The Vices of the Tongue
Volume 3: Things That Destroy
The tongue, one of the noblest yet most dangerous organs in human creation, is the fundamental channel through which faith and disbelief are revealed. According to the source text, the domain of the tongue is boundless, for everything knowledge encompasses (the existent, the non-existent, the Creator, the created) falls within the tongue's scope. This vast field makes the tongue Satan's greatest instrument. Human ruin is most often the fruit of the tongue. The sole path to deliverance from this danger is to bridle the tongue with the reins of the Sharīʿa and use it only for good. The fundamental maxim is: "Whoever keeps silent is saved."
Summary
The tongue, one of the noblest yet most dangerous organs in human creation, is the fundamental channel through which faith and disbelief are revealed.
Sections
A. The Nature and Power of the Tongue
The tongue, though physically a small organ, is great in obedience or rebellion. While other organs (the eye, the ear, the hand) have limited spheres of influence, the tongue has no bounds. It can express everything, whether true or false. This breadth makes controlling the tongue difficult. The greatest factor driving people to Hell is what their tongues have sown.
B. The Virtue of Silence (*Sukūt*)
Silence is not merely refraining from speech; it is a form of ḥikma (wisdom) and worship. The text grounds the virtue of silence on the following foundations:
- Safety: Silence eliminates the possibility of error.
- Preservation of Dignity: A person who speaks constantly loses gravitas.
- Opening Space for Thought and Worship: When the tongue is still, the heart turns to reflection, remembrance, and worship.
- Ease of Reckoning: The reality that every word is recorded and will be accounted for makes silence a necessity.
C. The Four Categories of Speech
The text divides speech into four groups along the axis of benefit and harm: 1. Purely Harmful: One must remain silent (lying, backbiting, etc.). 2. Purely Beneficial: One should speak (remembrance, knowledge, enjoining good). 3. Both Harmful and Beneficial: It is perilous; silence is preferable because of the possibility of harm. 4. Neither Beneficial Nor Harmful (Malāyanī): It is a waste of time, a squandering of capital in the form of one's hours.
The Vices of the Tongue: Detailed Examination
The fundamental vices detailed in the source text and their contents are tabulated below:
| Vice | Definition and Content | Primary Harms | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Malāyanī (Idle Talk) | Matters that do not concern one, with no benefit for one's worldly or otherworldly life. | Loss of time, hardening of the heart, forfeiture of mansions in the Hereafter. | | Immersion in Falsehood | Speaking of sins, gatherings of drink, women, and the states of the corrupt. | God's wrath, falling into the depths of Hell. | | Mira and Jidāl | Objecting to another's words, trying to silence him and show him ignorant. | Breeds rancor and hatred, hardens the heart, lowers refined character. | | Ḥusūma | Stubborn insistence on a claim to wealth or right, raising dispute to the level of torment. | Destroys religion, occupies the heart, inflames anger. | | Affected Speech (Takalluf) | Twisting one's mouth for literary effect, forced ornate speech. | Distance from the God-fearing, a sign of arrogance and ostentation. | | Vile and Ugly Speech | Cursing, using obscene terms, gossip. | A branch of hypocrisy; leads to being disliked by God. | | Imprecation (Laʿn) | Invoking God's curse upon people, animals, or objects. | Loss of the quality of truthfulness; deprivation of intercession and testimony. | | Jest and Humor (Excessive) | Constant joking, adding lies to make people laugh. | Reduces gravitas, deadens the heart, sows seeds of enmity. | | Mockery and Ridicule (Istiḥzā) | Holding another in contempt, laughing at his deficiencies. | Being deceived in the Hereafter, bearing another's sin. | | Lying and False Oath | Distorting truth, invoking God's name upon a lie. | Loss of faith, decrease of provision, entering one of the gates of Hell. |
Special Case: Where Lying Is Permissible
In Islam, lying is essentially forbidden and a grave sin; yet the text notes that in three special situations permission is given for lying or tarīẓ (indirect expression): 1. Reconciliation (Iṣlāḥ): To reconcile two estranged Muslims or restore peace in the community. 2. War: As stratagem in battle for the safety of Muslims. 3. Domestic Tranquility: Words of endearment spoken to preserve love and bond between husband and wife.
Note: Even in these cases, it is preferable to use tarīẓ (words whose literal meaning is true but which the listener will understand differently) whenever possible.
Backbiting (*Ghibah*): The Greatest Calamity
The text defines backbiting as "mentioning in a person's absence what would displease him if he heard it."
- Scope: Not only physical defects; lineage, character, dress, religious shortcomings, and even deficiencies in worldly affairs fall under backbiting.
- Method: Not only by tongue; every expression of displeasure by eyebrow, gesture, imitation, writing, or allusion is backbiting.
- Ruling: It is equated with eating the flesh of one's dead brother. It is said to be graver than fornication because it is a violation of a person's right.
Actionable Recommendations
The practical counsel drawn from the document analysis is as follows:
1. Do Not Speak Without Thinking: The believer reflects before speaking; if it is in his favor, he speaks; if not, he remains silent. The corrupt speak without reflection. 2. Abandon Malāyanī: Leaving every unnecessary question and conversation that does not concern one is among the beauties of Islam. 3. Occupy Oneself with One's Own Faults: Rather than searching out another's fault, one should focus on correcting one's own deficiencies. 4. Psychological Treatment (Detailed): When the urge to backbite arises, diagnose the emotions at its root—anger, envy, or arrogance—and treat them with spiritual knowledge. 5. Putting a Stone in the Mouth: Like the righteous predecessors, gain mastery over the tongue through physical barriers or withdrawal into seclusion. 6. Remembrance and Reflection: To prevent the tongue from remaining idle, accustom it constantly to remembering God or conveying beneficial knowledge.
Key concepts
- Small Body, Great Effect
- The tongue itself is small, yet in terms of obedience (bearing witness to faith) or rebellion (disbelief), its consequences are great.
- Relation to Knowledge
- Whatever knowledge encompasses, the tongue expresses. While other organs (eye, ear, hand) have defined limits, the tongue's domain has none.
- Mirror of the Heart
- A person's faith cannot be sound unless the heart is sound; nor can the heart be sound unless the tongue is sound.
- Wisdom (*Ḥikma*)
- "Silence is wisdom, and those who keep silent are very few."
- Deliverance
- "Whoever keeps silent is saved."
- Dignity and Worship
- Silence preserves dignity and frees a person for reflection, remembrance, and worship.
Study questions
According to the text, what are the three fundamental "appetites" (Kabkab, Zabzab, Laklak) that destroy a person?
Kabkab is the stomach, Zabzab the reproductive organ, and Laklak the tongue.
"Where does Satan drive one who neglects the bridle of the tongue?"
Satan drives him to the edge of a crumbling cliff, leading him to eternal ruin.
What is the boundary that determines whether a conversation is *malāyanī* (superfluous)?
If, when that conversation is not held, the person does not become sinful and suffers no harm in any circumstance, that conversation is malāyanī.
According to the text, why are Mira (objection) and *Jidāl* (disputation) forbidden?
Because these acts harden hearts, breed rancor and hatred, lower refined character, and involve accusing another of ignorance.
In which three situations is lying permitted by the Sharīʿa?
1. Reconciling two Muslims (iṣlāḥ), 2. For the benefit of Muslims in wartime, 3. For the satisfaction or welfare of spouses toward each other.
What is the ugliest form of backbiting practiced by ostentatious reciters?
It is the form done without naming the person, hiding behind pious expressions such as "May God protect us from shamelessness," which contains both backbiting and ostentation.