Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Discourse 31: Dangers of the Tongue

عَنْ نَافِعِ عَنْ ابْن عُمَرَ، قَالَ، قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ : رَحِمَ عَبْداً تَكَلَّمَ فَغَنِمَ، أَوْ سَكَتَ فَسَلِمَ. إِنَّ اللِّسانَ أَمْلَكُ شَيْءٍ لِلإِنْسَانَ، أَلاَ وَ إِنَّ كَلاَمَ الْعَبْدِ كُلَّهُ عَلَيْهِ، إِلاَّ ذِكْرُ اللٌّهِ تَعَالـى، اَوْ أَمْرٌ بِمَعْرُوف، أَوْ نَهْى عَنْ مُنْكَر، أَوْ إِصْلاَحٌ بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنينَ. فَقَال لَهُ مُعَاذُ بْنُ جَبَل: يَا رَسُولَ اللٌّهِ، اَنُؤَاخِذُ بِمَا نَتَكَلَّمُ؟ فَقَالَ: وَ هَلْ يَكُبُّ النَّاسَ عَلى مَنَاخِرِهِمْ فِي النَّارِ، إِلاَّ حَصَائِدُ أَلْسِنَتِهِمْ، فَمَنْ أَرَادَ السَّلاَمَةَ، فَلْيَحْفَظْ مَا جَرى بِهِ لِسَانُهُ

It has been narrated from Nafi' from b. 'Umar that he said, the Messenger of Allah (S) said, “May (Allah) have mercy on that servant who gains benefit when he speaks, or one who is protected through maintaining silence. Surely the tongue is the thing which wields the most authority over a person. Be aware that everything that servant speaks is against him, except for the remembrance of Allah, the High, or the commanding of others to that which is right or preventing them from that which is evil, or setting the affair right between two believers.”

One of the companions named Ma'adh b. Jabal said, “O' Messenger of Allah! Will we be held accountable for that which we speak?” The Prophet replied, “Is there anything else except an active tongue of a person that will lead him into the hell fire? So then whoever seeks safety (from the fire), then let him protect that which comes out from his tongue.”1

In this tradition, the Prophet (S) alluded to some issues regarding the tongue2 and has stated that, “May Allah's mercy be upon that servant whom people can benefit from his speech and who observes silence in order to stay safe and protected.” In this part of the tradition, there are two important issues which we must mention:

1. More than anything else which is within the body of a person, it is the tongue which rules and controls one. The peculiarities that exist and which are limited to that person who has a tongue can not be seen in any other body part nor in any other creation.

a. The tongue is always at the disposal of the person. Sometimes the following similitude is given that, “For a person to speak is like drinking water.” Even still, if a person wants to drink water we see that there are some prerequisites which must be fulfilled and carried out, however in order to speak there are no prerequisites.

b. The dangers of the tongue cannot be compared to the dangers of any other body part, and the major sins which can be committed by the tongue number apout twenty or thirty!3

c. The despicability of the sins of the tongue are not very detested in the sight of the people and when this occurs, then the danger and hazard of performing them also increase. If - may Allah (SwT) protect us - a person performs adultery then he has definitely done a very bad act in the sight of the people. However if he was to backbite another person - then as it is mentioned in the traditions, this is actually worse than adultery and even worse than drinking alcohol and its punishment is much more severe! Normally, in the beliefs of other people, the despicability of the act of backbiting is something minor, or it may not even be considered as something bad at all!

The Prophet (S) then continued his speech and said that, “Everything that a person says is against him, except for three types of speech” and this limit or threshold is a true and factual threshold and there is no room to say that this is a symbolic gesture on behalf of the Prophet (S). These three things include: the remembrance of Allah; Amr bil Ma'ruf and Nahl 'Anil Munkar; and making amends between two believers.

We must make sure that all of that which we speak in this world are limited to these three issues and if we fall out of this boundary, then we will definitely incur loss.

In relation to this tradition, there is an interesting interpretation which should spiritually move some people. We see that after this speech of the Prophet (S), Ma'ad b. Jabal said, “O' Messenger of Allah! Is speaking also something that a person will have to be accountable for!?” The Prophet (S) replied, to him, “Is there anything else except for the remuneration of the tongue that a person will be thrown face first into the hell fire?”

Thus, it is clear that the sins for which a person will be thrown into the hell fire - face first - are not related to the sins performed by the chest, feet or hands - rather it is that which he has earned through his tongue.

It may be that such a punishment has been prescribed since when a person is thrown into the hell fire due to the sins he has committed, he will be thrown into the fire by that thing which led him to commit the sins. Since it is the tongue by which he committed sins, thus, he will be thrown into the hell fire face first. Thus, the first thing to be burnt by the fire is his tongue - and it is this same tongue that lit the fires (of hatred and sin in the world) and it is this organ through which one (innocently) accused people and annoyed others.

Thus, every morning when we wake up from our sleep, we must ask Allah (SwT) to protect us from the evils of the tongue. In addition, when we are ready to go to bed to sleep at night, we must ask forgiveness from Allah (SwT) for the sins which we committed in the day and definitely the tongue of a person puts one into a great difficulty.4 !

Notes

1. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 74, pg. 187

2. The tongue is the most important instrument for communication between people and for the conveyance of information and data from one nation and generation to another. If this instrument of communication did not exist, then humanity would never have been able to reach the levels which they have arrived at today, nor would they have been able to progress to the great levels of knowledge, intelligence, material gains and spiritual greatness which they are currently in.

The tongue itself is an amazing part of the body of mankind which also carries a very heavy responsibility with it. In addition to helping and assisting a person in swallowing his food, it also plays an important role in the chewing of food. Continuously while one is eating morsels of food, the teeth are hammering down and pushing the food around the mouth and this act is so skillfully performed that the tongue is saved and protected from being crushed by the teeth, whereas we see that it is continuously alongside and flanking the teeth!

Sometime - very rarely - it can be seen that when chewing food, the tongue too gets bitten by the teeth and at this time we scream out in pain!

Thus if the tongue did not possess the dexterity that it has, one can just imagine what would have happened to it! In addition, after one has finished eating food, the tongue actually rubs and wipes the teeth clean of any remaining food which happens to be on them.

More important than all of this - it is through the tongue that we are able to speak and it is by way of the fast, yet controlled movement which is continuously happening that the tongue is able to carry out all of these tasks.

It is interesting to note that Allah (SwT) has placed something so easy to make use of at the disposal of mankind for the task of speaking and verbal communication and this instrument is within reach of everyone. In addition, this body part never feels tired or exhausted, nor does it ask for anything to continue its work with.

Even more amazing than all of this is the talent to speak which has been infused within a human being and has been granted to him to use. Thus, a person is able put together countless sentences in different forms to explain his wonderful and various points of knowledge. What is even more important than all of this is the ability to make up various words and this point can clearly be seen if we study the thousands of languages which exist in the world today. Truthfully:

أَلْعَظَمَةُ لِلٌّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ .

“The Greatness belongs to Allah (alone) the One, the All-Powerful.” (Tafsir-e-Namuna, vol. 28, pg. 17)

3. In the book, “Life under the Shadow of Ethical Morals” pp. 87-90, Ayatullah al-`U¨ma Makarim Shirazi writes that, “The late Fai¤ Kashani, in his book Mahajjatul Baydha fi Tahdhibul Ahya, and Ghazali in his work, Ihyaul `Ulumud Din have presented a very detailed discussion under the topic of the “Sins of the Tongue.” Ghazali has mentioned twenty types of sins that can take place by this body part, in the following order:

1. Speaking on those issues which a person has no business involving himself in;

2. Speaking too much and idle talk;

3. Speaking on vain issues such as a description of a gathering in which alcohol, gambling and adultery take place;

4. Arguing and quarrelling (picking apart a discussion and arguing with others to find faults with them such as making others feel worthless or boasting about one's self);

5. Disputes, quarrelling and arguing;

6. Making up things while speaking;

7. Speaking bad things or using foul language;

8. Cursing others;

9. Ghina (forbidden singing) and reading poems which contain no truth;

10. Excessive joking;

11. Mocking and making fun of others;

12. Spreading secrets about others;

13. Making false promises;

14. Lying;

15. Backbiting;

16. Spreading talk from one person to another;

17. Hypocrisy in one's speech (two-tongued);

18. Excessively praising others;

19. Being negligent of the specifics of an issue and speaking what one knows with mistakes in his words, which can result in another person being side-lined in issues of life;

20. The common people asking difficult questions in relation to the theological beliefs which are outside the scope and necessity for a person to understand such issues;

It goes without saying that the problems and troubles of the tongue are not limited to these issues which Ghazali has mentioned and that which he has conveyed is just a portion of some of the important sins that the tongue can perform. For example, the below acts are also some of the troubles of the tongue that he failed to mention:

1. False accusations;

2. False testimony;

3. Self praise;

4. Spreading evil, corruption or unfounded information and lies - even if a person does so with the supposition that such things are true;

5. Speaking while in a tage of anger;

6. Being forceful through one's speech with repeated questions (such as that which Bani Isra’il used to do - and others);

7. Hurting others through one's speech;

8. Humiliating someone who has not done anything to warrant this treatment;

9. Denial of the favours of Allah (SwT) through one's speech;

10. Spreading wrong information or encouraging others to perform sins;

In addition, the sins of the tongue are not even limited to these and thus from this discussion, we can see the importance of the tongue.

4. In the words of Mawlawi:

اين زبان چون سنگ وفم آهن وش است آنچه بجهد از زبان، چون آتش است سنگ و آهن را مزن بر هم گزاف گه ز روى نَقل و گه از روى لاف زانكه تاريك است و از هر سو پنبه زار در ميان پنبه چون باشد شرار ظالم آن قومى كه چشمان دوختند وز سخن ها عالمى را سوختند عالمى را يك سخن ويران كند روبهان مرده را شيران كند

Discourse 32: The World is a Storehouse of Treasures

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللٌّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاس قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسولَ اللٌّهِ يَقُولُ: أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، بَسْطُ الأَمَلِ مُتَقَدِّمُ حُلُولِ الأَجَلِ، وَ الْمَعَادُ مِضْمَارُ الْعَمَلِ، فَمُغْتَبِطٌ بِمَا احْتَقَبَ غَانِمٌ، وَ مُتَيَسِّرٌ بِمَافَاتِهِ نَادِمٌ. اَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، إِنَّ الطَّمَعَ فَقْرٌ، وَ الْيَأْسَ غَنِيٌ وَ الْقَنَاعَةَ رَاحَةٌ، وَ الْعُزْلَةَ عِبَادَةٌ، وَ الْعَمَلَ كَنْزٌ، وَ الدُّنْيَا مَعْدِنٌ… فَبَادِرُوا الْعَمَلَ وَ أَنْـتُمْ فِي مَهْلِ الأََنْفَاسِ، وَ جِدَّةِ الإِحْلاَسِ، قَبْلَ أَنْ تُأْخَذُوا بِالْكَظْمِ، فَلاَ يَنْفَعُ النَّدَمُ

It has been narrated from Abdullah b. 'Abbas: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (S) say: 'O' Mankind! Before death comes to a person, all sorts of wishes and desires are placed in front of him and surely the Resurrection Day is a field of trial and a competition. (On this day, people will be in one of two groups) The (poor) person will possess (the good form) of envy (Al-Ghibtah). In that same amount as the wealth which he gives (in the way of Allah), will he be successful and dignified. The other type of person is that rich person who possessed things however did not make use of his wealth and did not spend it in the way of Allah and thus, he will be in grief and upset.

O' People! Surely greed is (actually) poverty, and disregarding (that which other people have) is richness, and contentment (with what one possesses) is comfort and distancing ones' self (from people) is worship, and (righteous) actions are a treasure, and this world is the mine (of treasures) … Thus while you have the opportunity, strive to perform good deeds even if the time remaining for you (on this Earth) is as much as the time between two breaths or the time it takes to mount upon your saddle, before the way of breathing is taken (away from you) at which time any remorse will be of no use.'”1

The Noble Prophet (S) brought forth two points in this tradition:

A) Before the time of parting (from this world) and one's death, all of the wishes and desires (which a person possesses) will be presented in front of him.

This part of the tradition may point to the fact that as a person gets older, his (material) desires also increase - and these also become spiritually devoid and less logical as times goes on.2

Thus, this is the danger bell to that person - no matter how old one is, the desires for material things increase. It is this same thing that will prevent a person from making the best of this world in order to prepare oneself to have a better life in the next world.

B) The Resurrection Day is the field and area of actions. The reason why the 'Arabs refer to the competition ground as a مضمار ” “ is due to the fact that before they would start a horseback riding competition, they would first look to find an open area to practice in and there they would try to get their horses to run as much as they could and it is through this act that they would accomplish two things:

1. The horses would get more training and experience.

2. The horses would get thinner and fitter.

The word مضمار ” is also in the meaning of becoming thinner and thus, in the 24th khutbah recorded in Nahjul Balagha it is mentioned that, “Today is the day of the competition ground.”

This world which we are in is the training ground and the competition is the next life. From this expression, we can deduce that sometimes the area of competition - the competition ground - is also referred to as the “مضمار ” since it is there that the horses will run and will get thinner and fitter.

In any case, according to this commandment from the Noble Prophet (S), the Resurrection Day is the competition ground for actions. We should not think that a person will be able to reach any status in life with long desires and hopes. At that place (on the Day of Resurrection) it is the actions of each person which will compete with one another, and the person who had more good deeds will be the winner of this competition and whoever had less good deeds and was polluted (with evil and sin) will be the loser.

This world tries to keep everyone busy with long desires whereas in the market of the Resurrection, these desires will serve absolutely no purpose - rather, it is only those actions which produce benefits which will be of use for us.

From the following sentence in the hadith, we understand that people are of two types:

One group is those who are envious (good envy) of others or مغتبط , whereas the second group is those who are content or متيسر Some people have stated that the first word actually means one who is happy or joyous however according to our opinion, it refers to a poor person who is envious and jealous of others and in the same amount that he spends his wealth in the way of Allah (SwT), in that same amount he will attain happiness and success.

There are some people who possess everything (materialistically speaking) however since they are not able to make use of their wealth, they are always upset and discontent.

In the next sentence, there are six points which have been mentioned:

1) & 2) The wealth and poverty of a person are related to the inside (spiritual aspects) of a person and are not related to his apparent aspects. If a person who possesses a lot was to own everything that is in the world, he would still be poor - and the opposite of this is true as well that if a person who does not pay attention to the material world did not possess anything, he will still be rich. It is the soul which must be full (of spiritual blessings) and which must remain self-sufficient and needless (of others) since the best wealth of a person is his internal and spiritual wealth. Thus, one who possesses everything (materialistically) is actually poor, and one who disregards wealth and material pleasures of this world is the truly wealthy person:

إِنَّ الطَّمَعَ فَقْرٌ، وَ الْيَأْسَ غِنَىً

“Surely coveteousness is poverty while contentment is richness.”

3) A person is in need of rest and relaxation, and if he wishes to find this rest and relaxation, then he must do so by searching deep within oneself since it is through contentment that a person finds ease and comfort:

وَ الْقِنَاعَةُ رَاحَةُ

“Contentment breeds comfort.”

and it is due to greed that a person is often put through difficulties and challenges.

4) In order for a person to continuously be in the worship and servitude of Allah (SwT), one must sit in a quiet and tranquil area. By this, we do not mean that one distances oneself entirely from the people. Rather, we mean that during the 24 hour period, one must put aside some time for himself to be with his soul and his Allah. The best time to engage in this contemplation is the last part of the night just before the rising of the sun when normally, most people are asleep. The worship and prayer with full attention and presence of the heart in the middle of the night gives the heart and soul of a person spiritual energy:

وَ الْعُزْلَةُ عِبَادَةٌ

“…distancing ones' self (from people) is worship…”

5) & 6) The treasures and riches of a person are his actions, and this world is the quarry (where these treasures can be extracted). Therea are various explanations and similitudes in relation to the world that have been given. For example it has been said that this world is the planting ground for the next life or that this life is a house of admonition and a bridge to cross (to the next life), however it is only in this tradition that it has been mentioned that this world is a quarry, and this is the only place where this similitude has been given. This world is a mine out of which treasures are extracted.

Thus in summary, for that person who makes use of this world (for the next life), this world is not such a bad place.

From these sentences we can deduce that in reality, the world is not something despised and despicable, rather, it is us who have made this world something reviled:

وَ الْعَمَلَ كَنْزٌ وَ الدُّنْـيَا مَعْدِنٌ

“…and (righteous) actions are a treasure, and this world is the mine (of treasures)…”

In closing, the Prophet (S) has ended his dialogue with a discussion on the end of the life of a person and has stated that, “Of those issues which are hidden from people is that of the end of his life. Not a single person knows exactly when or where one will die.”

In the Qur`an, we read the following:

مَــا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَداً وَ مَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ

“And no soul knows that which it will earn tomorrow and no soul knows in which land it shall die.”3

Thus, it is from the wisdom of Allah (SwT) that a person is kept unaware of the time when one will die and keeping this hidden has two benefits which have been mentioned in the book, Tawhid al-Mufaddhal. If man knew the time span of his life, then his existence on this Earth would not fall out of the following two scopes:

1. If he knew he had a long life, then in this scenario, negligence would overtake him and he would reassure himself that, “I have 10, 20 or 50 years left to live and thus, the need to ask forgiveness for my sins can be delayed and it is not necessary to make haste in asking for forgiveness.” Thus, a person will continue to perform sins and pollute himself with negligence and fall into carelessness.

2. If a person knew that he will live for one more hour, one day, one month or even one more year, then life will have no meaning for him as he will say to himself, “I am only going to live one more month, so then why should I go through all of this struggle?” Thus, the pleasure and enjoyment from life would be gone and a person would fall into despair.

This issue has other benefits to it which make a person lean towards the two states at any given time - meaning that he is constantly in a state of fear and hope.

From one point of view, he does not stop stretching forth his hand and at the same time, he does not come close to committing sins since he does not know if he is going to live another hour. In the Islamic narrations this issue has been mentioned quite frequently.

In this tradition, two topics have been mentioned in the following way: In that time period that we have been given respite and are still breathing, we must work - this wording may allude to the fact that in between each breath that a person takes (when he breathes in and then exhales out), the time period between this cycle is something very short. Incidentally, it has also been mentioned that between the beats of the heart of a person, there is a short time period of rest which is referred to as the “respite of the heart” and thus in summary, we see that even in between the breaths which a person takes, there is also a respite between each one and this is the shortest period of time that a person is able to imagine.

The Prophet (S) then stated, “…just as you are given the respite to live, during the time when you are inhaling and exhaling each breath, in that same amount of time, you should not have hope of living in this life for a long period as it is possible that when you exhale you may never inhale again.” Therefore, in this short period of time, you must work towards righteous actions:

فَبَادِرُوا الْعَمَلَ وَ أَنْتُمْ فِي مَهْلِ الأَنْفاسِ

“Thus while you have the opportunity, strive to perform good deeds even if the time remaining for you (on this Earth) is as much as the time between two breaths…”

In the past, it was common that when a noble person mounted his steed, he would place a cloth or some material on the horse (and then mount it) and thus, the Prophet (S) said, “If you have been given respite during your life even for that period that it would take to put on and take off a cloth from your house - meaning such a short period of time - then you must work towards righteous actions since it is very likely that in the next instant, your life would come to a close.”

وَجِدَّةِ الإِحْلاسِ

“…or the time it takes to mount upon your saddle…”

Before the time that you breathe your next breath and do some action that you will later feel guilty about and which willhave no benefit for you after and no turning back, you should perform righteous deeds.

If a person has even a small amount of knowledge in relation to the laws of universe, then he would know how close death is to him. In the body of a person, we see two important organs which can easily stop working: the heart and the brain. There are a series of thin veins which are responsible for the nutrients going to the heart and if these thin veins were to break, then a part of the heart would stop working and a person would end up having a heart attack.

Within the brain of a person even, there are various capillary veins and if even one of these was to lose its power, then the brain would stop working - and how tragic it would be if that part of the brain that stopped working happened to be the control centre and this could even happen if the heart was working properly and was healthy but it is the brain which commands the heart in its activities.

Or can we imagine if one of the veins which controls actions of one side of the body was to lose it ability to function causing that side of the person's body to become paralyzed. Or if due to an impact on one of the veins, a person was to develop a blood clot, then in this event too, a person would lose the faculty of movement.

We see that when we are eating food and are swallowing our morsels, this small tongue that we have which is inside the mouth actually covers over the air pipe which is in our throat. If this act was to take place with even the slightest delay, then we know that if a small amount of food was to get caught in our wind pipe, and if through coughing, we could not release this food, then without doubt, our death would be sealed.

Thus in summary, if a person does even a small amount of contemplation on the creation and at his own life, then slowly one would definitely develop thoughts in his own mind that tonight when one goes to sleep, there is a possibility that one will not wake up in the morning!

In any case, these events that take place both within us and outside of our bodies are numerous.

If we take for example these travels that we endeavour which is now a part of everyone's life we see that our journeys that we go on are full of dangers, even if a person is careful and vigilant - however it is possible that others may not have this same vigilance.

Thus, while we are able to and as long as we have the strength and energy, we must go forth to perform righteous actions and leave the accountability with Allah (SwT).

Can we truly say that all of the actions that we have performed were sincerely for Allah (SwT) and that no amount of insincerity or material gain were involved in them?

We must seek refuge with Allah (SwT) because when a person will enter into the presence of the Most High and see his hands empty (of good deeds) and when he is given his book of records in his hand, he will scream out, just as it has been mentioned in the Qur`an:

يَا وَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هٌذَا الْكِتَابِ لاَ يُغَادِرُ صَغِيـرَةً وَ لاَ كَبِيـرَةً إِلاَّ أَحْصٌيهَا وَ وَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِراً

“Ah! Woe to us! What a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great but takes account thereof! They will find all that they did placed before them…” !

Notes

1. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 74, pg. 183

2. Without doubt, wishes and desires - or in the language of the `Arabs, Aml (امل ) - is the thing which keeps the wheels of life of a person in constant motion, and if this quality was to be removed from the hearts of the people for even one day, then surely the entire system of organization and harmony of the people would be disrupted and very few people would have any reason to stay strive and struggle towards a purpose.

However if this same characteristic and trait transgresses the boundaries and turns into those 'long desires that are far from reach', then this will lead to the worst of traits including being led astry and bad fortune for a person. This can be compared to the water of life which rains down from the skies - however, if this rain was to pour down in large amounts, then this could lead to the destruction and ultimate drowning of a person.

These long desires are the same ones which have been mentioned in verses 1 to 5 of Suratul Hijr (15) in the Noble Qur’an and it is stated that this is the same thing which leads to negligence of Allah (SwT), the truth and the realities around Him:

اَلَرَ. تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ وَقُرْآنٍ مُبِينٍ. رُبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ كَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ. ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُوا وَيَتَمَتَّعُوا وَيُلْهِهِمْ الأَمَلُ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ. وَمَا أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ إِلاَّ وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَعْلُومٌ. مَا تَسْبِقُ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلَهَا وَمَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ

“Alif. Lam. Ra. (1) These are the verses of Revelation of a Qur’an which makes things clear (2) Again and again will those who disbelieve wish that they had bowed (to Allah's will) in Islam (3) Leave them alone to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) hope amuse the, soon will knowledge (make them understand) (4) Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand (5) Neither can people anticipate its term, nor delay it.”

Thus, these long desires and wishes that one can not attain or reach to usually keep a person so busy and preoccupied that one drowns oneself in the world of imagination and fantasy. Therefore, a person removes oneself completely from the realities of life and becomes a stranger to this life and neglects the ultimate aims and purposes of why we are here.

In a well known tradition which has been narrated in Nahj al-Balagha (speech 42) from `Ali b. Abi Talib (as) which also speaks about the reality of this issue, it has been mentioned that:

أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، إِنَّ أَخْوَفَ مَا أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمُ اثْنَانِ: إِتِّبَاعُ الْهَوى وَ طُولُ الأََمَلِ. فَأَمَّا إِتِّبَاعُ الْهَوى فَيَصُدُّ عَنِ الْحَقِّ وَ أَمَّا طُولُ الأَمَلِ فَيُنْسِي الآخِرَةَ

“O' people! Surely the most frightening of things which I warn you about are two: Following the lower passions and having long desires. As for following your lower passions, this will distract you from the Truth and as for having long desires, this will cause you to forget the next life.”

Truly how many people who possessed great abilities, talents and the capacity (to achieve great things in this life) were transformed and changed into weak individuals due to the negative effects of having long desires and wishes. In such a state, the person is no longer any worth or benefit to the society - in fact, he even tramples upon his own self worth and greatness and distances himself from any form of perfection, just as we read in the Supplication of Kumayl:

وَحَـبَسَني عَنْ نَفْعِي بُعْدُ أَمَلِي

Principally, those desires which go beyond limits always keep a person preoccupied, and thus we see that day and night one must strive and struggle - thinking to himself that he is working towards his own happiness, welfare and well-being whereas we see that actually, he is going towards nothing except loss, failure and discontent. It is these sorts of people who normally - because of the state they end up in end their lives through suicide, and it is their painful and sorrowful life and example which can be used by others who have the spiritual eyes to see (the realities) and the spiritual ears (to hear and understand the truth) as a source of inspiration and learning. (Tafsir-e-Namuna, vol. 11, pg. 119)

3. Surat Luqman (31), Verse 34

Discourse 33: The Signs of a Muslim

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ يَقُولُ فِي خُطْبَتِهِ: أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ لاَ يُكْتَبُ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ حَتّى يَسْلَمَ النَّاسُ مِنْ يَدِه وَ لِسَانِهِ، وَ لاَ يَنَالُ دَرَجَةَ الْمُؤمِنِينَ حَتّى يَأْمَنَ أَخُوهُ بَوَائِقَهُ وَ جَارُهُ بَوَادِرَهُ، وَ لاَ يُعَدُّ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ حَتّى يَدَعَ مَالاً بَأْسَ بِهِ حِذَاراً عَمَّا بِهِ الْبَأْسُ. إِنَّهُ مَنْ خَافَ الْبَيَاتُ اَدْلَجْ …

The Messenger of Allah (S) said in one of his speeches: “O' People! Surely a servant will not be counted as one of the Muslims until other people are protected from his hand and his tongue; and he will never reach the stage of a true believer until his brother (in faith) is safe from his evil and annoyance, and his neighbour is protected and safe from his harshness and anger; and he will never reach the stage of being one with Taqwa (Allah conscious) until he keeps away from those erroneous actions which cause him to spiritually pollute himself. Surely the person who fears that he will remain asleep, keeps active and moves at night…”1

In reality, in this tradition the three words: Muslim, Mo`min and Muttaqi have been explained, and for each of these words, there is a special level that one must strive to attain.

The Prophet (S) stated that, “A person cannot be considered as a Muslim until other people are safe from his hand and tongue and if this is not the case, then such a person is not a Muslim. In addition, a person is not considered a Mo`min until his Muslim brother and neighbours are safe from him annoying or aggravating them.”

The Prophet (S) used two forms of the words سلم ” “ and أمن ” “ in this tradition since the reality of Islam is complete submission (تسليم ) and also making sure that others are safe or protected from the person (سالم ) and both of these concepts are contained within the understanding of the word Islam.

Thus, a person must be safe from both the physical (hand) of another Muslim as well as his tongue.

A Mo`min or true believer is a person whose friends and neighbours are safe from his hands, while a Muttaqi or one who possess consciousness of Allah (SwT) is one who refrains from all doubtful things. If a person pollutes his soul with doubtful actions, then surely he is not a true Muttaqi!

Anyone whose tongue acts like a snake or scorpion and is busy hurting others through his speech whether it be by makes of backbiting, levelling false accusations against others, making fun of other people, humiliating them, destroying their character, cursing them, etc… and injures other people is not considered a Muslim!

There are many people who are tricked and misled by Shaitan and thus when they are involved in a serious conversation, they protect their tongue (from speaking bad things). However when they are busy joking with others, they perform these same things which they would not do while engaged in a serious discussion. For example, when a person is busy joking with others, he may humiliate or make fun of his Muslim brother or bug him and then he will say, that “I was only joking with you and I did not mean what I said.”

Sometimes, such joking is even worse than speaking the truth because when a person is speaking the truth, he is limited and maintains restrictions and boundaries in what he is saying. However when one begins to joke around, then these limits and boundaries are often transgressed.2

If we look carefully through history, we see that court jesters and clowns used to speak truthful things to those in their presence, but they spoke of such truths in their jokes and amusements. The function of them was not just to keep the kings busy, rather, one of the philosophies of them was that whenever those around the king could not tell something very important to him directly, they would pass the information on to the clown or jester and he would convey this information to the king in a way of amusement! Thus, the jokes and playing of the jester was actually more serious than the truth!

A true believer is one who is very respected in Islam and we are not permitted to joke in this way with a true believer nor can we destroy his character or personality. May we seek refuge with Allah (SwT) if one of us - under the pretence of making a joke - destroys the character of another believer!3

At this point, we look at the topic of refraining from doubtful things.

In the Science of Jurisprudence ('Ilmul Fiqh), actions which are Makruh (discouraged) fall into the category of being permissible to perform and it has been mentioned that in all areas where there is a doubt - whether the act is obligatory or forbidden - the principle is that it is permissible. However at the same time, they are many instances in which these same doubtful things act as a bridge towards certain forbidden acts. It is for this reason that a person must not make his way to the ultimate level of these permissible acts - meaning the makruh things.

Why? This is said because the final level of the permissible acts is the edge where the forbidden acts begin and there is a possibility that at any moment, a person could trip and fall into the forbidden deeds.

In the commentary of Nahjul Balagha of Ibne Abil Hadid it is written that:

أَلاَ وَ إِنَّ حِمَى اللٌّهِ مَحَارِمُهُ

“Be advised that the protected limits of Allah (which we must not transgress) are those things which He has made impermissible.”4

There is an area which a person is prohibited from entering into and if he moves closer to it, we see that sometimes through transgressing the boundaries, one will become overcome by the evil whisperings such that he may proceed to move forward (towards the haram acts) due to the excuse that:

كُلُّ مَشْكُوكِ جَايِزٌ كُلُّ مَظْنُونِ جَايِزٌ

“All doubtful things are permissible, and all actions which one is uncertain about are (also) permissible.”

Thus, such a person may begin to perform those actions which could cause him to enter into sin and they will be classified as forbidden (haram) acts. All of these acts are permissible to perform, however at the same time we must not approach the boundaries of the forbidden acts since this boundary is one full of danger.

Of course we are not saying that we must refrain from all Makruh (reprehensible) acts, however there is a difference here and in certain instances, we must be extremely careful. If a person wishes to stay away from the danger boundary, then one must also distance oneself from the uncertain and doubtful acts.

The final sentence in his tradition is that if a person succeeds in destroying the mystique behind sins and no longer feels frightened at performing forbidden acts, then one will easily contaminate one's pure essence. When some sinners speak to others about their life and the actions that they had performed in the past, they say, “The very first time that I performed such and such a sin, I felt my entire body tremble. However after continuously performing that sin, it became second nature for me.”

Thus in summary, what protects a person is being frightened of performing a sin. However when committing sins becomes common place, then one resorts to trying to justify sinning and one will try to make every doubtful act something permissible.5

Notes

1. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 74, pg. 177

2. Some of the sins which result in creating a curtain between a person and Allah (SwT) are: Rejecting and changing the talk that one is hearing when it is vain, futile, joking discussions which only make others laugh. In order to better understand this issue, pay attention to the following traditions:

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ: إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَتَكَلَّمُ بِكَلِمَة فَيَضْحَكُ بِهَا جُلَسَاؤُهُ يَهْوى بِهَا أَبْعَدَ مِنَ الثُّرَيَّا .

The Messenger of Allah (S) has said, “Surely sometimes a person speaks something where those present in the gathering begin to laugh and thus he becomes even further away (from Allah) than the Pleiades (one of the constellations in the sky.)”

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللٌّهِ: كَثْرَةُ الْمِزَاحِ، تَذْهَبُ بِمَاءِ الْوَجْهِ .

The Messenger of Allah (S) has said, “Making many jokes results in one's honour being removed.”

عَنْ أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ قَالَ: لاَ تُمَارِ فَيَذْهَبَ بَهَاؤُكَ وَ لاَ تُمَازِحْ فَيُجْـتَرَأُ عَلَيْكَ .

It has been narrated that Abi Muhammad - Imam Hasan b. `Ali al-`Askari (as) has said, “Do not disagree with others or else your respect will be removed; and do not make too many jokes, so that you are not treated with immodesty.”

3. Hakam b. Abil `As (the father of Marwan who later on attained the Khilafat) was one of the strongest enemies of the Messenger of Allah (S) and he annoyed the Prophet quite alot. One of the ways that he bugged the Prophet (S) was that whenever the Messenger of Allah (S) would walk through the streets of Makkah, he would follow him and make fun of him and would try to imitate the way and manner in which the Prophet walked. Through this, the enemies of Islam laughed and taunted (the Prophet).

Finally one day, the Messenger of Allah (S) turned around and saw that this enemy was busy in imitating him in his actions, the Prophet told him:

كُنْ كَذٌلِكَ

“Stay as you are.”

From that point on until the day he died, his body was constantly trembling and he died in a state of intense quivering. (Punishment of Sins, pg. 10)

4. Tafsir-e-Namuna, vol. 4, pg. 232

5. As for the punishment and effects of performing sins, some of the Scholars of Akhlaq have mentioned many punishments and effects that performing sins have on a person of which, we will suffice mentioning just three of them:

1. The Effect on the Soul of the Person. Sin have an effect on the heart and soul of a person who commits them. If the sin had no other effect than to cover the heart with spiritual darkness, then this in itself would be enough to keep away from them.

When an oppressor raises his hand to hit the oppressed person, the first detriment is that the oppressor's heart is darkened.

In the Islamic narrations it has been mentioned that for every sin that a person performs, a black dot is placed on one's heart and through the repetition of sins, these black dots increase until the time that they take over the entire heart, and as the Noble Qur’an has stated:

…وَ أَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطيِئَتُهُ …

“…and are surrounded by their evil deeds and sins….” (Surat al-Baqarah (2), Verse 81)

By this we mean that when a person's entire presence is polluted with sin, then it is very hard for one to return back to the straight path. At the time when the black dots on the heart are few and the rest of the heart is still bright (with the Divine Light), one must work hard to remove those few black specks, however when the sins become many, then even those few bright spots will become covered over.

2. Effects of Sinning in One's Life: The person is - by nature - societal and one of the most important merits that a person possesses is his interdependence upon others in his life. Thus, if people were to lie to one another, then everyone would lose confidence in each other such that no one else would ever be able to have trust in anyone and everyone would have to be extra careful that others do not fool them. It is because of this that lying and performing sins, slowly transform the societal life of people into a life of individualism and the spirit of help and assistance to others is removed from the society.

3. Effects of Sinning in the Next World: We must fully accept the fact that sins are never destroyed and they are always with a person. For example, a lie that was told many years ago will follow a person step by step - even in the next world - and it will be with him continuously, just as the Noble Qur’an has stated that:

يَوْمَ يَنْظُرُ الْمَرْءُ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ

“On that day shall humanity see all that their hands had sent forth.”[117]

Therefore, on that day, all of the actions of a person will be physically manifested in front of him.