Four Poisons of the Heart (Truth hurts, so dont read unless you are ready)

Bismillaahir-RaHmaanir-RaHeem

All Praise and Thanks are due to Allah, who guides His slaves from darkness to light.

Asalaamu Alaiikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu

Four Poisons of the Heart 

From the works of Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbabli, Ibn Al-Qayyim al-Jawziyaa, and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali



Poison of the Heart Number One: Unnecessary Talking

It is reported in al-Musnad, on the authority of Anas, that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "The faith of a servant is not put right until his heart is put right, and his heart is not put right until his tongue is put right." 1 This shows that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has made the purification of faith conditional on the purification of the heart, and the purification of the heart conditional on the purification of the tongue.

At-Tirmidhi relates in a hadith on the authority of Ibn Umar: "Do not talk excessively without remembering Allah, because such excessive talk without the mention of Allah causes the heart to harden, and the person furthest from Allah is a person with a hard heart." 2

Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "A person who talks too much is a person who often makes mistakes, and someone who often makes mistakes, often has wrong actions. The Fire has a priority over such a frequent sinner." 3

In a hadith related on the authority of Mu'adh, the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Shall I not tell you how to control all that?" I said, "Yes do, O Messenger of Allah." So he held his tongue between his fingers, and then he said: "Restrain this." I said, "Oh Prophet of Allah, are we accountable for what we say?" He sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "May your mother be bereft by your loss! Is there anything more than the harvest of the tongues that throws people on their faces (or he said 'on their noses') into the Fire?" 4

What is meant here by 'the harvest of the tongues' is the punishment for saying forbidden things. A man, through his actions and words, sows the seeds of either good or evil. On the Day of Resurrection he harvests their fruits. Those who sow the seeds of good words and deeds harvest honour and blessings; those who sow the seeds of evil words and deeds reap only regret and remorse.

A hadith related by Abu Huraira says, "What mostly causes people to be sent to the Fire are the two openings: the mouth and the private parts." 5

Abu Huraira also related that the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said,"The servant speaks words, the consequences of which he does not realise, and for which he is sent down into the depths of the Fire further than the distance between the east and the west." 6

The same hadith was transmitted by at-Tirmidhi with slight variations: "The servant says something that he thinks is harmless, and for which he will be plunged into the depths of the Fire as far as seventy autumns." 7

Uqba ibn Amir said: "I said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is our best way of surviving?' He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied: "Guard your tongue, make your house suffice for sheltering your privacy, and weep for your wrong actions." 8

It has been related on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa'd that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Whoever can guarantee what is between his jaws and what is between his legs, I guarantee him the Garden." 9

It has also been related by Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Let whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day either speak good or remain silent." 10

Thus talking can either be good, in which case it is commendable, or bad, in which case it is haram.

The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said: "Everything the children of Adam say goes against them, except for their enjoining good and forbidding evil, and remembering Allah, Glorious and Might is He." This was reported by at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Ma'jah on the authority of Umm Habiba, may Allah be pleased with her. 11

Umar ibn al-Khattab visited Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them, and found him pulling his tongue with his fingers. Umar said "Stop! may Allah forgive you!" Abu Bakr replied; "This tongue has brought me to dangerous places." 12

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said: "By Allah, besides Whom no god exists, nothing deserves a long prison sentence more than my tongue." He also used to say: "O tongue, say good and you will profit; desist from saying evil things and you will be safe; otherwise you will find only regret."

Abu Huraira reported that Ibn al-Abbas said: "A person will not feel greater fury or anger for any part of his body on the Day of Judgement more than what he will feel for his tongue, unless he only used it for saying or enjoining good."

Al-Hassan said: ""Whoever does not hold his tongue cannot understand his deen."

The least harmful of a tongue's faults is talking about whatever does not concern it. The following hadith of the Prohet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam is enough to indicate the harm of this fault: ""One of the merits of a person's Islam is his abandoning what does not concern him." 13

Abu Ubaida related that al-Hassan said: "One of the signs of Allah's abandoning a servant is His making him preoccupied with what does not concern him."

Sahl said, "Whoever talks about what does not concern him is deprived of truthfulness."

As we have already mentioned above, this is the least harmful of the tongue's faults. There are far worse things, like backbiting, gossiping, obscene and misleading talk, two-faced and hypocritical talk, showing off, quarrelling, bickering, singing, lying, mockery, derision and falsehood; and there are many more faults which can affect a servant's tongue, ruining his heart and causing him to lose both his happiness and pleasure in this life, and his success and profit in the next life. Allah is the One to Whom we turn for assistance.

REFLECTIONS & ACTION PLAN:

Talking excessively was something both the Prophet, Salalahu Alayhi wa Salaam and the Salaf warned about. Every word we say will be held against us on the Day of Judgement, therefore we should be careful. We do not have to abandon talking all together, but we can cut down on the unnecessary and vain talk we do each day. Instead we can replace these hours of talking without any benefit with Dhikr or something else that can be of benefit to us in this world and the herafter. 

Let me focus on cursing before I end. It's one of the things unncessary talking leads to. We see many Muslims caught up in this sin. All the time, we see cursing back and forth between Muslim friends and even Non-Muslim ones (is that good Dawah?). This is not censorship, but common sense! Let's remember we are MUSLIMS. Our Islam shouldn't be shown just by our Hijab or our Beard, but it should aslo be shown in our character and our speech. We should not imitate others in their foul speech and conduct. This is an advice to myself as well as others, let's beautify our speech with GOOD words.

One sheikh I remember in a lecture asked the audience what is the first thing they say when they trip or fall. It's probably foul speech, cursing or duaa against someone (yes apparently, some people do that! They say for example: O Allah curse such a such person)! He said instead we should replace those words with ALLAHU AKBAR orSUBHANALLAH or ALHAMDULILAH or LA ILAHA ILA LAH. I tried it, it took some time to get used to. But Alhamdulilah now when I fall I find myself saying ALLAHU AKBAR. Yes, it scares people sometimes, but it's better they hear that than some filthy curse word right? :)

And let's remember, every word we speak is being written down. One statement from the Salaf I read was something to the effect that one should be shy of what they do or say, as the angels are in their company, writing it ALL down. Allah SWT is also watching us, each time we curse or spend hours in vain talk or commit any other sin of the tongue.

Insha'Allah we can be of those who WHEN they speak choose the best, most beneficial words and statements. 

May Allah purify our tongues and hearts, ameen

InshaAllah keep an eye out for the second poison: Unrestrained Glances

BarakAllahu Feekum

Ma'Salaama

P.S. Footnotes will be posted at end of series.