Hadiths Encouraging Tongue Preservation
Preserving one’s speech is a noble trait emphasized by Islamic teachings. Numerous hadiths highlight the importance of safeguarding the tongue and speaking only good words. Among these are:
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent.”
- Sahl bin Sa’ad Al-Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever guarantees to me what is between his jaws and what is between his legs, I will guarantee him Paradise.” The message of this hadith is to abstain from vain talk, unlawful consumption, and illicit actions.
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) also reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, a servant may utter a word that pleases Allah without giving it a second thought, and Allah raises him in status by it. Yet, he may utter a word that incites Allah’s wrath, also without thought, causing him to plunge into Hell.”
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) conveyed that the Prophet (peace be upon him) remarked: “A servant may say something whose implications he does not fully grasp, which may lead him to the Fire, further away than the distance between the east and the west.”
- `Uqbah bin `Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) about the means of salvation, to which the Prophet replied: “Hold your tongue, let your house suffice you, and weep over your sins.”
- Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) questioned the Prophet (peace be upon him) about the deeds that lead to Paradise. The Prophet highlighted faith, charity, fasting, nighttime prayer, and jihad, before adding: “Shall I not inform you of the key to all of it?” I said: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.” He pointed to his tongue and replied: “I mean this.” I further inquired: “O Messenger of Allah, will we be held accountable for what we say?” He responded: “May your mother lose you! What else causes people to tumble into the Fire except for the harvest of their tongues?” Thus, the tongue is the key to this matter.
- Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him): “When Adam’s child wakes in the morning, all his limbs speak to the tongue, saying: ‘Fear Allah concerning us, for we are with you. If you are straight, we will be straight, but if you are crooked, we will be crooked.’”
- Sufyan bin Abdullah Al-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him) stated: “O Messenger of Allah, tell me something that I can cling to.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “Say: My Lord is Allah, then be steadfast.” He continued: “What do you fear most for me, O Messenger of Allah?” The Prophet gestured to his tongue and said: “This.”
- Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Cursing a Muslim is an act of disobedience, and fighting him is infidelity.”
- Abu Dharr Al-Ghafari (may Allah be pleased with him) stated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Let no man accuse another of debauchery or infidelity unless it returns to him if his companion is not as he claims.”
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) conveyed that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “It is not befitting for a true believer to be a liar.”
- Abu Al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: ‘The accursed will not be witnesses or intercessors on the Day of Resurrection.’
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) noted that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When a man says: ‘The people are destroyed,’ he is the most doomed among them.”
- Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) conveyed that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A true believer is not one who reviles others, nor who is vulgar or obscene.”
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Fasting is a shield; therefore, let him not engage in intimate speech or raise his voice. If someone fights or insults him, let him say: ‘I am fasting’ twice. By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, the breath of a fasting person is sweeter to Allah than the scent of musk. He abandons his food, drink, and desires for My sake, and I reward him for it, with every good deed rewarded tenfold.”
- Abu Thalabah Al-Khashani (may Allah be pleased with him) relayed that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Those of you I love the most and who are closest to me on the Day of Judgment are those who possess the best manners. The one I dislike and distance myself from most are those with the worst manners: the chatterboxes, the boasters, and those who are pretentious.” This hadith serves as a directive to safeguard the tongue from excessive chatter, pretense in speech, and ridicule of others.
Hadiths on Protecting the Tongue from Lying
Guarding the tongue against falsehood is a critical religious duty for every Muslim. Evidence for this is provided in the following hadiths:
- Al-Ma’awiyah bin Haydah Al-Qushayri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Woe to him who lies to make people laugh. Woe to him, woe to him!”
- Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated: “Be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues to be truthful and strives for truth until he is recorded as a truthful person by Allah. Beware of lying, for lying leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to Hell. A man keeps lying and strives for falsehood until he is recorded as a liar by Allah.”
- Al-Mughira bin Shu’bah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: ‘Lying about me is not like lying about anyone else; whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire.’
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) also said: “The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted, he betrays.”
Hadiths on Guarding the Tongue from Backbiting and Slander
Backbiting and slander are social vices that Islam strongly condemns. The following hadiths emphasize the need to protect the tongue from these actions:
- Jaber bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stated: “The Muslim is one from whom Muslims are safe from his tongue and hand.”
- Hudhayfah bin Al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: ‘A slanderer will not enter Paradise.’
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) questioned: “Do you know what backbiting is?” They responded: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He stated: “It is mentioning your brother with something he dislikes.” They asked: “What if what I say is true about my brother?” He replied: “If he has that quality you mention, then you have backbitten him; but if he does not, you have slandered him.”
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) also conveyed that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A Muslim is the brother of another Muslim; he does not betray him, lie to him, or abandon him. All of a Muslim’s possessions—his honor, wealth, and blood—are sacred to another Muslim. Piety is here,” pointing to his heart, “and it is sufficient for someone to be deemed wicked if he belittles his Muslim brother.”
Hadiths on Guarding the Tongue from False Testimony
Several hadiths discourage false testimony and speaking untruths, such as the following:
- Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said concerning the fasting person: “Whoever does not abstain from false speech, actions pertaining to it, and ignorance, Allah has no need for him to abandon his food and drink.”
- Abu Bakrah Nafi’ bin Al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated: “The gravest of major sins are associating partners with Allah, being disobedient to one’s parents, and bearing false witness, which he repeated three times, or speaking falsehood.” He continued to emphasize this even to the point where we wished he would be quiet.