By
Arman Neyazi, New Age Islam
20 May 2021
Hazrat
Ali (KW) Says: ‘Wounds Of Knives Can Heal, But The Wounds Of The Tongue Can
Never Heal’
Main
Points:
1. Controlling
the Temptation to Speak is Spiritual.
2. Human Being
will Be Accountable to His Words Here and Hereafter.
3. Benefits of
Keeping Silent or Speaking the Best Words, If Necessary.
4. Do not
Pursue That Which You Do Not Know.
-----
‘Silence is
Golden’ is a famous old saying that our forefathers have been asking us to
follow. Our forefathers were not that educated as this generation of ours is,
in the sense that they did not attend classes in local, national or
international educational institutions. But the wisdom they carried was of
immense value as it used to be transferred to them from generations. Thus,
their wisdom had no parallel from those of ours.
Our forefathers were good listeners during
their age of learning. They were not allowed to interrupt when someone is
speaking especially if the speaker is older to them. The question is, do we
carry that wisdom of listening, the answer has to be a big ‘No’.
Thus, like all other teachings of our wise
forefathers, we have abandoned the teaching that ‘silence is golden and with
that, we have abandoned the lessons in spirituality. The spiritual lesson about
keeping control on our tongue, in the words of the Apostle of Allah Pbuh is,
“If a person is given silence, he is given wisdom”.
Controlling
the Temptation to Speak is Spiritual
Most of the
evils in the world today is because the human being has fallen prey to the
temptation of speaking without any sense of time, place and or necessity.
Speaking on irrelevant and unnecessary topics, using foul words has become a
trend of the time. Hazrat Ali (KW) says: “Wounds of knives can heal, but the
wounds of the tongue can never heal”. This exactly is the reason that all the
nations, communities, political parties and individuals are wounded deep in
their hearts. The human being should know that the human heart is the abode of
the Creator of the universe. If a heart is broken is thus a broken abode of
Allah, the Most Gracious. The human being needs to control their tongue to be
counted as a good human being as the following Ahadees say:
The best Islam belongs to those from whose
tongue and hand people are safe. (Musnad Ahmad 6714)
“Do not curse each other and do not summon the
wrath of Allah or His Hell on each other”. (Abu Daawood and Tirmidhi)
“A true believer is never used to cursing
others”. (Muslim)
“People who curse others will never be
witnesses or intercessors on the Day of Judgment” (Muslim).
Human
Being will Be Accountable to His Words Here and Hereafter
It is not
only during the span of our lives that one day or the other we are held
accountable for our utterances by one agency or the other. The human being must
know that he will be punished for his foul mouthing abusive, arrogant and
accusing words on the Day of Judgement. Allah, the All-knower has two angels
established on our shoulders who are commanded to note down each of our deeds,
bad or good. Consider the following Ayat:
Man does not utter any word except that with
him is an observer prepared [to record]. (Ayah Quaff:18) - Sahih International
The human
being will not only be punished for his foul mouthing but will be rewarded,
without doubt, for all his good words that bring happiness and on his face and console
his heart. We, the human being must learn to control our tongue to simplify
others lives in an attempt to bring peace to the world.
Benefits
of Keeping Silent or Speaking the Best Words, If Necessary
Islam asks
human being to maintain theirs’ and others modesty by speaking only when asked
or only when it is necessary. If our words hurt someone, it is better no to
speak. Prophet Muhammad Pbuh always practised the art of staying silent unless
it is important to speak. In this regard consider the Hadees that Abu Hurairah
(AS) narrated:
Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Whoever believes in
God and the Last Day should speak a good word or remain silent. … (Al-Bukhari)
Listening
to others and speaking only when it is required is a sign of a good believer
and it is a sign of one belief in Allah and the Day of Judgement. Nothing more
can be said in praise of not speaking unless necessary and not being abusive or
arrogant. Following Ayat are lessons for us to speak, when we must, but the way
the Holy Quran states:
O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and
fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. (Quran 33:70)
And say to My slaves (i.e. the true believers
of Islamic Monotheism) that they should (only) say those words that are the
best. (Because) Shaitan(Satan) verily, sows disagreements among them. Surely,
Shaitan (Satan) is to man a plain enemy. (Quran 17:53)
And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty,
false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden) (Quran 23:3)
Above
mentioned Ayat teach us to speak but ‘speak the truth’ speak the words that are
the best’ and ‘do not talk dirty, false, evil or vain talk’.
When a
human being speaks he is unaware of the punishments of the ‘bad words used by
him and the rewards of the ‘good words’ so be conscious while speaking and use
only the words that will bring rewards here and hereafter. Consider the
following Hadees reported by Imams At-Tirmidhi and Ibn-Majah:
“A person may say a word that is pleasing to
Allah (S.W.T.) and he may not think much of it, but Allah (S.W.T.) will,
(because of that word), bestow his pleasure upon him on the Day of Judgment,
and a person may say a word that is displeasing to Allah (S.W.T.), and he may
not think much of it, but Allah will have, (because of that word) put his wrath
and anger on him on the Day of Judgment.”
Do not
Pursue That Which You Do Not Know
In this age
of materialism and show of power and ego, we all have cultivated a habit of
speaking without any knowledge of the subject. Social media is agog with plenty
of false news and reports that misguide the innocent and ignites them to act
immodestly and unlawfully. No matter how much the unauthentic news is
religiously, politically or community-wise concerning to you, if you spread you
in society, it is harmful to you and the agency you wish the news to reach.
Spreading by sharing the unauthentic news makes you eligible for worldly
accusations and divine sin without even being in knowledge of the consequences
it will bear. In this regard, Allah, the All-knowing, says in the Holy Quran:
And do not pursue that of which you have no
knowledge. (Ayah
al-Isra: 36) - Sahih International
For a long
time, for reasons unknown to many of us, the universal society is sitting on
the brink of devastation and ruins, much because of our habit of going after
every news, unknown of its validity and truthfulness.
We must
desist, therefore, from any such activity that is harmful to humanity at large.
The times we are living in is injured and wounded with devastation and death
therefore it demands from all of us to be negligible of our benefits and work
for the safety of the human race. We will be handsomely rewarded for it as the
Holy Quran says: “If anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life
of the whole humanity.” (Quran 5:32).
Let us be
one of those who refrain from speaking aimlessly and be saving lives and thus
saving humanity.
And
Allah knows the best.
----
Arman
Neyazi is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic
Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism