SPEAK A GOOD WORD OR REMAIN SILENT

Description: A beautiful advice by Prophet Muhammad regarding using the tongue wisely and showing kindness to neighbors and guests.

Abu Hurayrah relates that God’s Messenger, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said: “Whoever believes in God and the Last Day should speak a good word or remain silent.  And whoever believes in God and the Last Day should show hospitality to his neighbor.  And whoever believes in God and the Last Day should show hospitality to his guest.”

The importance of this Hadith

This hadith discusses some of the ways a Muslim’s faith should affect the way he relates to others.  Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani writes: “This hadith speaks about three matters, and in doing so it brings together everything that good manners entail with respect to both word and deed.”

Whoever believes in God and the Last Day…

This is a conditional sentence.  It is repeated three times in this hadith, each time with a different condition.  The first of these three conditions is to either speak a good word or remain silent, the second is to show hospitality to one’s neighbors, and the third is to show hospitality to one’s guests.  This hadith is showing us that these three qualities are among the many qualities of faith.  A person who fails to fulfill any of these conditions is a person whose faith is incomplete and in want of improvement.

Speaking a good word or remaining silent

This is an encouragement to speak what is good and beneficial; at the same time it is a warning, cautioning us to be careful in what we say, lest we say something that is harmful or false.

It is part of a Muslim’s faith to speak the truth and to say things that bring about benefit to others.

God says:

“O you who believe! Fear God and speak a word that is right.  He will set right for you your deeds and forgive you your sins.  And whoever obeys God and His Messenger has certainly attained a great achievement.” (Quran 33:70-71)

God informs us in the Quran some of what constitutes good in our speech and benefits other people.

He says:

“No good is there in much of their private conversation, except for those who enjoin charity or that which is right, or bring reconciliation between people.  And whoever does that seeking God’s pleasure, then we shall grant him a great reward.” (Quran 4:114)

When we have nothing beneficial to say, silence is golden.  Once, Mu`âdh b.  Jabal asked the Prophet to inform him of some good work that would admit him into Paradise and distance him from the Hellfire.  The Prophet mentioned to him the virtues of many good deeds, then said:

“Shall I inform you of the foundation of all of that?”

Muadh said: “Certainly.”

The Prophet took hold of his tongue and said: “Restrain yourself from this.”

Muadh then asked: “O Prophet of God!  Are we held to task for the things that we say?”

The Prophet replied: “May your mother be bereaved of you, O Mu`âdh! Does anything topple people headlong into the Hellfire save the harvests of their tongues?”

We should avoid speaking ill of others.  We should rather remain silent unless we are seeking justice for some wrong that has been perpetrated against us.

God says:

“God does not like that evil should be mentioned in public except by one who has been done injustice.  And God is all-hearing, all-knowing.” (Quran 4:148)

Our tongues are like double-edges swords.  They can work for us and against us, both in this world and the Hereafter.  We will be held accountable for what we say.

God tells us:

“He does not utter a statement except that there is an observer by him ready to record it.” (Quran 50:18)

The Prophet said: “Indeed a servant will speak a word pleasing to God that he thinks to be insignificant, but because of it God raises him by many degrees.  And indeed a servant will speak a word displeasing to God that he thinks to be insignificant, but because of it, He will consign him to the Hellfire.”

We must be vigilant not to speak falsehood.  We must think about what we are saying and the possible consequences of our words before we go ahead and speak.

The Prophet said: “A man might speak a word without thinking about its implications, but because of it, he will plunge into the Hellfire further than the distance between the east and west.”

Al-Nawawi comments on the meaning of this hadith, saying: “This hadith encourages us to guard our tongues.  A person who wants to speak should think upon what he is about to say before he utters it.  If it then shows itself to have some benefit to it, he may speak it; otherwise he should refrain from doing so.”

Showing hospitality to the neighbor and the guest

From the perfection of a person’s faith is his showing kindness to those with whom he has dealings, especially his neighbors and his guests.

God says:

“Worship God and associate nothing with Him, and show kindness to parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, the near neighbor, the distant neighbor, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess.  Indeed, God does not like those who are conceited and boastful.” (Quran 4:36)

Islam emphasizes the right of the neighbor.  The Prophet said: “Gabriel continued to impress upon me the rights of the neighbor until I thought that he would soon confer upon him the right of inheritance.”

There are many forms that this hospitality can take.  It can take the form of help in times of need.  The Prophet said: “He is not a believer who lets himself be satiated while his neighbor goes hungry.”

It can mean making allowances for the neighbor’s needs, even by waiving some of one’s own rights.  The Prophet said: “None of you should prevent his neighbor from placing his rafter in his wall.

It can take the form of gift giving.  The Prophet said: “O Muslim women!  None of you should consider insignificant a gift that you give to your neighbor, even if it is but the trotters of a sheep.”

Islam teaches us to be generous and hospitable to those who come to us as guests.  Indeed, those who come to our homes have a right over us.

The Prophet said: “Whoever believes in God and the Last Day should show hospitality to his guest according to his right.”

He was asked: “What is his right, O Messenger of God?”

The Prophet answered: “It is (to offer the best) for a day and a night, and hospitality extends for three days.  What is beyond that is charity.

DO ANIMALS TALK TO ONE ANOTHER ?

The scientists working on animals are convinced that animals indeed talk to one another. However, there is no creature in the animal world that enjoys the advanced speech facilities of human beings. We have seen animals around us make sounds by which they communicate with each other and human beings. For instance, a dog may bark to express joy, to warn people of danger, or to express growl to express its anger and howl when it is lonely. We may have also noticed birds chattering unceasingly in their nests uttering sounds understood by its younger one's and when teaching them to fly. It has also been noticed that monkeys can make different sounds in different situations that express different feelings. A calf can make known to its mother, when it is hungry.

Likewise, the neigh of a horse, the braying of a donkey, the moo of a cow, and the trumpeting of an elephant carry with them different feelings, meanings and emotions. Some of these can be understood by human beings, whereas most of the other language of the animals remains unknown to us. Nevertheless, studies reveal that animals can clearly communicate with each other, and make themselves understood to other animals of their own kind. In a jungle, animals can also communicate with other animals of the forest to warn them of an approaching danger. The other animals at least appear to understand their cries and take measures to safeguard their well-being.

Scientists studying insects have proved beyond doubt that even insects can communicate wonderfully with each other in their own special way. Insects like ants, bees, and wasps live in groups are called as social insects. They live in harmony with one another and share tasks with one another. They cannot do this unless they have a way of communicating or talking with one another. These insects possess long feelers by which they can touch others in a way and make certain things understood to others in their community.

These studies on animals have been carried out extensively by scientists in recent times. The Holy Qur'an had foretold that animals do talk to each other, as it is obvious from the following verses:

In the Chapter, 27:18 of the Holy Qur'an reads as follows, "At length, when they came to a valley of ants. One of the ants said: "O ye ants get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you under foot without knowing it."

AllahTa'ala, in his wisdom gives us the example of a lowly insect like an ant and the following conclusions can be drawn from the verse quoted above.

The verse of the Holy Qur'an gives valuable insight into the world of ants. The verse tells that one of the ants "said" addressing an assembly of other ants to get into their habitations, if not Prophet Sulayman's army would crush them to death.

The verse does not say that the ant communicated by other bodily gestures like signaling, waving, nodding, gesturing for them to hide. On the contrary, the words are "spoken out" in a way, in which it was audible to the other ants on a frequency by which they can speak to one another.

The verse also betrays the 'anxiety' of the ant to save itself and others of its kind from a certain death. This clearly shows the ant is afraid of death by "crushing," and it not only wants to ward of the approaching danger on itself, but at this critical juncture it wants to do good to the others of its community by warning them of this danger.

Here the charitable qualities of this tiny insect and the community feeling of the ant clearly stand out to show that most of the animals as a rule are not selfish as they are made out to be by humans.

Another conclusion that can be drawn is the ant loves its life, as we all do. It is for this reason it wants to ward of a certain death on itself and save others also.

The verse also tells us that the ant knew that there was a retinue of soldiers accompanying Prophet Sulayman. It also understood that they might kill the ants unwittingly by crushing them to death.

The ant here appears to be well informed about its surroundings. For instance, it knew for certain, from a distance the army coming its way belonged to Prophet Sulayman [Solomon] and not anybody else. By these verses, Allah Ta'ala makes His signs clear that the Holy Qur'an as it was revealed 1400 years ago is indeed the Word of God.