Safeguard your Tongue

Posted by Hamza

Jul 7

Our teacher reminds us in his talk silence is salvation that we utter such words without us being aware of the severity of the consequences. It because of this that the rest of the body seeks protection from the tongue every morning.

Uqbah ibn Aamir narrates: I said, “O Rasulallah! What is salvation?” He (saw) said, “Hold your tongue! Your house should suffice you! And cry over your (own) faults!” (Tirmidhi)

This is a story about one lady’s Taqwa

Hadrat Abdullah ibn Mubarak (ra) was returning from Hajj when he noticed an elderly lady approaching from the other direction. She replied to his greeting with a verse from the Holy Qur’an.

Peace! A word (of salutation) from a Lord Most Merciful [36:58]

He asked where she was coming from and she again quoted:

And complete the Hajj or Umrah in the service of Allah (SWT) [2:196]

Hadrat surmised that she had just completed Hajj and asked her why she was coming towards him from the opposite direction. She replied with a quote as before:

To such as Allah (SWT) rejects from His guidance there can be no guide [7:196]

Hadrat again understood that she was lost and asked where she was going. Her next quote told him that she was returning to the city and so he offered to guide her because he was going the same way. Having travelled some Hadrat Abdullah (May the mercy of Allah (SWT) be upon him) started reciting some poetry in Arabic and so the lady recited a verse from the Holy Qur’an:

Read of the Qur’an as much as is easy for you [73:20]

Hadrat Abdullah ibn Mubarak now kept silent but asked himself who this lady might be. Along the way he tried to find out more about her but she put an abrupt end to his questions with yet another verse.

Ask not questions about things which if made plain to you may cause you trouble [5:101]

Reaching the outskirts of town Hadrat asked her who she had to meet up with and from her reply ascertained that Allah (SWT) had blessed her with sons and wealth.

Wealth and sons are the allurements of the life of this world [18:46]

Entering town Hadrat noticed a caravan of hujjaj that had obviously stopped for rest along the way and asked the lady the names of her sons. She replied with a verse as she had done throughout and said:

Ibrahim, Isma’il and Isaac [2:133]

As soon as Hadrat Abdullah called out these names three handsome youths came running toward him. Extremely worried regarding their mother’s whereabouts they had been searching all the caravans and now were overjoyed to see her. Her benefactor was about to leave when she again quoted a verse and gestured to her sons to host him with food and drink.

And they feed for the love of Allah (SWT) [76:8]

Her sons immediately ran and brought some fruit for Hadrat but he politely excused himself. The mother he had just reunited with her sons hence quoted again from the Holy Qur’an.

We feed you for the sake of Allah (SWT) alone [76:9]

Hadrat Abdullah ibn Mubarak was amazed and at a loss to understand what had been transpiring and so asked her sons why their mother replied to everything with a verse. One of the sons told him that their mother was a hafiza of the Holy Qur’an and an alima of hadith. Her heart was so filled with the fear of Allah (SWT) that she feared having to account for her speech on the Day of Judgment, and hence had spoken nothing but the Holy Qur’an for the last twenty years.