Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah, the Inspirer of Awe, the Magnificent, and the
All-Perfect! Praise be to Allah, the Supreme, the Great, and the Sublime! I thank Him (May
He be extolled) and I repeatedly extend my truthful and blessed gratitude to Him day and
night. I bear witness that there is no other deity save Allah, alone and with no associate. His
leniency is unparalleled, His ordainment is perfectly executed, and His all-encompassing
knowledge leaves no single entity unattended:
...yet they (disbelievers) dispute about Allâh. And He is Mighty in
strength and Severe in punishment. [Al-Raad: 13]
I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger –bearer of the most
dignified traits and the noblest qualities. May Allah send His Salat, Peace and Blessing upon
him, his family, and his Companions –the best Companions and family ever!
Having said that, I enjoin both you and myself to adhere to taqwa (fear of disobeying
Allah) vis-à-vis Allah, the Supreme (May He be extolled):
O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allâh and fear Him, and
speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good
deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allâh
and His Messenger (SAW) he has indeed achieved a great
achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and made to
enter Paradise). [Al-Aḥzāb: 70-71]
O Muslims!
People may adopt different views and concepts, and their sources of thought and
desires may equally differ. In fact, this is inherent in the very disposition of human nature.
However, this should by no means lead to the toleration of chaos in speech and in thought.
Nor should anybody indulge into dealing with any kind of topic, because nobody can treat
patients except the physician; otherwise, a charlatan might make the patient’s condition
worse. Besides, nobody can lead people through the right path except a knowledgeable guide;
a bad guide would lead them astray.
By the same token, nobody can claim authority in the area of divine religion except a
scholar of Islam. But as self-expression is now within reach for all and language interaction is
today effortlessly undertaken today by everybody, people have literally abused this
possibility after being totally submerged in its distractive impact. Thus, certain people have
engaged in all sorts of talk, defaming whoever reachable, and posting all such data in public
in an era when the word can reach the remotest audience on the planet in seconds.
Their predecessor was someone whose speech triggered the revelation of divine verse
which could have devastated a whole chain of mountains. During the Ghazwah of Tabook
(i.e. the battle between Muslims and Roman polytheists during the Prophet’s lifetime, in 9th
year AH), some of those who followed the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon
him) to serve as recruits in the ‘Usra Army (Hardship-time Army) said, “We have never seen
more greedy, insatiable, twist-tongued liars, and cowardly people on battlefield than our
Qur’ān readers1 here.”
When they knew that the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) learnt
what they had said, they came to him and said apologetically, “We were just kidding; it was a
sort of entertainment to subdue the length of the journey through chatting.” Then, Allah’s
words (Glory Be to Him) were revealed as follows:
...Say: "Was it at Allâh and His Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses,
lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and His Messenger (SAW) that you
were mocking?" Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after you
had believed. If We pardon some of you, We will punish others
amongst you because they were Mujrimûn (disbelievers,
polytheists, sinners, criminals, etc.). [Al-Tawbah: 65-66]
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Omar –may Allah be pleased with both him and his father: “I
did see the man clutching onto the ropes fitted over the back of the Prophet’s she-camel (May
Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him), and being hurt by stones on the ground, he kept
1 Qurrā’ ( قر اّء ) means HuffāD ( خف اّظ ), those who know the Qur’ān by heart, according to the rules of tajweed
(reciting).
saying, “O Messenger of Allah! We were just kidding and entertaining ourselves.” The
Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) repeatedly replied (quoting the
beginning of the above verses): "Was it at Allâh, His Ayât and His Messenger
that you were mocking? ... Was it at Allâh, His Ayât and His Messenger
that you were mocking?”
O Muslims!
These verses from the Holy Qur’ān fill the heart with fear and send shivers down
one’s spine. Any Muslim would simply feel shaken up by the horrifying effect of their
menacing tone. It was Allah who addressed the defamers by saying:
... you have disbelieved after you had believed... [Al-Tawbah: 66]
In fact, while recognising their initial state of faith evidenced by their mobilisation for
jihad, Allah equally affirmed their unbelief (retreat from faith) through a simple utterance
which, as they claimed, was meant to be a harmless pastime for sheer amusement.
On the surface, their utterance does not seem to be an outright mockery of the Divine
Being, Allah, and His Messenger; it was rather addressed to those advocating the propagation
of the signs of Allah and His Messenger, seeking to sublimate His religion and pursue the
goal of spreading Allah’s revealed messages. From this perspective, the real target of the
utterance becomes the mission they are set to fulfil and the merits associated with it. This is
why the Qur’ānic verse above confirmed that what represented the object of such mockery
was essentially Allah, His Signs, and His Messenger rather than just certain Muslims.
Nowadays, you can easily notice how people indulge in writing articles, exchanging
expressions, posting commentaries, and composing words notwithstanding the horrible data
they might contain. Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) said, “A
single word that a man utters unaware of its implications, may tumble him in a ditch of
hellfire as deep as the distance separating East and West.” [Reported by Imam Muslim and
Imam Bukhari in their Sahîh Books] An alternative wording reads “Many a man utters a
single word, heedless of its real content...” [Reported by Imam Bukhari]
How strange it is indeed to notice that some people have resorted to impudent
audacity to mock sharî’a (religion) or its advocates in pursuit of amusement, malicious
whims, or personal settlement of accounts:
Not a word does he (or she) utter, but there is a watcher by him
ready (to record it). [Qāf: 18]
If this is the case with individual behaviour, how much is that tolerable when such
impudent audacity is shown by printed media enjoying large-scale circulation or audiovisual
media mobilising the masses?
Words should be used responsibly. Otherwise, unrestrained speech and thought do
have forebodings effects about virtual torment manifesting itself at least in conflicts, schisms,
mutual hatred, frustration, disunity, disintegration of national solidarity, dismantlement of
society, and other consequences you had better not know.
O Servants of Allah!
The person who really deserves disparagement and is potential target of divine
chastisement is the one who arrogantly and obstinately tries to exonerate himself of his
whimsical sins, opposes Allah’s laws and shari’a relying on his own reason and personal
judgement, dedicates himself to annihilating the very fundaments of Islam, wages war against
any virtue that runs contrary to his caprices, advocates whatever appeals to his own pleasures
and desires –emulating what classic philosophers used to do when they relied on reason to
determine good and evil –until he strays too far away in the labyrinthine desert of his whims
and the dark pathways of misguidance, and eventually becomes so imbued with his own
desires and whims (just like an encumbered receptacle) that he can no longer appreciate
acceptable deeds and abhor impermissible acts.
This is what Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) meant
in the hadith narrated by Hudaifah –may Allah be pleased with him− and reported by both
Imam Muslim and Imam Bukhari in their Sahîh Books: “There are advocates at the gates of
hell; whoever responds to them will be thrown into it (hell).” I said, “O Messenger of Allah!
Describe them to us.” He said, “They are from among our own folk, and they speak our
own tongue.” In another hadith, Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon
him) said, “Out of my ummah will emerge certain categories of people whose whims have
full control over them, just like rabies controls the rabid, sparing none of his veins or
joints.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood]
As a rule, if the ego got accustomed to feeding on whimsical desires, weaning would
be practically unattainable. Consequently, it is imperative that religious matters be arbitrated
by Allah and His Messenger, along with well-versed scholars who can deduce Allah’s laws
from His revealed verses. The Sheikh of Islam, Ibn Taimiyyah –may Allah bless his soul−
said, “Conflict between litigants can only be arbitrated through recourse to a revealed book
from a celestial provenance, for if they were left to their own reason, each one of them would
have his own mind.”
Thus, ignorance-based intrusion in matters of knowledge is disparaged:
And among men is he who disputes about Allâh, without
knowledge or guidance, or a Book giving light (from Allâh [Al-Hajj:
Also, whoever encroaches upon other people’s area of specialism will definitely
produce bizarre outcomes. May Allah have mercy on the author of this dictum: “If only the
ignorant remained silent, conflicts would certainly become less frequent.”
O Servants of Allah!
As the crux of the matter has proved to be revolving around the tongue and speech
output, as well as expressions written or spoken, divine instructions and the Prophet’s
teachings have constantly iterated that no one could be excused from abiding by them. This is
because speech faithfully reflects the levels of conscience and betrays hidden intentions. Its
verbal initiative is hardly retrievable and its unrestrained messages can hardly be controlled.
Accordingly, it stands to reason that one should be cautious as to how to be in control
of one’s tongue through restraining it or curbing its verbal output. In reality, harmless
reticence should be the rule rather than the exception, for timely silence is the merit of great
men. Conversely, relevant and timely speech is one of the best virtues. In the Prophet’s
Hadîth, “For a man to be considered as liar, suffice it for him to recount whatever he has
heard.” [Reported by Imam Muslim]
In the same vein, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab –may Allah be pleased with him− once said,
“He whose speech abounds will have the chance of facing more pitfalls; he whose pitfalls
become numerous is likely to commit many more sins, and he whose sins multiply would
rather reside in hell.” Likewise, whoever commits himself to either speech or silence in
accordance with Allah’s command (Glory be to Him), inhibiting his own desire, does deserve
divine beneficence. Allah will therefore grant him felicity both in speech and silence.
Besides, whoever considers his speech an integral part of his deeds will definitely speak less
about topics which are irrelevant or useless to him.
Anas –may Allah be pleased with him− said, “Nobody could claim real piety and
taqwa vis-à-vis Allah until he restrains his tongue.” Keeping the tongue under restraint and
observing integrity in speech attest to perfect faith, sincere religiosity, safety from snares,
forthright manners, high moral standards, and purity of heart. These traits also yield Allah’s
love for the individual, followed by people’s friendship as well as reverence for him. Imagine
how straight and virtuous society would become if its members were committed to such
ideals!
It isn’t too much to guarantee reward with paradise for those who seek to control their
tongues. In Sahih Al-Bukhari, Prophet Muhammad [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon
him] is reported to have said: “Whosoever gives me a guarantee to safeguard what is
between his jaws and what is between his legs, I shall guarantee him Jannah (Paradise).”
Whether they are uttered, heard, read, or aired through websites and forums, words
may bear grave consequences and lead to serious reckoning. Indeed, many a word has said to
its speaker: “Let go of me!”
In a Hadith reported by Mo’āth Ibn Jabal –May Allah be pleased with him– the Prophet
(May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) once said: “What else would lead to dump
people on their faces in Hell fire except what their tongues have reaped?!” In this regard,
Allah the Almighty says:
But verily, over you (are appointed angels in charge of mankind) to
watch you, Kiraman (honourable) Katibin writing down (your
deeds) [Al-Infitār: 10-11]
Oqbah Ibn ‘Ᾱmer –May Allah be pleased with him– is reported to have asked the
Prophet: “O, Messenger of Allah! How can salvation be achieved?” He replied: “Control
your tongue, keep to your house, and weep over your sins." [Narrated by At-Tirmidhi with
an authentic chain of narration]
If every Muslim sought to carry out his duties and endeavored to do what would
benefit him in the herein and the hereafter with the view to reaching righteousness, then the
outcome would be highly significant for himself and the community at large.
O servants of Allah!
Talking about others, tracking down their falls and spreading them around are some of
the ugliest sins and most hideous forms of wrongdoings. Those in the habit of practicing such
deeds in life shall not pass away until they are first given a taste of their own medicine. The
Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] said: “Every Muslim’s blood, property
and honour are interdicts to another Muslim.” [Narrated by Muslim]
Certainly, the issue would be even more serious if it involved aberrant matters of
dispute, whimsical frivolities, love of predominance and superimposition and the desire to put
others down!
The issue would be even more serious if it involved backbiting those doing good in
life, carrying out discrete or manifest acts of sowing dissension among the Ulama (religious
scholars), students of religious studies and the righteous, and seeking to stigmatize them
without proof or evidence, carping, slandering, scorning and incriminating beliefs and
intentions.
There is no way out of such vanities except through a strong resolve within the
believer that is bolstered by his fear of Allah and by his good deeds; this would soften his
heart, render him more fearful of his Lord and set for him those limits he is not to overstep.
It is only rational to rise above frivolities; this would, with the help of Allah
Almighty, enlighten one’s heart and vision, bequeath peace of mind, remission of self, and
clarity of conscience. This, indeed, constitutes the ultimate purity of the soul and sanity of the
heart.
However, preoccupying the self with trivialities and gossip would lead to lack of
success, poor judgment, injustice, corruption of the heart, waste of time, lack of knowledge,
intolerance, inclemency, long-term grief and distress, eclipse of the mind, and annihilation of
bliss from one’s livelihood and life.
Abu Hurayrah –may Allah be pleased with him– narrated that Prophet Muhammad
[May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] once said: "It is from the excellence of (a
believer's) Islam that he should turn away from that which is of no concern to him."
[Narrated by Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Malik in Al-Muwatta’, and Ahmad in Al-Musnad]
It is reported in both Sahihs (Al-Bukhari’s and Muslim’s) that the Prophet [May
Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] had said: “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day
let him speak good or remain silent."
May Allah bless you and me by the Qur'ān and Sunnah and benefit us with their
verses and wisdom! I say this and I ask Allah the Almighty to forgive you and me!
Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah, Who is cognizant of the heart’s secrets! He
knows the soul’s contemplations; those that are manifest and those that are discrete. To him,
nil may be concealed and all is clear and apparent. Allah Almighty says:
[It is the same (to Him) whether any of you conceal his speech or
declare it openly...] [Al-Ra’d: 10]
I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone, with no associate, Allah, the
Almighty, the Subduer. I also bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger;
May Allah’s Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace ever be upon him, his family, his
Companions and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgement!
Now, then, O Muslims!
The Islamic Faith is one of clarity and integrity wherein nothing may stand on
conjecture, suspicion and delusion. This is made evident through the noble directives of the
Holy Qur'ān thus:
[And follow not (O man i.e., say not, or do not or witness not, etc.)
that of which you have no knowledge (e.g. one's saying: "I have
seen," while in fact he has not seen, or "I have heard," while he has
not heard). Verily! The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of
each of those you will be questioned (by Allah).] [Al-Isrā’: 36]
O Muslims!
These few but immaculate words from the Holy Qur'ān offer an integrated approach
to matters of the heart and reason that is superior to its modern and scientific counterpart. In
fact it adds to science two significant features: rectitude of the heart and fear of Allah
Almighty. Such two features are what make Islam excel over those dry rationalistic doctrines.
Indeed, verifying the validity of any claim or rumour before judging it is a call advocated by
the Holy Qur'ān and a thorough approach set by the Islamic religion. Once the heart and the
mind have settled for this approach there will no longer be room for illusion and myth in the
world of faith. There will no longer be room for doubt or suspicion in the world of justice and
reason. Rather, there will no longer be room for superficiality and fictitious assumptions in
the world of research, experimentation and science.
Scientific integrity, the object of much praise today, is but part of that emotional and
yet rationalistic trust whose great amenability the Holy Qur'ān comes to proclaim,
highlighting man’s accountability as to his own hearing, seeing and feeling before his Lord,
the Almighty, the One Who granted him such abilities.
It is the trust of the senses on which the servant will be brought to account on the Day
of Judgement. It is a trust that would cause the truly feeling human being to shake under the
impact of its magnitude and subtlety whenever he uttered a word, related a story, wrote a
letter, or passed a verdict on someone, on some issue, or some incident. Allah so truthfully
says:
[Verily, this Qur'an guides to that which is most just and right.] [Al-
Isrā’: 9]
This being said, I advise you to send your salat and peace on the best and the purest
of all mankind, Mohammad Ibn Abdullah, Al Hashimi, Al Qurashi.
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy), Peace and Blessing on Your
Servant and Messenger, Muhammad, on his good and pure family, on his sincere and
audacious Companions, and on those who followed them in righteousness until the Day of
Judgement!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims, and fail tyrants, infidels and corruptors!
O Allah! Foreordain for this nation (the nation of Islam) a matter (an affair) of
rationality (guidance) where the people of piety are honoured and those of sins are guided,
and where al-ma’roof (good deed) is promoted and al-munkar (evil deed) is prevented! O
Lord of the Worlds!
O Allah! Make preoccupied with their own evil those who wish to harm Islam and
Muslims! Turn their plots and their cunning against them and make that the cause of their
own destruction! O Lord of the worlds!
O Allah! Grant victory to the Mujahideen in Your cause in Palestine and wherever
they may be, O Lord of the Worlds! O Allah! Lift the siege laid to them, improve their
conditions, and suppress their enemy!
O Allah! Liberate Al-Aqsā Mosque from the oppressors’ injustice and the occupiers’
aggression!
O Allah! Have mercy on our brothers and sisters in Syria, Burma, and Central Africa!
O Allah! Alleviate their suffering! O Allah! Speed up their relief! O Allah! Have mercy on
them, for they are too weak! Mend their breakage and take up their case, O You, the
Charitable, the Benevolent!
O Allah! Spare their blood, reassure them, preserve their dignity and honour, feed the
hungry among them, strengthen their stamina, bring them closer together, and grant them
power and victory over their oppressors! O Allah! Set right their conditions, unite them
around righteousness and protect them against the evil doers among them! O Allah! Suppress
their enemy! O Allah! Defeat the tyrants and oppressors and those who side with them! O
Allah! Defeat the tyrants and oppressors and those who side with them!
O Allah! Set right the conditions of our brothers and sisters in Egypt, Iraq and
everywhere! O Allah! Unite them around the truth and righteousness and set right their
conditions. O Allah! Entrust their affairs to the best of them and protect them against the evil
doers among them!
O Allah! Grant victory to Your Religion, Book, the Sunnah of Your Prophet and Your
believing servants!
O Allah! Guide our leader, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to do whatever
you love and accept! O Allah! Guide him to piety and righteousness! O Allah! Grant him, his
Crown Prince and his Deputy Crown Prince success! O Lord of the Worlds!
O Allah! Set right all the leaders of Muslims and fill their hearts with fear of You in
public and in private! O Allah! Set right their retinue!
O Allah! Grant success to all the leaders of Muslims in order to govern by Your
Sharia and follow the Sunnah of Your Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him]!
O Allah! Make them a blessing on Your true servants!
O Allah! Make safe and prosperous our country and all Muslim countries around the
world! Protect us against the evil of wrongdoers and the maliciousness of the lecherous!
Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the
Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the
Fire! [Al-Baqarah: 201]
Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and our transgressions (in keeping
our duties to You), establish our feet firmly, and give us victory
over the disbelieving folk. [Ᾱl Imrān: 147]
O Allah! Forgive our sins, cover our flaws, make easy our affairs and fulfil our wishes
in what pleases You!
O Allah! Forgive our sins, those of our parents, our grandparents, our wives and
children! You are indeed All-Hearing!
O Lord! Accept from us our supplications, You are the All-Hearing, the All-
Knowing! Accept our repentance! You are Most Forgiving, Most Merciful!
Glorified be Your Lord, the Lord of Honour and Power! You are free from what they
attribute unto You! May peace be upon all the Messengers! And all praise be to Allah, the
Lord of the Worlds!
