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Thursday 30th May

Hadith 29: ...sins of the tongue... Lecture by Sister Eman al Obaid www.alhudasisters.wordpress.com

On the authority of Muadh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, tell me of an act which will take me into Paradise and will keep me away from the Hellfire.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “You have asked me about a great matter, yet it is easy for him for whom Allah makes it easy: worship Allah, without associating any partners with Him; establish the prayer; pay the zakat; fast in Ramadhan; and make the pilgrimage to the House.” Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Shall I not guide you towards the means of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity wipes away sin as water extinguishes fire; and the praying of a man in the depths of the night.” Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited: “[Those] who forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (charity in Allah’s cause) out of what We have bestowed on them. No person knows what is kept hidden for them of joy as a reward for what they used to do.” [as-Sajdah, 16-17] Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Shall I not inform you of the head of the matter, its pillar and its peak?” I said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer and its peak is jihad.” Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Shall I not tell you of the foundation of all of that?” I said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” So he took hold of his tongue and said, “Restrain this.” I said, “O Prophet of Allah, will we be taken to account for what we say with it?” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “May your mother be bereaved of you, O Muadh! Is there anything that throws people into the Hellfire upon their faces — or: on their noses — except the harvests of their tongues?” It was related by at-Tirmidhi, who said it was a good and sound hadeeth.

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Review Pillars of Islam - 3 doors to Paradise

Fasting

Charity

Prayer Head, Pillar & Peak of Entering Paradise

Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Shall I not inform you of the head of the matter, its pillar and its peak?”

HEAD, PILLAR & PEAK

The peak of the matter – do you want

to know what it is?

I said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “The head of the matter is Islam,

HEAD - AL ISLAM The amr, the head of the matter of your life is Islam – submission to the will of one Rabb. Submission is the action, in life you need to have some actions:

Love

Fear

Hope Following the commands of Allah subhana

wa ta'ala, this is nurturing. What will make you to submit?

When you know Allah subhana wa ta'ala’s actions – Rabb, Turbiyah (nurturing).

When you know His nurturing is with rahma (mercy) Automatically you will submit to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. People who don’t submit or accept are restless in life. Your test in life is to submit because you know this is nurturing from Allah subhana wa ta'ala – you need to know why you submit? You submit to the commands, the legislation, the decree, you submit to everything. RububiyyatAllah – Allah’s Nurturing Submitting will take you to Paradise. This is the head of your life.

برأس المر

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its pillar is the prayer PILLAR - AS SALAT One Pillar of Islam is As Salat. When your salat is excellent all the other deeds will depend on it. On the Day of Judgment Allah subhana wa ta'ala will first look at your salat. If your salat is good everything else will be accepted. If your salat is not accepted, your other deeds will be ruined. Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam made the abstract in Islam tangible. A pillar is something you are depending on –

you are depending on your salat Chapter (2) sūrat l-baqarah (The Cow) 2:45 And seek help through patience and prayer Sabr The minimum is that you need to submit to Islam. Also you rely on your salat – the pillar. The salat is a pillar, something you get strength from because it is a meeting between you and Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Salat is more than just an obligation which you do, finish and it is out of the way. When you know what is salat you don’t want to stop praying. You feel this is the place of the meeting between you and Allah subhana wa ta'ala. When you say ‘Allahu Akbar’ Allah’s Face will be infront of your face. Allah’s Face will be infront of your face but you don’t see His Face because if you saw Allah’s Face what will happen? – you will die out of happiness. But you will ‘taste the sweetness of knowing Allah subhana wa ta'ala’ when you know Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Salat is a connection between you and Allah subhana wa ta'ala Salat is the only ibadah Allah subhana wa ta'ala prescribed when Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam went on the night Journey – Isra ul Miraj. Salat was not prescribed on the Earth but was prescribed in the 7

th Heaven. If you want the connection with Allah

subhana wa ta'ala you need to see yourself in the prayer. The prayer is the best way of training the nafs and fighting the shaytan – jihad al nafs. After the prayer the way for you will be good. Chapter (29) sūrat l-ʿankabūt (The Spider) 29:45 Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing Salat will forbid you from the evil, protect you from yourself. You want to do wrong and Allah subhana wa ta'ala will stop you because of the salat. Salat by itself is a struggle – when you do the salat well, you will see afterwards that the salat will reform you. The Meeting The greatest ni’amah from Allah subhana wa ta'ala is that He allowed us to have a meeting with Him a minimum five times a day. Al-HamduliLlah Allah The King allowed me to have a meeting with Him and in my hands is the starting of the meeting – you don’t need an appointment, in your hands is to just say ‘Allahu Akbar’ and you will be in the meeting. Without the salat you will be lost – you won’t like yourself. In this time we need to do something else. For the one who cares about the salat, for them the meeting with Allah subhana wa ta'ala on the Day of Judgment will be easy. Now is the time to think of the prayer because eventually you will meet Allah subhana wa ta'ala.

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Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said ‘For everybody on the Day of Judgement, Allah will speak to them without a negotiator or mediator’. Imagine on the Day of Judgment you will talk to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. In order for that meeting to be full of joy and happiness you need to care about that meeting now. A’mudh – all of this is like a pillar, if you don’t have it you have nothing.

and its peak is jihad.” PEAK - JIHAD The highest peak of Islam is ‘fisabillah jihad’ – striving for the cause of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Jihad is not the struggle for a place or for the sake of people etc. but the struggle for Allah’s Name to be exalted. Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was asked about who is making jihad fisabillah. People fight for the sake of fame, for money or position, this is not fisabillah jihad. Fisabillah jihad is

only for Allah subhana wa ta'ala’s word to be exalted. The caliphs after Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam only wanted to spread Islam – they fought army to army, they did not kill children or cut down trees etc. In summary we have three things which are the peak of entering Paradise and the means to goodness:

Islam

Salat

Jihad But next follows a short cut:

Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Shall I not tell you of the foundation of all of that?”

FOUNDATION Something which controls everything – you want to have Islam, salat & Jihad and you want to have control over them i.e. get them right, to hold the keys to have them.

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I said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” So he took hold of his tongue and said, “Restrain this.”

THE TONGUE The lissan (tongue) – your faith, your Islam, your salat and jihad will not be firm and steadfast until you take care of your tongue.

= Hold / restrain. It is very easy to move the tongue and therefore to easily and

quickly make a slip of the tongue. Speaking is a desire – what we feel we say and this can take you out of Islam. The Mutaqeen do not speak of what they feel. When you restrain and control your tongue all the matters of your religion will be solved – your submission will be good, your salat will be good, your jihad will be good. The opposite Why don’t we submit? Because we are busy talking. Why don’t we concentrate in the prayer? Because you are talking or somebody else is talking. Why don’t we struggle with ourselves? Because we are busy talking.

I said, “O Prophet of Allah, will we be taken to account for what we say with it?” He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “May your mother be bereaved of you, O Muadh!

“May your mother be bereaved of you”– this is an Arabic expression meaning ‘You don’t know this?’

Is there anything that throws people into the Hellfire upon their faces — or: on their noses — except the harvests of their tongues?”

The majority of the dwellers of Hellfire are there because of their tongue – the sins of the tongue. The ‘lissan’ is so small but it can destroy relationships, families and nations. One word is like a bullet, once you say it, you can’t bring it back.

Chapter (17) sūrat l-isrā (The Night Journey) 17:53 And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy. Say not that which is ‘good’ but say what is the ‘best’. You have good, you have better and then the best – before you speak think, is this good or do I choose the best. If you think before you speak by the time you have thought you will not say what you were going to say. The Qur’an is the way of reforming but we have to do something – one way is the knowledge. Why do we have to choose the best? Choose the best because shaytan is waiting for you to make a mistake. For a peaceful life watch your tongue – rely on Allah subhana wa ta'ala, turbiyah (reforming) and tawakkul (reliance) = TAZKIYATUN NAFS (self-purification).

كف

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What are the sicknesses of the tongue?

Sins of the Tongue

We need to reform ourselves – don’t analyse other people with the knowledge you are gaining. When your tongue is good it will affect the heart. Hadith: you need to speak the truth – sidq - Tazkiya al nafs.

Hadith: The one who believes in Allah subhana wa ta'ala and the Day of Judgement will say good or he will be silent. Chapter (95) sūrat l-tīn (The Fig)

95:4 We have certainly created man in the best of stature; Chapter (55) sūrat l-raḥmān (The Most Gracious)

55:4 [And] taught him eloquence. This is a blessing from Allah subhana wa ta'ala – to translate what you have in your heart for goodness. Al lissan is one of the blessings of Allah subhana wa ta'ala but we need to guard our tongue for uttering something bad. Hadith: The one who guarantees for Me what is between his legs and what is between his lips I will guarantee for him Paradise. The majority of people are in Hellfire because of the sins between the legs (i.e. adultery) and the sins of the tongue. From these two hadith we see the importance of being silent – there is a virtue in being quiet. If you want to say good, say it, but the problem is we don’t want to always speak good, we are embarrassed. We need to build on these two hadith.

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Virtues of Being Quiet

When you have nothing good to say be quiet – but people will say you are boring, you only talk when you have something to say, why are you being quiet etc. Say to yourself I am going through the nurturing. What is the Virtue of being Quiet? This is one of the means to gather your heart – to be more focused. Quietness occupies the mind and the heart.

When you are continuously talking, emailing, messaging, socialising this makes you busy with something not important. To think, to account yourself, to collect and gather your heart you need time to be quiet and silent. Salat When your mind is busy and occupied with things which are not important you can’t focus in your salat. You are praying and at the same time you are thinking she said this, she did that, I should have said this, I should have done that etc. Also when submitting and striving against yourself you need a certain amount of time to be by yourself – just to reflect and think. You can’t reflect when you are always talking. Allah subhana wa ta'ala wants your heart to be close to Him. Every good deed has an intention and virtue – when you think and remember the intention and virtue there is more reward. But we forget this because we are busy talking. Slipping of the Tongue Before you say anything put it under the microscope – is it good, bad or evil. Maybe what I want to say is evil, bad or nonsense. When you are samt (silence) it will make it easy for you to reflect and think about what to say. One Tongue Two Ears This is why we have one tongue and two ears. The way of nurturing is through the hearing – you will observe, see and be alert. When speaking you are busy with what you will say next etc. – it is like a desire, talking for the sake of talking, people thinking you are an interesting person. A misconception about people is when they are quiet – they will have problems in life. What are the Sins of the Tongue?

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1. Talking about things not concerning us

For example a minister of education talking about education is fine, but for us it does not concern us. This includes magazines, newspapers. For example if you continuously read about crime you will become afraid – we are concerned with more than we need to know. Ask yourself:

Will it make me do something wrong? Will it occupy my heart and mind?

Movies and dramas play with your emotions, they affect the brain, people are living their lives as if living in a movie and it is not even real. Think Have a filter – before speaking think ‘Does it concern me and do I need to say anything’.

if it does not concern me I will leave it.

But if it does not concern us we love it, our hearts want to say something. To not say anything is jihad al nafs. Hadith: ‘His Islam will be excellent when he leaves what is not concerning him’.

2. Indulging in Falsehood

This includes talking of sins, disputes or wrong things – it is better to stay away. If Allah subhana wa ta'ala bestowed upon you the guidance you should want to take it.

3. Exaggerating

Exaggerating with the news to create a drama, to be the centre of attention – living for yourself. Hadith: ‘Those who hate Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam the most and are the farthest away from Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam are those who talk excessively or use complicated language and those who always have an answer for everything.’

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4. Indecent Language

Using language of low morality. Hadith: ‘The mumin does not use bad or low language’.

5. Mockery

We need to laugh but it should be truthful and not excessive.

6. Making fun of others

Making fun of others faults or misfortunes. This includes making fun of yourself or animals with words or actions.

7. Don’t disclose people secrets

Especially the secrets between husband and wife. In the time of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam he told the people of Madina not to discuss such matters in the open.

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8. Do not lie

Generally we cannot lie but for some reason people will lie – lying is permissible in three cases:

During war Preventing disagreement between

people Between husband and wife i.e. you

are the most beautiful woman / handsome man.

9. Backbiting

No one likes to eat the flesh of their dead brother or sister. The nurturing is to stop talking about people behind their back even if they are bad. Those also listening to the gheebah are partaking in the sin. Those who you are talking about will take from your hasanat on the Day of Judgment. People will gheebah about a whole family, a nation, those of one nationality. Before saying anything imagine the person is in front of you, would they feel bad if you said what you were going to say infront of them.

People may come to you to complain about others – change the conversation or leave the majlis. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala protect us from this. If you do backbite out of suspicion or thinking bad about someone make du’a for them so that it will not be held against you on the Day of Judgment. On the Day of Judgement there is a place, Qantarah, where people will settle the scores between each other. A few moments of backbiting in a day can take away all the hasanat you have gained. Repent to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, if you can do so confess to the person, make du’a for them.

10. Creating enmity between people May Allah subhana wa ta'ala protect our tongue from An Nameemah.

11. Double faced

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Be yourself.

12. Praise

When you praise just for the sake of praise. Al Madh is evil for two people

The one over exaggerating in their praise - LYING The one receiving the praise – ARROGANCE,

PROUDNESS Praise puts people in a fitnah. Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said to throw sand in the face of one praising. Praise for encouragement and motivation is acceptable. Idolising someone with praise is wrong, and the other person will be pleased with themselves.

13. Singing Say the beautiful words from the Qur’an. Singing is lying – not reality, based on dreams. Singing spoils the heart. Listening to music and then reading the Qur’an do not go together – singing is one of the flutes of the shaytan which he uses to spoil the human being and to indulge in the sins. Some sects say singing about Allah subhana wa ta'ala makes you closer to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. If you want to be closer to Allah subhana wa ta'ala read the Qur’an.

14. The curse

The curse is like a bullet. The Mumin never curses:

Himself His Children The Animals The objects

Cursing is totally forbidden. If you curse something that doesn’t deserve it, the curse will come back to the you like firing a bullet at yourself. When your tongue is purified then everything else will be purified – you need the control. ‘Curse’ means out of Allah subhana wa ta'ala’s mercy, i.e. may Allah

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subhana wa ta'ala NOT be merciful to you. This is not the attitude of the Mumin – The Mumin does not do anything to make Allah subhana wa ta'ala angry. Conditions of good words (kalaam);

There is a reason for it. Ensure it is not one of the above, is there a reason for it, does it make sense,

is it to the point, choose the best words. Is it a good time to speak.

All of this is hikmah (wisdom) and gives a person dignity Our journey to Allah subhana wa ta'ala is to be continued. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala accept from everybody.

This is a transcript of a lecture given by Sister Eman al Obaid. Anything that is good from these notes is from Allah subhana wa ta’ala. Any mistakes & misrepresentations are my own. 2:149 So from wherever you go out [for prayer, O Muhammad] turn your face toward al- Masjid al-haram, and indeed, it is the truth from your Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.

Acts for Entering Paradise

5 Pillars

Means of Goodness

Fasting - Shield

Charity - extinguishes sin

Night Prayer

The Matter

Head - Islam

Pillar - Salat

Peak - Jihad

Foundation

Restrain the tongue