts comprises of vain, meaningless and useless things, which are eagerly watch ed, and heard, but no benefit is derived from them, Islam has expressed its disapproval of the meaningless talks and things, because the superficial and useless things have no value in its eyes, It dislikes that man should not busy himself in matters for which he has been created and instead he should waste his life in involving himself in other irrelevant matters. The more distant a Muslim will be from an absurd and irrelevant thing, the more high will be his rank before Allah Anas bin Malik says that when a man died another man passed a remark about him in the presence of the Prophet that he would go to Paradise. The Prophet stopped him and said: Do not you know ? It is likely that he might I have indulged in meaningless conversation or might have been miserly in spending his wealth, although this does not effect any reduction. (Tirmizi) A vain talker, on account of the weak co-ordination between his thought and his tongue, blurts out whatever comes on his tongue. Sometimes he says something which places him in danger, and he ruins his future. It is said that the more one talks, the more one commits mistakes. An Arabic poet has said: The youth dies by the fault of his tongue whereas from the faltering of the feet death does not occur. In the tradition it is stated: A man says something so that those present may laugh, although on account of it he is thrown to the most distant region between the earth and the sky. The faltering of the feet cause much less harm than the faltering of the tongue. (Baihaqui)
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 15:25:25 +0000
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