Ali Albarghouthi – Guard Your Tongue

You could do a lot of damage with

your tongue, especially today, much more than at

the time of the Prophet ﷺ.

So we actually pay money to learn how

to talk, how to be eloquent, how to

choose our words.

But we don't learn how to be quiet.

What else throws people in hellfire on their

faces except what their tongues bring back.

And this

skill, this ibadah of silence is one that

is seldom followed today.

It is important to understand that it's an

ibadah and that it's a skill because in

another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said, أكثر خطايا

ابن آدم في لسانه Most of the sins

of the child of Adam are in his

tongue.

Most of the sins of the child of

Adam come from his tongue.

And he said in another hadith, وَهَلْ يَكُبُّ

النَّاسَ فِي النَّارِ عَلَى مَنَاخِرِهِمْ إِلَّا حَصَائِدُ أَلْسِنَتِهِمْ

What else throws people in hellfire on their

faces except what their tongues bring back, the

harvest of their tongues.

So this tongue, this small instrument in our

body is so dangerous.

How come we have not learned how to

restrain it?

You see us on the one hand learning,

not only learning but paying money to learn

how to talk.

This is how you can conduct or pass

an interview.

You learn what to say.

This is how you could be a better

public speaker.

This is how you can convince people.

This is how you can win friends.

This is how you could influence others to

believe what you believe.

So we actually pay money to learn how

to talk, how to be eloquent, how to

choose our words.

But we don't learn how to be quiet.

We don't learn how to be silent.

We don't appreciate silence and what it brings

to us.

And we have no control over it.

And we don't understand how catastrophic it could

be especially today.

Because the easiest thing today to turn on

your phone, face your camera and say whatever

you want to say.

Whether you understand or not.

Whether you know or not.

Whether it's beneficial or not.

You record it, you broadcast it.

Hundreds, thousands, millions of people potentially could hear

that.

And you're responsible for it.

And these things could cause tremendous harm.

They could incite riots.

They could cause the killing of other people.

They could assassinate their reputation.

You could do a lot of damage with

your tongue especially today.

Much more than at the time of the

Prophet ﷺ.

So if that tongue was dangerous then, it's

much more dangerous now.