 In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful, respected viewers, brothers and sisters in Islam, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you. Welcome to the second episode of this series of Treaties of Rights, where we will continue our discussion regarding the treaties of rights of Imam Zain al-Abideen, peace be upon him. We will start with the right of the tongue. Regarding the tongue, the Imam, peace be upon him, has said, and the right of the tongue is that you consider it too noble for vulgarity, accustomed it to good, direct it to politeness, do not use it except in situations of needs and benefits of the religion and this world, and refrain from any meddling in which there is little to be gained, and there is no security from its harm that accompanies its small benefits. It is the witness too and the evidence of the existence of the intellect. The demonstration of an intelligent person's intellect is through his reputation of good speech. And there is no power but in God, the High, the Great. In the previous chapter, Imam Sajjad instructed us to use all of our facilities, i.e., ourselves to obey God and respect the rights of our body parts, which are the means by which we act. In this chapter, we will start the discussion of the rights of our body parts, by first discussing the rights of the tongue. Undoubtedly, the tongue and the ability to speak are the greatest blessings that Allah has bestowed on man in His creation. This has been explicitly stated in the following verse. He has created man. He has taught him speech and intelligence, the Holy Qur'an, Ar-Rahman, chapter 55, verse 3 and 4. Speech has been described as meaning, uncovering, an object in Arabic. Our tongue expresses our inner thoughts and feelings. Our speech uncovers our inner thoughts and expresses what we think. If it was not for our ability to speak, we would be quiet just like animals and there would be no more discussion explaining and understanding amongst men. The variety of languages is a great sign of Allah and in the Holy Qur'an it says, And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors. Verily, and that are the signs for those who know. The Holy Qur'an, Ar-Rahman, chapter 30, verse 22. This clearly expresses that the existence of various colors, races and languages among mankind is one of the signs of God. There are various ways to get to know each person. One of these ways is through speech. Each person introduces his own personality when he talks. Our speaking clearly expresses our inner purity or wickedness. One can tell whether you are a good man or a corrupt one. Imam Al-Baqara, peace and blessings be upon him, said, A man is hidden under his tongue. Therefore, the tongue will unveil the curtain and display our real character. Imam Ali, peace be upon him, said the following about the tongue. Its mask is small, but its sin is great. This wise saying clearly states how our little tongue can be used to create great sins. Each of the body parts that God has given to us has specific characteristics and purposes. Some have certain limitations too. For instance, the eye can only see certain colors. The ears can only hear sounds. The hands can only feel through touching. However, the tongue has a wide range of application extending from wickedness and corruption to goodness and prosperity. If used in a good sense, it can lead to human prosperity. And if used in an evil way, it can be the biggest means by which Satan can misguide us. The Imam, peace and blessings be upon him, then proceeds to the right of hearing. Regarding this, the Imam, peace be upon him, has said, And the right of hearing is to keep it pure by not making it the direct pathway to your heart, except for noble words that establish some good in your heart or grant you a noble trait. Indeed, hearing is the gateway through which various concepts reach the heart, whether good or evil. And there is no power but in God. The Almighty God, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, Say, it is He who created you and made you grow and made for you the faculties of hearing, seeing, feeding and understanding. Little thanks it is ye give. The Holy Quran, Al-Mulk, chapter 67, verse 23. When man is born, he is not familiar with the creatures in this world, but he slowly gets acquainted with them. One of the means of acquiring such recognition is the faculty of hearing. We hear things and they are recorded in our minds. Imam, peace be upon him, said to someone seeking advice, O questioner, listen first and then understand, then believe and put what you have learned into practice. Thus, we realize that the key to understanding, believing and putting things into practice is our hearing. Therefore, hearing can be considered our social sense and in this sense it can be considered more important than seeing. Sound is produced from vibration. Human voice is the product of the vibration of our vocal cords. It has been proven that sound will not be transmitted in a vacuum. However, we should not think that air is the only media for the transmission of sound. Sound can be propagated in liquids, gases and solids. It propagates in liquids faster than in gases. Solids propagate sound even faster than liquids do. There are three parts to the ear, the external ear, middle ear and the inner ear. The external ear consists of the pinna and the ear canal. The pinna is made of cartilage and is so formed as to act as a receiving antenna in charge of guiding the incoming sound waves towards the ear canal. The ear canal is nearly three centimeters long and produces wax to prevent the entry of dirt and insects into the ear. The middle ear is separated from the ear canal by the ear drum. The middle ear normally contains air and is connected to the back of the pharynx by the eustachian tube. There are delicate bones in the middle ear. When sound waves enter the ear and touch the ear drum, these delicate bones vibrate and transfer these signals to a liquid inside the ear. The hearing cells that are there sense these changes and transmit the information to the brain. In simple terms, that is how we hear. Our hearing ability depends on the position of the source of sound, our physical state, the way we eat and our age. The accuracy and precision that is put into the ear is quite extraordinary. Hearing starts with the outer ear. When a sound is made outside the outer ear, the sound waves or vibrations travel down the external auditory canal and strike the ear drum. The ear drum then vibrates. The vibrations are then passed to three tiny bones in the middle ear called the ossicles. The ossicles amplify the sound. They send the sound waves to the inner ear and into the fluid-filled hearing organ cochlea. Once the sound waves reach the inner ear, they are converted into electrical impulses that the auditory nerve sends to the brain. The brain then translates these electrical impulses into sound. Something worth mentioning here is that the ear always mentioned before heart and the eyes in the Holy Quran. For example, in Surah Al-Yunus, it says, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, Say, who is that sustains you in life from the sky and from the earth? Or who is it that has power over hearing and sight? The Holy Quran, Unus chapter 10 verse 31. Also in Surah Al-Isra, it says, Surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these shall be questioned about that. The Holy Quran and Al-Isra chapter 17 verse 36. Scientists have mentioned several reasons for the power of the ear over the eye. At first, we should realize that the range of frequencies we could detect via our hearing is very wide. The ratio of the highest frequencies we can hear to the lowest is nearly 1,000. However, our sight is much more limited. We can only sense a small fraction of the wavelengths. We cannot see the infrared or the ultraviolet. The eyes are also very vulnerable and might be easily damaged if we look at the sun or an eclipse. Or ultraviolet light emitted while welding is in progress. However, the ears are much stronger. In addition, our viewing angle is very limited while we can hear sounds coming to us from all directions. These seem to be the physical reasons for the advantage of hearing to sight. But it seems that hearing is more powerful than sight in self reconstruction and spiritual enlightenment. I now leave you with a break. Don't go anywhere. We will continue shortly. Welcome back, my dear viewers. Next, the Imam Peace be upon him discusses the right of the sights. Regarding this, the Imam Peace be upon him has said, and the right of your sight is that you lower it before everything which is unlawful to you and that you abandon using it except in situations in which you can take heed in such a way that you gain insight or acquire knowledge by it. Indeed, the sight is the gateway to reflection. The vision system is so important in our understanding that it is given special consideration in psychology. It is so important in physics because it is related to light and optics. It is given a special consideration by philosophers because it is important in discovering mysterious things. It is of special consideration in biology because it is an important part of the human body. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a subject of study of several fields of science. Allah the Almighty advised us about the importance of the eyes in the Holy Qur'an. Have we not made for him a pair of eyes, the Holy Qur'an, Al-Bela chapter 90 verse 8? The eyes are man's most important means of communicating with the outside world. The eyes are so amazing that they force us to be humble to our Creator. However, some people do not make proper use of them. Many are the jins and men we have made for hell. They have hearts wherewith they understand not. Eyes wherewith they see not. And ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle, no more misguided, for they are heedless of warning. The Holy Qur'an, Al-Araf chapter 7 verse 179. There is a tradition from the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his pure family, regarding the above verse Al-Belad 90 verse 8, which reads, God told the children of Adam, O children of Adam, I have given you two lips. If your tongue tries to make you commit a forbidden act, close your lips. I have given you eyelids. If your eyes try to make you commit a forbidden act, close your eyelids. The eyes must be closed to what is forbidden by God. We read the following about the unbelievers in the Holy Qur'an. Unbelievers whose eyes had been under a veil from remembrance of me and who had been unable even to hear the Holy Qur'an Al-Kahf chapter 18 verse 101. In this verse, we read that the unbelievers did not close their eyes to what is forbidden to look at. Rather, they closed their eyes from what reminds man of God. They did not hear, even though they had the hearing faculty. In fact, the unbelievers disabled their most useful faculty to seek the truth and realize the realities. It is interesting to note that God says that their eyes had been under a veil from his remembrance. Thus, they could not see God's signs. They went astray due to not seeing the truth. We cannot see God's remembrance with our eyes. Rather, we see his signs that remind us of him. One proper use of the eyes is in cases that the Holy Qur'an has pointed out. The Holy Qur'an invites us to look at our own creation in the following verse. Now let man but think from what he has created. He is created from drop emitted proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs. The Holy Qur'an, Al-Taraq, chapter 86, verses 5 to 7. Thus, the Qur'an directs man to consider how he is created from sperm to realize what we are. The second instance that the Holy Qur'an invites men to look at is to consider what he eats. The Qur'an says, Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, then let man look at his food and how we provide it. The Holy Qur'an, chapter 80, verse 24. The closest thing to man that exists outside our body but becomes a part of us when eaten is food. If we do not eat, we will die. That is why the Holy Qur'an stresses food items, especially those derived from plants and trees. There are various interpretations of this verse. Some consider this looking to be considering whether what we have obtained from eating is from legitimate means or not. Other consider food for the mind too. Ma'baka, a piece of blessings be upon him says, look and see from whom you get your knowledge. There are many occasions in the Holy Qur'an where we are instructed to look such as, for we assuredly sent amongst every people an apostle with the command, serve God and his shoe evil. Of the people where some whom God guided and some on whom error became inevitably established. So travel through the earth and see what was the end of those who denied the truth. The Holy Qur'an, al-Nahl, chapter 16, verse 36. With this we conclude and we hope to see you in the next episodes. Let us not forget to pray for Mahdi's blessed reappearance. Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.