Forty Foundations of Religion Purification of the Heart from Blameworthy Traits

2.2 Foundation 2: Covetous Speech For that, it is absolutely necessary to cut it off (from ones habit) For all the actions of the limbs gravely influence the heart, but the tongue is the most particular regarding it. This is because it steers what is in the heart towards inclinations of desire, for all speech demands inclinations in the heart to resemble it. For this reason if one is a liar, he will attain in his heart the inclination to lie and with it deviates the true orientation of the heart and darkens it, until excessive speech leads to the killing of the heart completely. It is for this reason, the Messenger of Allah exhorted the command of the tongue and said,

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The one who guarantees for me what is between his jaws and his legs, I guarantee for him paradise. And he was asked about who will be amongst the many to enter the Fire, he replied,

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Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Do you know what it is that makes most people enter the Fire?" "Allah and His Messenger know best," they said. He said, "The two empty ones: the genitals and the mouth. Do you know what it is that makes most people enter the Garden? Taqwa of Allah and good character." Confining Oneself of Important Speech

Know that the tongue has twenty harms and we have explained them in the Book of The Harms of The Tongue and its lengthy mention is there. It suffices for you regarding your action is this one verse of the Quran: No good is there in much of their secret conversations, except for those who enjoin charity or that which is right or facilitate conciliation between people. And whoever does that seeking means to the approval of Allah then We are going to give him a great reward.

And the meaning that is, that you are not to speak what does not concern you, and to confine it to that which is important, for in that is salvation. And the extent that does not concern oneself-that is which if left, reward does not vanish with it and harm is not accomplished by it. Thus, he who confines his speech to this, all his speech, let the servant of Allah keep account of his soul against mentioning that which does not concern them, for verily if he remembers Allah instead of covetous speech, that would be a treasure from the treasures of felicity. How can the intellect permit abandoning such amassed treasure by taking a lump of mud? If this is not sinNO, certainly it is a sin! It is like abandoning treasure and taking the flame from the fire! And from the entirety of that which does not concern oneself-occupying oneself with the tales of books, conditions of foodstuff of a town, and their customs and people, and professions and trade- and that is amongst what you see people plunge into. Elaboration on Some Harms of the Tongue Perhaps you want to familiarize yourself with the explanation of some of the harms of the tongue. So, know that the dominant kinds of upon the tongues from the entire 20 harms are 5: Lying, backbiting, argumentation, excessive praise, and joking around. 1. Lying: The Messenger of Allah said, The servant does not cease to lie, and pursues in lying such that written with the law that he is a liar. And he said, Allah has imprinted every natural disposition upon the believer, except treachery and lying. Umm Kulthoom narrated, The Messenger of Allah did not permit anything regarding lying except for three: an upright man making such speech intending from it to mend relations, an upright man making such a speech during war, an upright man informing his wife (regarding something difficult). 2. Slander and Backbiting: Allah said: And do not backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? That, would detest! And the Prophet said, Backbiting is worse that fornication. And know that the limit of backbiting is as clarified by the Messenger of Allah: That you mention regarding your brother with what he dislikes even if he heard it and you were telling the truth, equally if you mentioned a matter that is harmful to his self or his intellect, his clothing or his action, his speech or his familial kinship, his residence or his animals, or anything he is related to, so far as your saying, he is broad, or his garment is too long, insofar as stated to a man by the Messenger of Allah when it was said, How incapacitated is he! The Prophet replied, You have greatly backbitten against him. And Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, once indicated by hands towards a woman meaning that she was really short. The Prophet replied, You have backbitten against her. From this it is to be understood that backbiting is not only confined to the tongue, but there is no difference if one attains the meaning by the hand, pointing or by indication, by gesturing or

imitation, or intimation and insinuation, like your saying, Some of my relatives and some of my friends are such and such. Situations which Permits in it Backbiting There are six situations which permits backbiting in it: i. The complainant mentioning the wrongful act of the wrongdoers to the authority in order to recompense the wrong upon him. If it is not to the authority, or to he who does not have the authority to recompense, then that is backbiting. ii. He who seeks help from relief or to change evil, it is permissible that he mention about that as well. iii. The seeking of formal opinion or ruling if one needs to mention it through a question, just like Hind mentioned to the Prophet, Abu Sufyan is an extremely miserly man- he does not give what suffices me or my child. What if I take (from his wealth) without his knowledge? the Prophet replied, Take what is sufficient for you and your child that which is customary. She mentioned his miserliness and wrongdoing but the Messenger of Allah did not rebuke her for this is all complaining but it was to solve a problem in which there is benefit. iv. The cautioning of a Muslim from the harm of others-if he knew definitively that if he did not mention itthat his testimony is to be accepted like that of an upright person, where matters like trade and marriages would otherwise be harmed, then he can only mention the matter to anyone who may be afflicted with such harm. v. That when a person is well known with a blemish, like a person with an eye condition, a limping person, then there is no wrong in mentioning that, but firstly deferring to another name. vi. That which is publicly expressed by a particular defect there is no disliking that it is mentioned that way, like an effeminate person or the owner of a brothel. Regarding the Manner of Treating Oneself from Backbiting The treatment of the soul, for it to refrain from backbiting, is that one reflects upon the stated threats in it as per the narration of the Prophet, Verily, backbiting is faster in diminishing the good deeds of the servant that fire to wood. The good deeds of the slanderer certainly transfers to the account of the one wronged by backbiting. Then he sees the paltriness of his good deeds and the increase of his backbiting, and he ultimately ends close to bankruptcy. Then one is to reflect upon his defective soul, and certainly one will find in it defects. For, it occupies itself with other than that. And if it penetrated small offences, one ought to know that its small harms to its soul are greater than other big harms. And if one presumed that there is no defects in it, then one ought to know that ignorance about ones defects is worse than the defects themselves, and when will humans ever be free of defects! Once one is freed from it, then show gratitude to Allah for altering one from backbiting, for defamation of humans is

indeed like eating dead flesh, and the eating of dead flesh is amongst the worst of vices, so be on guard regarding it. The next important lesson regarding the tongues backbiting is that it is necessary that one seeks forgiveness of Allah, and that he goes to the slandered and says, I have done wrong by you, so please forgive me, and that he regards you lawful. And if it is not met with his approval, then increase your appreciation and commendation upon him as well as your supplications and good deeds for him, so that some of it is transferred to the account of the one done wrong to and that you left for him sufficiently. And that is expiation from backbiting. 3. Argumentation and Bickering: The Messenger of Allah said, The one who abandons argumentation is the one on the truth, a residence shall be built for in the highest Paradise, and the one who leaves that (the aforementioned advice) he is a windbag and a residence will be built for him in the far edges of Paradise. This is so because it is better to abandon upon the truth. The boundaries of argumentation is the raising of objection upon anothers speech by only exposing the faults in it, whether in the words or meaning. And one is motivated to do so by furthering ones arrogance by showing ones erudition. The cause of it is either thoughtless or predatory malice, which is their character, looking forward to the others diminution and grief. Argumentation and bickering is intensified due to these two destructive malices. But it is essential that one gives credence to what one hears as truth and remains silent when one hears from amongst errors, except when there is definite religious benefit in mentioning it when that (the correction) is heard, but point that out with gentleness and not harshness. 4. Excessive Joking: Lack of moderation in it increases laughter and kills the heart, and brings about grudges. And it sinks intellect and sobriety. Know that there is no harm to be involved in it from a little of ones time, especially in the company of women and children-it is sweet for their hearts. The Prophet did the same, but he said, I certainly do joke, but I do not say except the truth. It is narrated that the Prophet raced with Aisha as a competition, may Allah be pleased with her. The Prophet said to Suhib, who was eating dates, Are you eating dates whilst you have inflamed eyes? He replied, But I am having difficulty eating another one. And the Prophet smiled. So these are some examples from amusement and there is no harm in it, with the condition it is not made in to a habit. 5. Excessive Praising: Just as it is customary with people and poets when visiting the noble amongst us, and just as it is customary with writers and celebrities, they praise the wealthy from amongst their assembly. In praising there are five harms- three upon the one who praises, and two upon the one praised. As for the one who praises: 1. That when he is remiss, or is in excess in what he mentions about another with that which is not, then is a liar.

2. That when he says something which is not confirmed or known to be true about the person, then he is reckless. For example, one says, He is definitely just, He is god-fearing, etc. that they are not confirmed or truthful statements. A man praised another in front of the Messenger of Allah, who said, Woe unto you! You have cut the neck of your companion. If it is inevitable that one of you were to praise your brother, then say: I consider such and such in this way, but I do not commend anyone above Allah, and may Allah see his nobility the same as well, 3. That he delights the praised one with it, and perhaps he is a wrongdoer. Thus he has disobeyed Allah by allowing glee and delight to enter into his heart. The Prophet said, Without a doubt Allahs Anger is upon he who praises a sinful person. Al-Hasan said, Anyone who consistently appeals to a wrongdoer, does love that he disobeys Allah. It is more appropriate that a wrongdoer and a sinful person be rebuked in order to weaken his desire in wrongdoing and sin. As for the one praised: 1. That what occurs from it is either arrogance or pride, and both of them are destructive. It was for this reason, the Messenger of Allah said, You have cut the neck of your companion! 2. That he delights in it and then weakens away from his actions, and he is pleased with himself. The Messenger of Allah said, Were a man to walk to another with a sharpened knife, it would be better for him than throw praise over him on his face. As to the fact that if praise is safe from these harms, for the one praising and the one praised, then there is nothing wrong with it, and perhaps one would weep towards it (such praiseworthy traits). The Prophet said, If the Faith of Abu Bakr was weighed against the Faith of the entire creation, it will definitely outweigh it. And he said, If I could bring someone back to life, O Umar, you would be brought back. Regarding What the one Praised Ought to Do The right of the one praised is that he attentively reflect upon the dangers of its end, the implication of showing off, the harms of action. He must bear in mind what he becomes aware of regarding the hidden repulsive qualities from himself, and in particular through his reflection and what he becomes aware of what the one who praised did not know about him, and to entirely desist from praise. It is essential that the repulsiveness of praise and its harm upon the heart is made obvious. It is to this that the Messenger of Allah indicated when saying, Hasten with dust upon the face of the one praising. Some of the Righteous have said that when commendations are placed upon you, to say, O Allah, this slave of yours is approaching me with what is loathsome to you, and I witness You over his detesting action. And Ali said, O Allah, forgive me for what they do not know and please forgive me for what they say, and make me better than what they estimate of me.