FIRST REMINDER. Yaum Ar-Raaba'a 14th/15th day of Ramadan (Wednesday, 30th May). HOW DANGEROUS IS OUR TONGUE? BismilLaahir Rahmaanir Raheem. It's very important to note that Ramadan is not about only avoiding eating, sexual relationship etc but equally and more importantly, protecting our fasting by speaking good words or remaining silence throughout the day bcs a single act of backbiting, slandering etc will automatically damage our fasting from achieving any rewards for it. Therefore, the servant must beware! We could invalidate all our fasting and prayer from just o­ne gathering. There is no success for us unless we learn how to imprison our tongues from vain talk. ALLAH has placed this tongue of ours in a prison, it does not come out except when there is a need for it. You will find ninety percent of the time our tongues are not engaged in zikir. Rather we choose to continue with our vain talk, joking, laughing, backbiting and slandering. Imam Ahmad mentioned in his “Musnad” o­n the authority of Anas (radi Allahu anhu) who related that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa salaam) said: “The faith (eeman) of Allah’s servant will not be upright until his heart is upright, and his heart will not be upright until his tongue is upright.” [Ahmad-al-Mundhiri (3/234) – al-Iraqi in “Al-Ihya” (8/1539). To be continued. May ALLAH have mercy on us all and protect us from speaking ill of anyone regardless of what such person has done. Aameen.