Guard your tongue from harmful speech
“Whomever remained silent and quiet, he succeeded.”
Gheebah (backbiting), namimah (tale-carrying), lying, and careless speech, now amplified by social media, can erase mountains of good deeds on the Day of Judgment, so believers must guard their tongues, stay silent, and repair past harm.
The khutbah in 8 steps
- Opening story: the righteous man who lost all his deeds by appointing himself an authority over another
- The Prophet's dream: the man whose face is ripped with an iron hook for spreading lies
- Modern ease of spreading lies and scandal through posts, likes, reshares, and WhatsApp
- The two graves: punishment in the grave for carrying tales between people
- The truly bankrupt person on Judgment Day whose good deeds are taken by those he wronged
- The worshipful woman condemned to the Fire for harming neighbors with her tongue
- How gheebah has become the expected norm of our conversations and every word is recorded
- How to repent: seek the wronged person's forgiveness, otherwise make dua and speak well of them, and the virtue of silence (man samata naja)
In the khateeb's words
“A single comment. A single post. A reply. A like. A reshare. On whatsapp.”
“The one who truly is broke. He comes on the day of judgment. Masha Allah. Mountains of hasanat. Mountains of good deeds.”
“Man somata. Naja. Whomever remained. Silent. And quiet. He succeeded. He has won.”
For the dinner table
Today's khutbah was all about the tongue. The imam reminded us that backbiting, gossip, and spreading stories about people can wipe out a lifetime of good deeds on the Day of Judgment, even for someone who prays and fasts. He shared the hadith of the bankrupt person, who comes with mountains of good deeds but loses them all to the people he spoke badly about. He warned that today this sin is easier than ever, one comment, one like, one reshare can spread a lie around the world. The good news is we can fix it: apologize to those we hurt, or make dua and speak well of them if we can't. And the simplest protection of all, as the Prophet taught, is that whoever stays silent has succeeded.
- What is one thing you could do this week when friends start gossiping around you?
- Why do you think sharing a post about someone counts as backbiting, even if you didn't write it?
- Who is someone you could say something genuinely good about this week?
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