The Tongue And The Heart.

The Tongue And The Heart.

“Whoever believes in Allah and the last day should speak good or keep silent.” (Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim)

The tongue expresses what is in the heart. If a person’s heart is good you see it in their saying.  If the tongue is used correctly then it has its blessing but if used incorrectly it has its dangers. Allah has given us this tool (the tongue) to communicate and it is a blessing form Allah which must be used correctly.

The gratitude we should show for this great blessing should include, using it for the obedience to Allah for reading the Quran (and good Islamic materials), for speaking good, such as, enjoining good and forbidding the evil and in teaching the ignorant, in Dhikr, in worship, in sincere advice to our brothers and sisters and in many other things which enable us to get closer to Allah. It is true that ONE saying may enter a person into the fire and one saying may save a person from the fire and enter one into paradise.

The prohibitions of the tongue are that you do not lie, abuse, use foul language, backbite, and do not slander. The tongue is protected by the teeth and then the lips which should act as a prison when indulging in loose talk. Allah says in the Qur’an:

قَدۡ أَفۡلَحَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ (١) ٱلَّذِينَ هُمۡ فِى صَلَاتِہِمۡ خَـٰشِعُونَ (٢) وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمۡ عَنِ ٱللَّغۡوِ مُعۡرِضُونَ (٣)

“Successful indeed are the believers. Those who offer their prayers with all solemnity and full submissiveness. And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden)” (Surah Al-Mu’minun 23:1-3)

Here Allah mentions the words “turn away from” not “leave” which shows that, refraining from vain talk is a characteristic of the believers.

Imam Shafi(ra) said, “If you wish to speak then it is upon you to think before you speak. If you think there is good in it then you should speak and if not then do not speak.”

One searching for salvation against vain talk should ask themselves:

• Will this saying of mine please Allah?
• Will this saying of mine bring me closer to Allah?
• Does this saying earn with it obedience to Allah?

If so then speak otherwise on should keep silent.

Sahl ibn Sa’ad (RA) reported Rasulullah (SAW) said: “Whomever guards what is between his jaws and legs, I will guarantee him paradise.” (Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences.

Overcoming Fears Connected With Negative Past Experiences.

Some of our fears arise due to the situations we have lived through; for example, if you are driving a car and you have an accident. Then you take some time to drive again, because the memory of the accident awakens the fear of having another one or reliving the one you had. The person that has never had a car accident gets in the car with confidence, because they do not have that scene recorded, since they haven’t lived through it.

There are fears that we carry within us that are not of the present. Something happened to us in the dark and we are now afraid of the dark. Fears in relationships: you opened your heart, you fell in love and, after a time, you experienced pain, you felt hurt, misunderstood, manipulated, deceived or mistreated, and now you no longer open your heart for anything; it is closed off with the shields that you yourself have created.

To overcome this kind of fear due to experiences you have lived through, you have to come to terms with your past and accept it fully. You cannot change your past; lamenting the past doesn’t help you; complaining about the past doesn’t benefit you. Those shields brought about by fears do not disappear unless you do a deep cleansing. Begin to heal your experience of the past. Part of the past is healed with forgiveness. Without forgiving, you cannot forget.

The work with oneself to see what aspects of your past burden you and coming to terms with those aspects, requires silence, reflection and meditation. When you come to terms with your own past, you can let go of it and be free of it, not be afraid that the past will come back to you again. If not, sometimes, it is like a shadow that follows you. If your house was robbed once, the shadow follows you that, perhaps, you might be robbed again. If they hurt you, you fear it will happen again. Sometimes that experience presents itself in dreams, in the subconscious or in present attitudes.

Reliving the past in your mind, you do not fully enjoy the present. You have to accept the pieces of your past so that they do not continue to generate upsets. Accept that you had to live through them and live the present with a constructive vision of the future. And Inshallah the following morning, when you meditate and study a little bit of spiritual knowledge, you will often receive answers.