Muiz Bukhary – The Hidden Enemy Within – Fight the Evils of the Tongue
AI: Summary ©
The upcoming month of dashboards is emphasized as a time of discipline and discomfort to not forget to fast with the Bureau Leeway. The speakers stress the importance of avoiding harming others, setting boundaries, listening to positive talk, and seeking forgiveness. The speaker emphasizes the importance of knowing one's words and action to protect oneself and the community from harm.
AI: Summary ©
So my dear brothers and sisters,
it is truly a difficult feeling to describe
because we find ourselves in the last stretch
of this beautiful and noble month.
The month of Ramadan is nearing its end.
We are in
the last 10 days, the last 10 nights,
and these are moments of reflection, of introspection,
and we must work hard towards spiritual
rejuvenation.
So today, Insha Allahu Ta'ala, I want to
address a matter
of great importance
and this is a matter that affects our
hearts, our souls
and by extension our communities.
I want to talk about
the harms
of backbiting
and gossip
and how they are rooted in jealousy
and in envy.
You see my dear brothers and sisters this
month that we are in the month of
Ramadan it is a month of discipline
And it is not just
a month of discipline
for the body
or some kind of a diet where we
abstain from food and drink
only?
No. It is a month of discipline of
the tongue as well.
Now you see this
small
piece of flesh
has no bones, but it holds the power
to earn immense rewards
or drag us towards
our destruction, drag us towards our downfall.
And this is why the Messenger Sallallahu alaihi
wasallam he warned us
indicating that the faith that the iman of
those who fail to safeguard their tongues is
incomplete.
So as we fast from dawn till dusk,
abstaining from food and drink,
we must
not forget to fast with our tongues as
well. Staying away from harmful
words, staying away from toxic speech. May Allah
help us all to do so. Now if
you look at the roots of backbiting and
gossiping, it is jealousy and envy.
Jealousy and envy
lurk in the human heart, whispering ill thoughts,
whispering evil thoughts, whispering toxic messages,
and urging the tongue to speak harm. Now
these feelings my dear brothers and sisters, if
unchecked
lead to backbiting and gossip.
This is why our beloved prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
he described
envy as a fire.
Indeed, Al Hasid, indeed envy, indeed jealousy
eats up your good deeds, gobbles up your
good deeds just as how a fire consumes
dry firewood.
You see, we strive so hard. Look, in
this month of Ramadan, we're striving so hard.
We wake up early in the morning, we
are in prayer, in the remembrance of Allah,
in the reading of the Quran, we give
out, you know, from our heart and wealth,
we give out our zakah, we give out
our sadaqah, we go on umrah, we go
on hajj. Why? Why are we doing all
of this? To earn the pleasure of our
beloved maker. And we sincerely hope that when
we stand in front of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala in the court of Allah that we
will see all these good deeds
multiplied
as mountains insha Allahu ta'ala.
But
the scary reality
is that on one
side,
if you are going to be doing good
deeds and on the other side, if you're
going to be harboring jealousy, harboring envy,
harboring all these toxic feelings, my dear brother,
my dear sister,
and these toxic feelings are going to eat
away at your good deeds. They're going to
destroy your good deeds, subhanallah.
So in the serenity of this month, the
month of Ramadan,
we are called upon to cleanse our hearts.
We are called upon to fill our hearts
with the light of gratitude and contentment.
Why contentment?
Because when you are content, you push away
the darkness of envy and jealousy. You do
not look at others with jealousy.
You do not look at the belongings of
others with jealousy. You do not look at
the blessings
of others with envy and jealousy. Why you
are content with the blessings that Allah has
blessed you with?
So you see my dear brothers and sisters
back biting and gossiping,
they not only tarnish and darken our souls
and hearts, but they also tear at the
fabric
of our community.
These feelings, these toxic traits, they saw discord
and mistrust amongst brothers and sisters,
amongst friends, amongst spouses, amongst siblings, amongst family
members, amongst relatives,
eroding
the unity that our deen, our beautiful our
beautiful deen seeks to build. And this is
why our maker Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he warns
us
very severely in the noble Quran against backbiting
in Surah Al Hujurat.
Our maker, he likens backbiting to eating the
flesh
of our brethren, our dead brother, or dead
sister. SubhanAllah, would any one of us find
that palatable?
Would we find it palatable? This vivid imagery
serves my dear brother, my dear sister as
a stern reminder of the gravity of our
words.
So this noble month, the month of Ramadan
teaches us self restraint.
So let it be a time for us
to guard our tongues. Let us use our
words to heal,
not to harm. Let us use our words
to uplift,
not degrade and humiliate.
Let us speak only that which is of
benefit, only that which is beneficial
or otherwise let us embrace the beauty of
silence.
Our messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam is reported
to have said,
The one who believes in Allah and the
last day. Why last day? Because on that
day, we are all going to be held
accountable. Every single word of ours, every action
of our of ours will be brought forward.
So so the one who believes in Allah,
the one who believes in that last day,
the one who remembers that last day, the
one who knows that he or she is
going to be taken into account in front
of Allah
should speak good
or keep silent.
So inshallah wata'ala, as we move towards the
conclusion of this video,
I want to share a few action items.
These action items will help us to control
our tongues and avoid backbiting and gossip inshallah.
So as we strive to carry the discipline
of this noble month month of Ramadan throughout
the year beyond Ramadan,
let us work towards adopting these practical steps
to safeguard
our tongues and we ask
help before going ahead with the action items.
Action item number 1,
keep yourself engaged in constant remembrance of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Constant
fill your moments,
fill your time,
Moisten your tongue with the remembrance of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. The remembrance
of Allah
serves as a shield
protecting the heart, protecting the tongue
from
slipping into the abyss
of negative behaviors.
So keep your tongue moist with the remembrance
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. For when our
mouths and tongues are busy in the glorification
and in the exalting and in the praise
of Allah,
there's little room
for harmful and toxic speech.
Action item number 2,
keep good company.
Surround yourself
with people who remind you of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Surround yourself with people who themselves
refrain from backbiting and gossip. The The messenger
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in many a place.
He talks about the importance of choosing your
company wisely,
choosing your friends wisely,
A good friend versus a bad friend. SubhanAllah.
How an individual follows the religion of his
friend, the deen of his friend. So we
must be extremely careful, extremely prudent when it
comes to choosing our circles, choosing our friends.
Action item
number 3,
stop conversations that lead to sin. You, my
dear brother, my dear sister, be
the one who changes the subject when a
conversation starts
drifting towards backbiting or gossip. You have to
remember,
silence in the face of sin is complicity.
You are basically becoming part and parcel of
it if you're being silent in the face
of that particular sin. So, therefore,
always encourage positive talk.
As the quote goes,
small minds discuss people
whilst
great minds talk about ideas, talk about great
things.
You see it's small minds that sit down.
You have this
small person syndrome,
if I'm not mistaken, where, you know, you
end up talking about others, backbiting about others,
putting down others, degrading others, subhanAllah.
Therefore,
encourage positive talk.
And when you sense a conversation drifting towards
backbiting and gossip, remind others of the dangers
of such conversations.
Remind them of the aya in the Quran.
Remind them that this is something that they
should stay away.
But if they're not going to listen then
it is upon you to remove yourself from
such situations.
Next action item,
reflect before you speak.
Adopt the habit of thinking before speaking. Ask
yourself a couple of questions.
I'm going to say something. I'm going to
speak.
What is coming out from my mouth. Is
it true?
Is it beneficial?
Is it the right time to say it?
If the answer to any of these questions
is no, then it would be better for
you to remain silent at that juncture.
Next action item, make amends. You see we're
all guilty of this. So if you have
spoken ill of someone in the past seek
their forgiveness because by making amends
this cleanses the heart and it repairs relationships.
The next action item, seek knowledge.
Invest time, my dear brother, my dear sister
in learning about the lives of the prophets,
the Sahaba
and the pious people of the past. Why?
Because their stories
are filled filled to the brim with lessons
on controlling the tongue and using it in
ways that are pleasing to Allah. So by
going into these beautiful stories,
they are our superheroes. By going into these
beautiful stories, you are going to be inspired.
You will find
inspiration to control your tongue. You will find
inspiration
to help you use your words in ways
that are pleasing unto Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
The next action item, and this is the
last one for this video, accountability.
Hold yourself accountable at the end of each
day, my dear brother, my dear sister. Reflect
on your conversations.
Did I speak
any ill of someone today?
Did I hurt someone? Did I break the
heart of an individual? Did I speak something
that was of no benefit whatsoever?
Umar radiAllahu and who is reported to have
said,
take yourself into account before you are taken
into account.
See, whether we like it or not, we
are all going to be taken into account.
All of our books, our actions, our statements
are going to be audited. So let us
audit ourselves before we are taken into
in in for an audit, before we are
account we're we're taken into account. So therefore,
on a regular basis, take yourself into account.
And then
after a clear assessment, after a clear
analyzing of what
you've said,
if you realize that, oh, you know, I've
slipped,
have made a mistake, then seek the forgiveness
of Allah
immediately
and place a renewed intention to do better.
So this practice of auditing yourself
makes you aware.
It it it brings in this awareness that
you know what? I must be careful with
my words.
Because otherwise, we tend to become heedless.
We tend to forget. We are a forgetful
creation. May Allah
protect us all.
So my dear brothers and sisters, as this
beautiful month draws to a close,
let the discipline and the self control that
we have nurtured within the month not end
with it. Let the lessons of this beautiful
month live on in us,
guiding us to speak with kindness,
to speak with care,
to act with compassion,
and to live in harmony. You see our
tongues, this small yet significant part of us
can be a means for us to
fly into Jannah, into paradise, but we must
use our tongues wisely.
So
in conclusion, by controlling our tongues, we protect
not just ourselves, but our entire community from
harm. As we bid farewell to this beautiful
month, let us commit firmly to carrying forward
its lessons, and we sincerely pray. May Allah
accept our fasting. May he accept our prayers,
our charity during this noble month. May he
grant us the strength
to further our spiritual growth, and may he
bless us and make us of those
who fly through the gates, the special gates
of Jannah
reserved for those who are fasting the gates
of Arayan.
Thank you very much for, watching the video.
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share in on the reward Insha Allahu Ta'ala.
I look forward to talking to you all
in another video soon.