The Power of the Tongue (Words)

The Power of the Tongue (Words)

All praise for Allah Who has honored man and has created him in the best of forms. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the only God Who has no partner.

Praise for Allah Who has endowed man with the ability to speak with his tongue as one of His greatest bounties.

In the Divine Book, Al-Qur’an, Allah, the Exalted, has endowed us with words we utter in order to communicate with each other, express our feelings, and reveal our intentions. Imagine not being able to speak, when you are standing in clear view of the person you are communicating with, then you may use your hands to gesture and articulate, but what happens if you are either in the dark or in a different location than the other person?

Allah swt Himself informed us in His noble Qur’an how He created the heavens and the earth by commanding them to come together “willingly or unwillingly” and they both replied “We come with willing obedience” our Lord.

Allah is the one who puts words in our minds and makes us use our tongues to express them.

For example, when the angel came to Prophet Muhammad for the first time, what did he do to him? He utters the word, starting with “Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem”, In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

 

Then said: “Iqra bismi rab bikal lazee khalaq” Recite in the name of your Lord who created

 

Allah swt says in the noble Qur’an “When Allah swt intends to do something He simply says “Be, and it is”.
Innama amuru’ idha ara’da shein’an, án yà kulla lahu “Kun-fa-Ya Kun”.

We can see that the word comes out from the tongue by Allah’s grace and mercy. Though the word is part of those wonders of Allah we cannot see but only feel or see its effect.

In Islam, the tongue is considered a powerful tool that can be used for good or evil. Allah swt has intended the word for good.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) warned Muslims to be careful of what they say, as words can have lasting consequences.

What the tongue can do:

**Good
A believer who speaks well of others and guards their tongue will be rewarded on Judgment Day.
**Evil
A heedless word or insult can cause great harm to others and result in punishment in the afterlife.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my work colleagues who suddenly approached me and asked “Can I share something with you that’s been bothering me and is really getting me to behave badly, making me go crazy”, something tells me to talk to you..

Subhannallah!!! I said me kẹ, why me in my heart.

(This is a woman who, when I joined the company, treated me with so much disdain and I asked another colleague why she behaves like that and was told that’s how she is, just ignore her…)

I asked her what the problem was. That I’d be glad to hear if she wishes to share it with me.

She told me how she used to speak badly to her children and now I can personally see how badly this affecting them and I can see it’s a result of my evil tongue… One of my daughters especially recently confronted me and yelled at me that you have destroyed my confidence with the negative and terrible words you always yelled at me…

She told me that when she heard that, she broke down in tears knowing for sure my daughter was absolutely correct, but I didn’t know I was damaging myself and my children with my bad tongue.

I asked her if she was hurt by someone earlier in her life which affects the way she now treats her own children. She took a deep breath and said yes, very badly but that’s a long story, and I don’t wish to remember..

I said, I understand.. Then before I advised her, I asked her if she believed in God,and she said yes but I am a Hindu. I said do you realize I am a Muslim, she said yes I know and that is why I had this urge to talk to you because I know you will advise me truthfully. I said, Alhamdulillah… then gave my advice as to what she needs to do from now on…

I noticed she did not once mention anything about “my husband or my marriage”, but I could feel she went through a great heartbreak and that was the genesis of her mental breakdown.

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What to avoid saying

1. Lying
2. Breaking promises
3. Slandering or speaking ill of others
4. Arguing without a clear benefit
5. Self-justification or self-praise that leads to arrogance
6. Cursing or using foul language
7. Invoking evil on others
8. Jesting, ridiculing, or scoffing at others

**How to guard your tongue

Be aware of the types of speech you should avoid
-Think before you speak
-Choose to speak well or remain silent

The Prophet’s ﷺ concise statement should serve as sufficient evidence that the above is true: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should say something good, or keep quiet.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

the power of the tongue can also be amplified for positive things.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “The greatest struggle [Jihād] is a word of truth in front of a tyrant ruler.” [An-Nasā’ī]
This statement should not fool anyone into thinking that the effect of prohibiting someone from doing wrong is confined only to the next world.

One of the ways that ‘wrong’ is made ‘right’ is through the tongue. In fact, according to the Messenger ﷺ, this oral activism becomes a necessity when unable to physically correct something: “Whoever perceives something wrong must correct with their hand. If unable to, then with their tongue. If still unable, then with their heart and that is the weakest level of faith.” [Muslim]

An In-depth look at this command reveals a number of things:

1. First, the perception that something is wrong must be correct and based upon knowledge, rather than suspicion or false accusation. Had the command been limited to what every ignorant person perceives to be wrong, it would lead to chaos.

2. Next, correcting something with the heart means to hate it in your heart. You can only hate what you know. Therefore, Prophetic wisdom commands people to know what evil is happening around them. Those people who live in an environment surrounded by injustice and oppression but are ignorant of what is taking place are just as guilty as those who know about it but don’t hate it.

3. Lastly, the sequence that was mentioned deserves special attention.
The first step is to acquire the knowledge of what is considered as ‘wrong.’ Islam rejects the idea of moral relativism, in its absolute sense.
What is right and wrong has been defined by our Creator, not by the creation. The second step is to have the knowledge of what is taking place around you. If you do not know what is taking place, you cannot even attempt to hate it.

The tongue has so much power because of its ability to lead to action, whether it is the individual speaking, or others who are listening. “Every revolution begins as an idea in the mind of a person, and then the words spread…”

The Quran emphasizes the importance of controlling the tongue through verses like Surah Al-Furqan, verse 72, which states that righteous people are those who “do not testify to falsehood, and when they pass near ill speech, they pass by with dignity.”.

Key points about controlling the tongue in the Quran:

Avoiding backbiting and gossip:
The Quran strongly condemns backbiting, which is considered a major sin, and encourages Muslims to avoid speaking ill of others behind their backs.

Speaking truth:
The Quran instructs believers to always speak the truth even if it is against themselves and avoid lying.

Mindful speech:
The Quran encourages reflection before speaking, considering the potential impact of words on others.

Surah An-Nisa, verse 11:
This verse highlights the danger of speaking words that are not in line with one’s heart, essentially condemning hypocrisy.

Other relevant verses:

Surah Al-Hujurat, verse 12:
“O you who believe! Let not a people deride [another] people who may be better than they [in the sight of Allah].

Nor let women deride [other] women who may be better than they [in the sight of Allah].

Do not find fault with yourselves [by backbiting]. And do not call one another by bad names. Wretched is the name of indecency after faith. And whoever does not repent then, it is those who are wrongdoers.”

Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 187:
“And do not spend your wealth in extravagance, for Allah does not like the extravagant spenders.” (This verse can be interpreted to include controlling one’s speech and avoiding unnecessary talk).