 The right of the tongue is that you consider it too noble for obscenity. A custom to good. Refrain from any meddling in where there is nothing to be gained. Express kindness to the people and speak well concerning them. Salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome to Live in London. Last episode we discussed the rights of the nafs, the self and we discussed the different levels of the self and how to develop and purify oneself. Let us continue the discussion taken from Imam Sajad's Lesalat al-Haqoq with Haq al-Lisan, the right of the tongue. Is the tongue a weapon of mass chaos and conflict or is the tongue a weapon used for unity and harmony among society? Do we use our tongues properly in our day-to-day lives and our day-to-day interactions or have we not given justice to this blessing that Allah SWT has given us? The tongue has it been used to do the dhikr of Allah and to propagate the message of the Ahlul Bayt? Or has the tongue been used for our own nafs and our own desires to gain what we want in this dunya? I'd like to welcome to the discussion, Sayyid Amar Naqshwani. Salamu alaikum Sayyid Amar. Wa alaikum wa salam wa rahmatullahi. How are you this evening? Very well, thank you. Mashallah. Sayyid, the tongue, one would think it's such a small muscle. It's hard to discuss. There's not many diseases related to the tongue. Why would Islam be concerned with the rights of such a small anatomy in human physiology? It's a very interesting question, especially the intricacies of the religion of Islam are sometimes very much overlooked in our discussions. If Islam claims to be a way of life, a religion that provides you with guidance in your life, that means that every aspect of your creation it would provide guidance on. Many times we overlook just how intricate some of the discussions are within the religion of Islam, either discussions within the Holy Quran or indeed you find discussions in the world of Hadith. Even in the Holy Quran you'll find that there were discussions of the animal kingdom which some of the Arabs used to mock the Prophet Muhammad for having peace be upon him and his family. And yet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would reveal verses saying that he is not embarrassed to discuss the most minor, the most small, the most intricate of his creation. So in the Quran, for example, you find clear discussions on the mosquito, discussions on the spider, discussions on the fly. All of these are seen as very small creations of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but their power is devastating. As I saw the power of a mosquito on the way to Karbala a few years ago when I had malaria. And so you find that when a person looks at the intricacies of the religion of Islam, the religion looks at every single aspect of creation and seeks to guide every single aspect of creation. If I have all of these body parts, these body parts were not created in vain. All of these body parts that I have, all of them have a purpose in the life of the human being. But all of them have rights and we have responsibilities with all of these body parts. So therefore when you come to the third of the rights in Resalat al-Hukuk, one may look at the right of the tongue and may think to themselves that this right, the right of the tongue, why would it be something that is mentioned by the Imam? But what the Imam is trying to highlight for us is every single part of your body, you have a responsibility for. Every single part of the body of the human being may even speak on the day of judgment about the way that it was treated or about the acts that it performed. If you look for example in Surat Yassin, God mentioned certain body parts which are going to witness on the day of judgment for what acts were performed in relation to them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surat Yassin, on that day their hands will speak and their feet will be witnesses for the acts that they used to perform. When you look at that you think to yourself my hands will speak, that means that these hands whatever you've touched, whatever you've done with them, you had a responsibility with them. On the day of judgment those hands will speak. Likewise your feet, they'll speak about where you led them. Did you lead them to obeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or you led them to the disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Yes. You find for example when we walk from Safa to Marwa in honor of Hajr, these feet will speak and say that those are the people who perform the Sa'i. When you do Tawaf of the Ka'bah, your feet will speak that you circumambulated the house of God. When you walk for example to Karbala, your feet will speak that this was a person who used these feet to walk towards God. Therefore in the Quran Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows us that we have a responsibility with our body parts and that we must reflect on that responsibility. You see when you look at the right of the tongue, if you just repeat it, no problem, you'll see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has directed this small instrument that we all have. He's given you directions and responsibilities related to it. Repeat it again. The right of the tongue is that you consider it too noble for obscenity, accustomed it to good, refrain from any meddling in where there is nothing to be gained, express kindness to the people and speak well concerning them. Who would have ever thought that the tongue of the human being has been given such importance by the creator of the human being. There are many religions in the world today, there are many ideologies in the world today, but I defy you to go and sit with those religions and tell them what is the right of the tongue of the human being. Many will turn around and say what are you talking about. We all share discussions on charity, on prayer, on fasting, but where the Ahlul Bayt al-Alaym As-Salaam come into their own as representatives of God is that they're able to provide you with the intricacies and the responsibilities in relation to every creation of God. I must admit that growing up I don't think I remember many discussions where you would be told about the right of your tongue. True. I remember being told that you must pray five times a day. Yes. You must fast in the holy month of Ramadha. Ascent. Muharram, for example, they're not jealous of what you go to, but you don't remember ever being given the directions as to what you are meant to do or how you are meant to behave with the tongue that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed you with. Yes. That tongue is a form of rizq from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ascent. There may be some in the world who cannot use their tongue in the way we can, may have a speech issue, some of them may not be as eloquent, therefore that tongue which you are able to use eloquently, that tongue which you are able to use clearly, that is a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ascent. So in other words, what we're trying to make clear if the religion of Islam claims to be a religion where God directs every aspect of its creation, then something as major as the tongue surely would have also received importance. And as you see in Resalat al-Hukuk, it's given a whole section. A quick message to the viewers is that if you have a question which you'd like to direct to say it, please contact us on 0203 5150199. Alternatively, you can contact us on WhatsApp and the number should be available in the lower third and the say will do his best to answer all the questions. So now if we come back to the first, the right of the tongue is that you consider it too noble for obscenity. Could one say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has purposely created such a thing to refrain from bad mouthing, to refrain from obscenity, to refrain from saying bad things and to use it for good. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when he's given us the blessing that is the tongue of the human being, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us that blessing in order that we use it in his service. Yes. And in order that at the same time we use it in the way we're able to build a healthier society, you know, in Islam, one form of charity is to smile. Another is to say a good word. The basis of that good word is for a person to use their tongue and helping to build a healthier society around them. What would you say to someone that would say that in the Quran, how is it mentioned or where is it mentioned that the importance of the tongue, any reference to how to use the tongue, how has the Ahlul Bayt come to give us the rights of the tongue from the Quran and how has the Quran discussed the tongue? Well, if you're looking within the Holy Quran, the word Lisan is mentioned on numerous occasions, as derivatives are mentioned as well. I think one of the most interesting moments in the Holy Quran where it's clearly highlighted about the tongue and how important that tongue is for eloquence is in the story of Nabi Musa, there are certain lines which we always use in relation to Moses, and these lines mentioned the tongue clearly. Nabi Musa is one of the greatest prophets of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He's seen as one of the arch prophets in the religion of Islam, one of the Ulil Azim. Yet even he himself mentions the importance of the tongue and the eloquence that emerges from that tongue when you find Nabi Musa, in the famous verses, when he's about to approach Pharaoh. Now this is going to be a monumental moment. You're about to approach Pharaoh. Everybody is going to be listening to what words you have to say. And it's as if Moses realizes at this moment that while he may use his tongue in a positive way, in the best of ways, yet his brother may even be someone who's more eloquent than him. He says, These are the words which I personally will recite before I give any measure. That before I go up on the pulpit, I'll always make it a point, not just a fatah for Umm al-Baneen, a fatah for Abu Talib, but also at the same time recite, I want my fear in the next hour, for example, to be easy for me, and to loosen the knot from my tongue. I don't care how good a speaker you are. I don't care what type of reputation you have. You don't want to get tongue tied or you don't want to have tongue twisters when you're giving a lecture. Nabi Musa, beautifully highlights that many of us don't realize what a gift we have when we're able to use our tongue so eloquently and that this gift comes to us from Allah SWT. At the same time that he's asking Allah SWT to loosen the knot from his tongue, meaning that when he approaches Pharaoh, he wants to approach Pharaoh with eloquence. He wants to approach Pharaoh in a way where there is no impediment to anything that he's saying. He also recognizes that maybe my brother Haroon is more eloquent than me. So this notion of this, could you say rumor or that Hazrat Musa al-Islam had a lisp or he burned his tongue as a child or he had to speak impediment. This is false? Is there some truth in that or was it that Hazrat Haroon was just the best man for the job? No, I think with these you find some of these Israeli traditions or Israiliyat which were a place to try and show that Moses al-Islam had a lisp and therefore he couldn't speak eloquently. No, it could just be a case that Nabi Haroon al-Islam was for example a better orator than Nabi Musa al-Islam. You see, you may have someone out there who has knowledge with no oratory but when oratory is a great gift, the root of that gift is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blessing your tongue and blessing your voice to be in tandem with one another. It doesn't mean that when Nabi Musa al-Islam turns around to his brother or to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and says my brother's more eloquent doesn't mean that oh I have a lisp that's the reason I'm not going to be able to talk. No, not at all. Rather, he's showing that my brother may be the best person who's fit to speak publicly. You find that sometimes there are scholars out there who have great amount of knowledge but their oratory is not the best. They may be monotone but the knowledge is exquisite. Now some people will be patient enough to listen to such speakers. Others will say no that that oratory is something which I require for me to pay attention. So in the story of Nabi Musa al-Islam Nabi Musa highlights that any of us when we're about to give a speech or a lecture or when we're about for example to be involved in a you know in a presentation you know let's say at work we must remember that that tongue that's being given to us by God is a blessing that we should always remind ourselves that only God can protect. So when we say this is a reminder for us that even when you speak clearly, eloquently, fluently, all of these are blessings from God. Now going back to the actual right, the right of the tongue is that you consider it too noble for obscenity. Now two things that what does the Imam mean by this and also isn't this an impediment of freedom of speech like it's restricting us from from saying what we want to say? Too noble for obscenity in the sense that that tongue is a creation of God and that creation of God should be respected and guided towards the service of God not the service of the enemy of God. Shaitan is the one who wants you to constantly be cursing for example, constantly be abusing, constantly be swearing. There are traditions from the Ahlul Bayt specifically about those who constantly swear. What do we mean by swear? Is this an oath? No, for example in London we may say that swearing is when someone uses filthy language. In other parts of the world they may refer it to for example abusive type language. Cursing. Heaven will not be allowed for the one who constantly curses. You know even in our cultures today and this is a reminder even to ourselves you know sometimes when we're sitting on the football terraces and we're watching our football club. Yes. You know if I see that my football clubs miss you know if I see Mane or Salah or Famino or Catino I'm looking at them and if they're missing chances then all of a sudden that tongue of mine. This happens quite often then does it? Well I think after four zero at Bournemouth it wasn't really happening that often but I think if you're looking at at that tongue that tongue created by Allah swt Imam alaihi salam says something wonderful about it. He says the weight of the tongue is so small. Yes. Its power is so devastating. Wow. The weight is so small. Yes. The power is so devastating. You come to the terraces when we're watching our clubs and I don't know where your club is by the way at the moment. Which league are they in? It's in West London. No I know where it is but which league is it in? Championship. Championship okay but still you remain loyal. Well we all have to have a loyalty to follow my sport because they are you know local to many of us but you're on the terraces and sometimes you forget yourself and you start swearing on those terraces and sometimes swearing at your own which you shouldn't be but sometimes swearing at the opposition and the obscenities that come. Imam alaihi salam says the right of your tongue is that you consider it too noble to say these obscenities or to utter such obscenities because once I recognize that that tongue is a gift from God I shouldn't direct it in a direction opposite to the direction of God. Yes. Allah SWT in the Quran many times mentioned say that which is better. Yes. When the ignorant speak to you say peace say that goal which is ma'ruf that goal which is kareem many times God wants us to say good words wise words kind words. Yes. Allah SWT did not want the human being to be used to uttering obscenities you know sometimes when we forget ourselves and I'm no angel in this for me to sit here and tell people that I'm the angel who's trying to advise everybody not at all I'm a struggle in the path of many struggleers but sometimes even in some cultures certain obscenities begun to become words which are said in jest so certain words which originally were obscene okay became so part of our language that we say it's when something funny has happened. Okay. Originally that word was a word which only would be said when you're angry so if you're angry you'll utter this obscene or crude word but we got so used to saying this word that even when something funny would happen or someone made a joke they'll say that word and you'll say that was such a good joke. Now we have to be careful that even when we're saying that word in a light hearted moment because you know how people justify cursing sometimes or saying foul words is they'll justify by saying yeah bro I'm not saying it in a bad way or directing it to someone I'm not directing it to someone someone said something funny I was like something hell that was funny now look how we became as a society the tongue that God gave us Imam says you have to consider it too noble to utter an obscenity yes this is a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if i'm going to use it either I use it towards that which is good or I remain silent for one of the ways in which a person is rewarded on the day of judgment is their silence I remember hadith of the holy prophet peace be upon his family says I will tell you two things which will get you into heaven one of them is silence and another of them is having a good temper so yes not having a short temper not having a bad temper but having a good temperament meaning that you're someone who's always trying to be as calm as you can now these two aren't easy listen we've all lost our tempers at certain times but they go hand in hand with one another that the holy prophet in a way peace be upon his family is made it clear that you know what sometimes when you're about to let loose and Imam Ali had said its weight is so small get a tongue and weight is so small but its power is devastating you know with one statement you can destroy somebody you know you could cut that person indeed there are some people who enjoy cutting that person to shreds and seeing others laugh at it Rasulullah says two ways in which you'll find and are easy ways in which you'll get to heaven good temperament not losing your temple and silence sometimes you're about to utter an obscenity try and hold back a second try and think hold on maybe use another word indeed do I have to use that obscenity no so Imam Zayn al-Abdina says the right of your tongue as you consider it too noble to utter an obscenity that number one this is a blessing from God number two I am a representative of the prophet and his family peace be upon them did you ever find an instance in the life of the holy prophet peace be upon his family where they were known to have uttered an obscenity I haven't come across anything you won't find nobody will find an instance in the life of the holy prophet peace be upon man's family where they were known to have uttered an obscenity they were always known to be the people with the best manners yes and if they did not need to say anything at times their silence was their wisdom and they showed you that balance don't be too talkative yes even the Ahlul Bayt al-Masalaam have got many traditions about excessive talk that sometimes there are people talk too much not only talk too much but their talk has no wisdom related to it so when the Imam says it's too noble he's giving that nobility number one because it's God's creation and number two you as a representative of Ahlul Bayt should never lower yourself that you are used to uttering obscenities even if that obscenity is said in jest maashaAllah maashaAllah carrying on from the right of the tongue accustomed to good I mean what does Imam Sujaad mean here and how do we accustomed the tongue to goodness there are so many ways in which a person can accustomed their tongue towards good that tongue of yours can be a tongue that's uttered the Quran on a regular basis that is the first and most important way in which you can accustomed your tongue towards that which is good when I'm sitting in a gathering one of the best things that I could do is by using my tongue to utter the words of God in that gathering because firstly the remembrance of Allah brings peace into my heart secondly it gives a fragrance to that gathering second thing get your tongue used to the constant mentioning of the traditions of Ahlul Bayt al-Masalaam their traditions are the most wonderful even they say to us memorize 40 of our traditions in your guaranteed paradise let your tongue be used to talking about the Ahlul Bayt the biographies of the Ahlul Bayt al-Masalaam thirdly just the kind word you know something which many of us don't realize is that the Ahlul Bayt always stress if you like someone's tell them you like them our ego sometimes stops us from telling someone who we like that we like them because our ego is like well if I tell them that I like them you know what maybe I'm lowering myself a little bit so I'm not gonna say can you clarify that because we don't want loads of valentine cards going left right in the center why not let the valentine cards go out why not if you like somebody tell them you like them nothing haram with this nothing haram if I now go up to someone and say I like them I'm not gonna say haram yet I can do things in their proper ways likewise if you're seeing amongst a group of brothers or sisters are seeing amongst the group of sisters and there is a sister who for example sees another sister's always helpful always kind a brother sees another brother's always beneficial to them yes go and say to them I love you for the sake of Allah subhanahu if you read mizan al-hikmah the scales of wisdom there are some wonderful traditions from imam al-sadaq alayhi salam about how important it is and how rewarding it is for a person to tell another brother of theirs I like you I love you for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this is one of the most rewarding things in the religion of Islam that you use your tongue you train it towards saying that which is good and this shouldn't just be with your Muslim brethren there are non-muslims where we live in Europe or in America there are non-muslims out there nice humble people helped us in our lives use your tongue effectively with them in your speech with wisdom with a kind word it's not easy by the way to train that tongue towards that which is good we spoke about jihad and nefs and part of jihad and nefs part of ensuring the nefs is purified one important part is the way you use your tongue are you using your tongue to ensure that the religion of Islam is the religion which is represented in the right way or no look in history there have been personalities who train their tongue to only talk the Quran or talk the Ahlul Bayt and lost their tongues wow literally and metaphorically because of their praise of the Ahlul Bayt one prime example made them a tamar made them a tamar revered companion of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib alayhi s-salam one of the date sellers of kufa wonderful personality and this made them a tamar imam had taught him so much knowledge he knew the secrets of the Ahlul Bayt alayhi s-salam and the Imam had said to him one day are you ready to die praising me meaning that if someone was to bring a sword to your neck and tell you stop praising Ali would you stop or would you be willing to lose your life instead it would be an honor for me to lose my life while praising Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib alayhi s-salam the Imam showed him the very tree where his tongue would be cut while he would be crucified on that tree every day make them would go towards that tree and he would look towards the tree and he would say oh tree while watering it you've been created for me and i've been created for you meaning there'll be a day where i'm going to be executed here who would go and water the tree where they're going to be crucified one light book the first light and run out of the country you think we're chopping it down straight away chop it down straight away make them tamar trained his tongue his whole life reciting the fadail of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib alayhi s-salam which is the greatest merit that you can ever have in your life is to be able to recite the fadail of the Ahlul Bayt alayhi s-salam that's how you train your tongue eventually ibn Ziyad when you saw him praising Imam Ali is that i'll kill you make them replied my master told me that i will die while my tongue praises him this is Haqq al-Lisan when my tongue is considered too noble for curses and abuses but rather i use my tongue in the service of Allah and the Ahlul Bayt alayhi s-salam eventually ibn Ziyad turns around to me says okay i won't kill you i'll prove your master Ali wrong made them continuous to praise Imam Ali continues until they cut made them's tongue off oh wow therefore you find that the likes of made them in tamar highlighted that the Haqq of your tongue you consider it too noble to utter an obscenity you train it towards uttering good meaning that i train my tongue to always talk those things that get us closer to Allah if not then remain silent Plato used to say a wise man has something to say yes whereas a fool has to say something a wise man has something to say a fool has to say something there are some people it's not your job it's not your specialty it's not your arena they have to give their opinion Habibi who asked you for your opinion who who but it's not your it's not your job it's not your field oh but in my opinion why does he do this in my opinion why did he say that it's not your field if you're in the field then we'll listen to what you have to say but if it's not your field silence is the better course doctor the rites carry on to say refrain from any meddling in which there is nothing to be gained i mean what does the imam mean by that and if someone was to you know associate things like poetry recitation things like storytelling certain people have used their voices for a career like spoke the spokespersons of companies and things like that or for entertainment purposes it's like storytelling stand-up comedy do these these categories of these fields fall into that that meddling with things that in which there is nothing to be gained from or is it something totally different yeah one thing that we have to be careful is not sitting in gatherings which are called Majalis al-Battaleen okay Majalis al-Battaleen imam Zain al-Abideen al-Salam he refers to these Majalis these are the gatherings where the whole aim of that gathering is vain talk okay the whole aim of that gathering is gossip oh wow how can we delve into people's private lives or just talk which is nonsense which is neither here or there you see i'm not saying every single gathering should be a gathering where a person talks about the Quran and the Ahlul Bayt no you could talk about your sports you could talk about your holidays you could talk about work that there's nothing wrong there but don't just have gatherings for the sake of those gatherings where you're just looking to pry on people's personal lives okay or you're looking to gossip about people's lives or you're looking to backbite people's lives and the Quran Allah subhanu wa ta'ala talks about how the sign of a mu'min is they stay away from vain words successful are the believers those who are humble in their prayers and those who stay away from vain talk sometimes there are people who will sit in gatherings there is no discussion about their heritage no discussion about how to move the community forward no discussion about how the youth are doing in their lives no discussion about the needs of their elders no discussion about the future of the society or the country within which they live the whole discussion is focused on did you hear he got married she got married he got divorced she got divorced yes they bought this they bought that they went here they went here this person in other words those gatherings the tongue should never be accustomed to because that is not the sign of a mu'min we're gonna have to have a short break here so to the viewers we're gonna have a short break now and inshallah join us after the break for the continuation of the discussion haq al-lisan so you after the break salamu alaykum rahmatullahi wa barakatuh salamu alaykum rahmatullahi wa barakatuh welcome back to live in london where we're discussing al haq al-lisan the um rights of the tongue doctor we were discussing about vain talk and gossiping i mean backbiting is such a big issue in our community um what is backbiting in the fikki term and is it actually worse than gossiping or is the same thing well they both mentioned in the quran so they both deserve the same amount of discussion and you're absolutely right that's sadly not just in the muslim community but i think in virtually every community in the world backbiting and gossiping exists sometimes muslims try and blame everything on themselves and yes we we have a major responsibility because of how much our religion stresses against backbiting against gossiping but don't be surprised when we live in a world where to gossip about a personality's private life is something very normal if you look for example um in the media for example in hollywood uh or in bollywood or in many of the film industries there are magazines or there are websites or there are uh television shows which are dedicated to looking at people's private lives to trying and destroy their private lives you know there were certain newspapers in the uk which had been shut down because they had tapped up people's phones or tapped up people's addresses to try and find out what mail they were receiving which messages they were receiving what phone calls they were making and in some cases this led to certain people who had their private lives ruined certain people who had to go into rehabilitation because of drugs because of alcohol when their life was exposed and sadly in the world today people actually thrive on looking forward to the exposure of someone's private lives as in people can't wait to tell each other that listen come meet me as soon as possible let's sit down we discuss this actor or this actress's private life look at what they've done look at what she said look at what they said when i'm living in such a time when i'm living in such a society i'm obviously going to be affected by this there is no way i can say that i'm not going to be affected by this if i'm living in a world where exposing someone's private life exposing someone's marriage exposing someone's for example children's lives when i'm living in a world where this is seen as something which brings happiness and joy and much discussion then i have to be on my god that that doesn't affect me that's why in the Quran God mentions that beware of people who deliver to you evil news beware of those who give you news and they have a bad background they have a bad reputation if you look in surah 49 verse number six Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala states oh you who believe when an evil person comes to you with news make sure you verify that piece of news for the love of god wallah in my own life honestly in my own life i how many places i've been around the world for the world you probably see probably a lot of the world we have a new lecture constantly people you'll find asking me i said ammar are you married you're not married i said ammar i heard you were married once twice six times 15 65 450 and and you're looking at this person you're wondering that number one why is my private life so important to you but secondly how many different rumor mills have been created some may be innocently some may say well i heard this i heard that others not so innocently they want to destroy you as we mentioned in the previous show there's haters out there and you have to give room for forgiveness for anyone who's a hater ahlulbayt always say leave room for forgiveness but there are people out there who want to spread gossip and filth about people's lives for goodness sake the ahlulbayt was the biggest victims of this where people tried to say imam was divorced 300 times and others who tried to make rumors about the imams of ahlulbayt some used to say imam didn't used to pray we have to be aware that we don't live in that society like the ladies of egypt when they heard the news of yusuf and zulekha where they're all sitting in circles gathering and making rumors up about people's private lives it's a shame when in our community the moment you hear news about somebody instead of you saying listen leave it this is their private life if you want to address it address it with them otherwise don't spread false news about them slander about them and there's two people involved in that piece of wicked news the one who spreads it and the one who makes sure it reaches the person it's being spoken about one day a person came to imam zayn al-habideen al-salam said to him that there are people out there who are you know who are speaking about you and this person said this you know what the imam replied to him that person shot the arrow you made sure it reached me oh okay sometimes in our life in our communities there are those who shoot arrows yes they will make sure that the evil news is spread but then there are those who sit there and take that news and give it to you you know what the problem is with those who give you the news have they been attributed and counted as one of those that were shooting the arrows counted and number two how can i trust them i may for example have an opinion on something how can i trust them when they take my opinions to other people therefore the quran said oh you who believe when an evil person comes to you with news make sure you verify that news voila in our communities there are people we should call them bbc they shouldn't have a name they shouldn't be called for example the names of holy personalities they should be called bbc every piece of news in the community they have everything every piece of news i have met people who know things about me which i haven't even agreed on and they already know about the whole issue wow when the quran said oh you who believe when a wicked person sinful person comes to the piece of news verify the news don't straight away say oh really did that not say hold on it's four fingers between truth and falsehood what i hear in my ears i should verify with my eyes somebody has come to me they've used their tongue without observing the hack of the tongue i should turn around at that moment and say well i haven't seen this yes that person will get angry you may lose friends if you're not someone who gossips because people say you're boring but the quran said to us verify the news otherwise you may put people in a state of ignorance and then regret what you've done that's him that's him doctor i do believe we have a caller on the line inshallah we you know we definitely get through to them inshallah we're gonna be able to tell you their question salamu alaykum your name and where you're calling from oh please don't do this to me salamu alaykum i do apologize uh for not being able to get oh okay one minute our technical staff are saying that the caller is online he's still connected but he's not speaking salamu alaykum your name where you're calling from but apparently you can hear us we can't hear you nothing inshallah if you could hang up and call back again inshallah we'll be able to get you direct to um the doctor inshallah with this question sorry doctor we'll discuss so the quran says oh you believe when a wicked person comes to you with news verify that news otherwise you'll put a people in a state of ignorance and then you'll regret what you've done and some of us have been in those situations okay let's not be around the bush here some of us have judged people later we've regretted that judgment okay some of us have said somebody is not religious they were really religious turned out some of us have said somebody for example is is not certain community they have served the community some of us assume that somebody was divorced turned out that they weren't even divorced but we spread a rumor about them therefore the first thing the quran said was verify the news then the quran also said ya ayyuha lalina aminu in chapter 49 from verse 11 onwards it's tenable kathira minna ban inna ba'zah bani ith all you who believe avoid suspicion for surely suspicion in some cases can become a sin yes i suspect that this person i saw them crossing the road in colin dale i saw the camera man over there did you i saw them crossing the road in edgware i saw them crossing the road in harrow court you sleeping when i saw you crossing the road i saw someone next to him okay i suspect that he must be going out with that person i don't know for sure but i suspect because i saw them crossing the road in the center now for all i know the two of them don't even know who they are crossing a zebra crossing they're crossing a zebra crossing they don't know who each other are yes but i saw this what do i do i start suspecting when i start suspecting i start telling the community i take my friend guess who i saw today and i saw them with stones maybe one day i see somebody and there was someone that person could be for example a state agent they're showing that person a property what do i make the rumor that that person is going out with somebody while they're married even if i take it to an extreme case that i see somebody entering a bar from the muslim community and i straight away what do i suspect he must be someone who drinks that person may have needed a toilet a s a p correct and we've all been there you need that toilet a sap whoever is you see that bar there for example say for example muslim as we know it's prohibited to drink yes but that person needed to go but you saw them go in you go around to the community and then you know what i suspect this person drinks alcohol you're like what do you mean drinks alcohol person person of good reputation person respectful look at that tongue of yours how much responsibility you have with it you don't accustom it to obscenities or to meddling in people's affairs who are you to go and judge that person for example i see somebody sitting with a group of guys who may be known to take drugs and i say i suspect they take drugs for all i know they were sitting with them to try and guide them out of that world so the issue of gossip comes where and suspicion suspicion in some cases can become a sin okay but we need to understand one thing very clearly suspicion can only be forgiven by the people you've suspected doctor we uh we have a caller on the line inshallah this time it will work inshallah fingers crossed salamu alaykum your name and where you're calling from salam alaykum can you hear me now i can yes salam bravo how are you i'm calling from london i'm glad glad to have you on the show your question please to the say it my question is um you talked about how imam alaykum says that the tongue is so light but it's uh damage is so devastating now when we look at our maraja now allama in the world today we look at uh the the power that they have within them now when we look at personalities like abou dharm eqdad um about abdelah when they were outspoken against their corrupt government um do you think that there are short coming from our maraja and speaking out against these corrupt governments against these um oppressions that's my question thank you very much thank you very much mean thank you for the question when you're looking at the lives of the imams of abdelbayt you mentioned imam al hussein alayhis salam as an example of someone who spoke out against the corruption of a government at this time he had been pretty diplomatic in the 10 years before yazid assume power when his father muawiya wasn't power you don't have many instances of imam al hussein alayhis salam speaking out against muawiya and likewise you find whether it's his father or indeed his grandson like imam al sadiq there is a time to be revolutionary there's a time to carry the ship of the madhhab with diplomacy imam al sadiq alayhis salam with all his knowledge knowing how abbasids were we don't find imam al sadiq have hazardly raising his voice against the abbasid government why because they weigh up the issue is it better for me and my madhhab to dissimulate yes or is it better for us to speak out vociferously against the government imam al hussein alayhis salam saw that when yazid assumed the helm yazid had now blatantly said there's no revelation no prophet this is all nonsense yes imam al hussein felt when somebody like this is in power then you must speak out against them there is no diplomacy with people like this imam al sadiq alayhis salam is also an imam of a little bit but imam al sadiq when he weighed up the position of the madhhab at that time decided that the best recourse for the madhhab was to stay out of the political affairs and to try and build society through education through the different classes and we discussed this on the wilada of the imam last week so for a person to say awamaraaja is it a shortcoming that awamaraaja are not using their tongue to speak out against the injustices of their time firstly in one way or the other they would have spoken out yes injustice does not only mean the political affairs of the world there may be injustice in your local government maybe injustice in your community yes maybe injustice in certain centres which represent them yes but there is a time and place for every usage of the tongue and in some cases you call for a revolution in others it requires diplomacy dr the final line in the rites of the tongue express kindness to the people and speak well concerning them now we were discussing backbiting gossiping slandering causing suspicion in your studies which is the worst out of these and what are the punishments for such well we mentioned uh suspicion and gossip yeah we said someone uh comes comes to you who's got a bad reputation with you is verify the news we said that suspicion can only be forgiven by the person you suspected yes so for example someone suspected me of doing something they'll think well you know what i got it wrong i'll just say staghfirullah no the holy prophet peace be upon his family said my lord said to me suspicion can only be forgiven by the people you suspected now there may be some people who are watching this show saying hold on a minute i'm not gonna write a letter to say it i'm not joining i'm gonna write an email or something and say to him that hey on this day on this year i suspected you of something well then how do you get forgiven firstly i forgive anyone who suspected me of anything but secondly at the same time try before you go to hajj try on the night of qad try on these holy occasions to write an email to people saying or a text message or a whatsapp message yes saying forgive me if i ever said something bad about you those are humbling things so now you have gossip suspicion suspicion can only be forgiven by the people you suspected then you have backbiting yes well i have to tell you where you mention the faults of somebody behind their back which you know they do not want you to be discussing this is a tricky definition there are people out there watch what's backbiting backbiting is when i discuss for example someone's fault someone's personal life knowing that that person doesn't would not want you to be discussing this yes and the quran's description of backbiting as in god save those who are backbiter and god save us and protect us from backbiting because the dangers of backbiting i don't care how religious you are all of us at one stage or another affected by a moment of backbiting certain people will say oh you know what because you guys are the speakers the religious no no no i don't care what stage you're at in your religiosity there's always a moment where you think shall i mention this maybe it'll start a nice conversation if i mentioned that person's fault when they're not there okay quran says do you like to eat the flesh of your dead brother i mean you imagine how disgusting that is that's something you'd only find muawiya's mom doing and yet subhanallah the quran mentioned that ghiba is like eating the dead flesh of your brother if ever a person wanted to know how ghiba how backbiting is viewed in islam but i've always said there's two ways to remedy the situation number one is that when the person's backbiting saves them stop look person wouldn't want you to be speaking about them in this way yes just leave this issue second thing is if someone has done ghiba don't take that backbiting and go and tell the person so you cause more trouble you shoot an arrow but the one who's taking that arrow is also problematic yes someone might ask are there times where i may have to do ghiba yes for example a marriage reference yes someone comes and asks you about someone in the community if you're 100 percent certain about attention not 99 not 95 not like the suspicion examples we gave that i think one day i saw them with us you know a cigarette in their hand and that might have no no that ghiba will be done on something you're 100 percent certain of that might be allowed because it's a reference for marriage but you find that suspicion ghiba after ghiba there's something else which is look down at frowned upon and worse than backbiting now someone will say what's worse than backbiting exactly in islamic ethics ghiba's got to be the worst yes bohtan slander making false accusations behind the back of somebody you see ghiba you might be saying something true yes that person yes maybe it's true that that person for example on this day done so and so act but you know very well that that person would not want that act to be mentioned you done ghiba bohtan is when i say something blatantly false about the person wow and make it spread in the community i know it has no truth but i'm not observing the hack of my tongue that tongue which allah has given me as a form of rizq in my life should not be a tongue which spreads false false accusation something frowned upon in the quran is those who are false testifiers or those who are false witnesses do you know how many lies were written in the books of hadith as i don't think many of our people realize how many lies were written to the extent that when the famous compilers of hadith like uh muhammad bin ismail al-bukhari and muslim min hajjaj al-safari when they wrote sahih muslim al-sahih al-bukhari do you know how many forged hadiths there were at that time yes to the extent that some of them maybe one percent of the hadiths they collected they compiled in a book people found it normal to bear false witness to spread false accusation against someone's character therefore some of us will think ghiba is always the worst but never ever forget about bhaktan because to falsely make accusations and make false stories about somebody that's an even worse level than ghiba that's right yeah doctor i want to ask you a personal question since you're in the field of speaking do you think that the shia and those who do public speaking in the shia centers and on the pulpit of ali muhammad have they done justice to the pulpit of ali muhammad i think everybody has different capabilities but the main the main thing is as long as you're sincerely trying your hardest to serve god protect the message of the quran and the ahlul bait then after that god is the one who provides you with all the blessings and success if i see there are people who are sitting on the pulpit i hope and i would want to view them in the way that i view the world positive hoping for their success and hoping that their intention behind all of this is not about will i become the most famous or will i earn the most but rather is about how can i ensure that the message of god is spread far and wide to benefit the people that's it that's it doctor we have a call on the line inshallah i'll be able to get through to them salamu alaykum your name and where you're calling from okay salam muhammad your question for the doctor please and be harsh and rude in the way they speak what do we do as you thank you very much for your question elders in the community sometimes have a harsher tone look after the speech with the youth what can we do as youth to tackle this issue yeah it's not easy at all it's not easy if you have elders in the community who are condescending yes um in our communities i've seen this a lot and even in my position where you would think that you know you're you're a person who's recognized and has sat on the pulpit and so on you'd still find the elders will look at you as in some cases you know well you know he's a young boy or speak to him like he's a kid it can happen but you always try and speak in that way which is better don't lower yourself to that standard however if somebody from the elders of the community is showing arrogance towards you and arrogance to everybody around you in the way that they're speaking then it may require a bit of arrogance to reply back to arrogance Imam al-sadaq says that arrogance against the arrogant is worship with one's parents a person always has to lower the wings of mercy our parents in some cases as they get older may get a bit more impatient our parents as they get older may get weaker we should never reply back in a rude tone towards them always maintain our morals however if in a society where there are people who are elder than us who are now being arrogant against us as if we have no voice for example the community no that moment it doesn't always call for humility that moment it calls to be on par in some cases while we're talking about uh those talking harsh uh to to uh ourselves how did the imams and and how did they handle people who would be very harsh with them or speak to them in a rude manner even insult them or swear at them well there's unbelievable stories about the way they use their tongue you know you know the imams of al-sadaq it's not just about their eloquence it's about saying the right thing at the right time with the softest language you know in the Qur'an god tells moses speak to pharaoh in a soft voice yes say soft words to him pharaoh who said he's god yet god says moses speak to him in a soft voice and i think with the imams of ahl al-bayt even subhan Allah even those who had wronged him at jamal he says they've been oppressive to themselves you'd think that at that moment you could be obscene never the class of ali ibn abii talib is on a different league to anyone around him and the problem in this world is when you're around people who just are not at your level of class it's so difficult to live in that world when you're around people who have no class people who sadly are there to the to destroy society to destroy the future of the religion it hurts but he never loses his class if they are rude to him in some cases cursing him never does he stoop to their level he shows us how his tongue is not just nehjil balagh is not just a peak of eloquence because of its wonderful sermons but also the profound wisdom behind his tongue where he's just able to look at the person who's cursing him and just say well you're oppressing yourself by what you're doing the person who once came to imam al-baqir and called him baqir to say that he's a cow and imam al-baqir replied no it's baqir a little busy sworn but that's the beauty of the manners of ahl al-bayt al-salaam the beauty of imam al-salaq when atheists were telling there's no god doesn't reply back to them by saying all of you are doomed to hell you stupid no let's entertain a discussion i said the embodiment of id'u'u ila sabeeli rabbika bil-hikmah wal mu'adat al-hasana wa jadil hun bil-latihi asan that jidal that happens you have a hywar that may happen jidal that may happen discussion dialogues always speak in that tone which is the best and so the ahl al-bayt al-salaam however many times they lived around people who lacked class they always maintained their class and composure we're coming towards the end of our discussion so i thought that we'd take a question of the phone it says salam doctor great show and such important lessons that we're learning how can we use our tongues to benefit our communities and the world we live in i think there's many opportunities you know the world today calls out for people to speak out against islamophobic you know moments in society that are occurring we need our brothers and our sisters to speak on behalf of those who are being harassed or pressed and who face bigotry and prejudice we need those brothers and sisters who can eloquently represent the ahl al-bayt in the month of muhar ram or the month of ramadan where it doesn't have to be just majalis only you can give 10 minute TED talks yes you know you can give two minute presentations on different aspects of knowledge we need a lot more people in this field you know so there are many ways and also we need people who can also use their voices to recite wonderfully on behalf of the ahl al-bayt alaym as-salam we have a caller on the line inshallah we just squeeze them in salamu alaykum your name and where you're calling from salam alaykum this is Fajir from Australia oh maashaAllah down under salam your question please for the sayid can you best convince parents and children living in the west to engage them in activities like recreational activities which have um religious in them for them to maintain their religion and find the balance between living in the west and holding on and maintaining the religion at the same time because many parents are very reluctant to engage with people who want to set up a project or like do something to serve the the monthly generation to get the you know what i mean i understand yes thank you very much sister thank you for your question did you understand that yes and i think australia you know the the people of australia are amongst the most wonderful people i've ever lectured for um and i think many of them have had wonderful initiatives to try and serve their local community by building mosques by building schools what i think now is the part of evolution for them and for the muslim community at large where we need our centers not just to be centers for lectures or for schools which have served a wonderful purpose but we now need to build sports centers in those in those mosques for example attached to the side of the mosque a swimming pool tennis courts basketball courts football pitches where you feel that the youth can be comfortable in balancing this world and the hereafter and i think that there are initiatives which i'd recommend for the for the sister that either you could send your kids on ziara with groups who will give them an understanding of their heritage or there are many camps and retreats which are being established now in america there are camps and retreats which are being established in the uk and there are camps and retreats which are there in australia where some of our wonderful scholars take the youths on a retreat and give them valuable lessons as well as the youths enjoying themselves i believe that all of the centers around the world have to have these camps and retreats where a person can have their social time their religious time a nice balance away from the fast and furious that they live in on an everyday basis that's right doctor saying that any final thoughts that you want the viewers to take away from this discussion say that i ask allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that last one ta'ala first and foremost guides my tongue into the service of the ahl al-bayt and keeps it away from obscenity before i you know seek to counsel or advise anyone else it's a test no doubt and it's one of the biggest trials that we have but let's try our hardest that whenever we're about to say something try and reflect that would the ahl al-bayt be proud of us with what we're about to say asan tom asan tom doctor thank you for the discussion and while on camera even though you're a Liverpool fan i want to say i love you for the sake of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala i love you too and i love all of the viewers out there masha'Allah thank you very much for joining us on this discussion and inshallah we'll be back in the new year with a discussion on the rights of the air until then happy holidays salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh