Islamic lessons

Brothers in faith! Allah ta^aalaahas bestowed upon us innumerable graces. We belong toHim ta^aalaa and He owns all the favours He bestows upon us. He made a duty upon us toshow Him our gratefulness for those favours by not using them in a way He has notallowed, that is to say, by not using them in a way He madeharaam upon us. My Muslimbrother, what you own is a favour from Allah tabaaraka wata^aalaa, so do not spend it onwhat Allah has not allowed; your body is a favour so do not use it to disobey Allah. Yourhand is a favour so do not use it in a way Allah disapproved. Your leg is a favour so do notwalk to do what will bring His punishment upon you. Your eye is a favour, so do not turn ittowards what Allah forbade you to look at. Your ear is a favour so do not lend it to listen towhat Allah madeharaam. Your tongue is a favour so do not use it to utter what Allah madeharaam upon us. Fear Allah my Muslim brother and do not disobey Him with the gracesHe granted you and given you ownership of, because if you disobey Him you commit aninjustice and Allah does not love the unjust who wrong themselves by disobeying theirLord.Brothers in faith! The tongue is a great favour with which Allah honoured humans and Hereminded us of it in the noble Qur'an where He mentioned several of His favours upon us.Allah revealed words whose meaning is: {Have We not made for him two eyes?(8)atongue and two lips?}1but the danger from it is grievous, the tongue is small in size but itis guilty of major offences; in other words: it is a tiny organ but enormous sins arecommitted with it. The Messenger of Allah-salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam-warned often againstthe danger of the tongue, as in thehadeethsaheehreported in theSunanof atTirmidhiyywhere it is narrated that Mu^adh ibn Jabal-radiya-llahu ^anhu-enquired of the Messenger ofAllah-salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam, saying what means: “O Prophet of Allah, shall we be heldto accounts for what we say? He answered [What is wrong with you Mu^adh! Willanything else cause people to be thrown into Hell-Fire upon their faces or nostrils,apart from what their tongues have harvested?]Part of what tongues harvest, causing them to fall in the Fire on their faces, is backbitingand tale bearing; these two are also the reasons for torment in the grave, so if you talk ofyour brother in his absence, mentioning something he would dislike, you are backbitinghim and disobeying your Lord. This is the case if you say, “such person is badly shaped” or“thick”, “stingy”,“his house is dirty”, “his children are badly brought up” and similarcomments. Allah tabaaraka wata^aalaa compared backbiting with eating the flesh of yourdead brother, revealing words whose meaning is: {...and do not backbite one another.Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it,but fear Allah: For Allah accepts repentance and is merciful}2Would you like anyoneto eat your dead flesh, or for you to eat the dead flesh of your Muslim brother? Without anydoubt, you would not like it, so stay away from backbiting!As for tale bearing,nameemah, it is to convey the words of one person to another in orderto spoil their relationship, which is an enormous sin. The Messenger of Allah-salla-llaahu^alayhi wasallam-said what means, [A person who spreads bad words between peoplewill not enter Paradise]3, that is to say: he will not go in with the first because he deserves1Sura alBalad 90:8-92Sura alHujuraat 49:123Reported by alBukhariyy

The scourge of the tongueءءءءءءءءءءءAICP UKto be punished in Hell. The wordqattaatused in Arabic in the text means a person whospreadnameemah.Part of what tongues harvest is lying, which is to tell something contrary to reality, sobeware of lying, whether you are serious or joking, for all of it isharaam. Falsely swearingby Allah's name belongs to it, it is one of the enormous sins because it is a lack of reverencetoward Allah ta^aalaa and if the consequence of this false oath is to deprive a Muslim ofhis right, Allah condemns him to the Fire of Hell as the Messenger of Allah mentioned-salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam, this being reported by Muslim in hisSaheeh.Beware of false accusations of fornication or adultery also my Muslim brother! For this ispart of the capital sins and it means attributing him withzinaa, unlawful sexualintercourse and the like. Nowadays many people findit easy to throw false accusations offornication against Muslim men and women, saying, “such person is a fornicator”,“bastard”, “brother of a fornicating woman” to the point that you can hardly walk in thestreet without ugly and evil words of this kindhitting your ears against the Prophet's order-salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam-whose meaning is, [Avoid the seven capital sins]4and hementioned among them accusing falsely unaware chaste Muslim women of adultery.Among the major offences committed with the tongue is to insult a Muslim without right,which is an enormous sin. The Prophet-^alayhissalaatu wassalaam-said what means: [toinsult a Muslim is a big sin]5and it is one of the actions people find easy to commit so myMuslim brother, beware of using abusive language unjustly against a Muslim; protect yourtongue, for the Prophet-^alayhissalaatu wassalaam-said what means: [A Muslim is a personwhose tongue and hands Muslims are safe from] that is to say: a perfect Muslim issomeone who does not harm Muslims with his tongue and his hands; as for a person whodoes not fit this description, he is not a perfect believer. If the wrong committed was acurse like saying, “may Allah curse such person” as some do, which means: may Allahdeprive him of what is good, then this is worse. The Prophet-^alayhissalaatu wassalaam-isreported in theSunanof alBayhaqiyy to have said what means: {to curse a Muslim is likekilling him} and this is meant to show the seriousness of the sin.One of the afflictions of the tongue is to mock a Muslim with words showing disdaintowards him, it is part of harming a Muslim without right and is one of the offencescommitted by many people nowadays.The most dangerous sin committed by the tongue iskufr, disbelief, mayAllah ta^aalaaprotect us from it.My Muslim brother, what we have mentioned shows clearly the danger posed by thetongue. May Allah guard me and you, act according to the Messenger of Allah's teaching's-salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam-when he said what means, [Whoever remains quiet is saved]”6;act according to what our master ^Abdullah ibn Mas^ood said when he grabbed his tongue4Reported by Muslim.5Reported by alBukhariyy6Reported by atTabaraniyy and others.

The scourge of the tongueءءءءءءءءءءءAICP UKand then lectured it, saying what means: “O tongue! Say what is good and you will win,abstain from evil words and you will besafe, before you regret. I heard the Messenger ofAllah-salla-llaahu ^alayhi wasallam-saying , [Most sins of the son of Adam are from histongue].” So be careful my Muslim brother not to mock your Muslim brother with wordsyou find easy to utter but will then become the cause of your pain in Hell, after the Day ofJudgement. Be careful also not to insult a Muslim or curse him without right only to findthe bad consequences on the day when no soul shall avail another in the least. Be carefulnot to backbite a Muslim only to find out it is the cause of your torment in the grave. Becareful not to make false accusations of fornication against a Muslim, man or woman andfind yourself condemned in the hereafter. A prudent person keeps his tongue tied andweighs his words before uttering them, for everything that is said is written by the twoangels appointed to this task. Allah tabaaraka wata^aalaa revealed verses whose meaningis: {(17)When the two angels learn of his actions, sitting on the right and on theleft.(18)He does not say a word but next to him Raqeeb and ^Ateed(19)and the agony ofdeath will come in truth; that is what you were trying to escape,(20)and the trumpetshall be blown; this is the threatened Day.(21) Every soul will come, with ita driverand a witness.(22)Certainly you were heedless of it, but now We have removed fromyou your veil, so your sight today is sharp.}7