THE DAILY ISLAMIC REMINDERS. Yaumul As-Sabat, 25th day of Jumaadal Aakhir 1440, (Saturday, 2nd March, 2019). SPEAK KINDLY OR REMAIN SILENT. BismilLaahir Rahmaanir Raheem First of all my apologies for not being able to continue with this reminder yesterday as promise. Inshaa Allah before the end of today i will release today's REMINDER. Lets now turn our attention to speaking in general. Abû Hurayrah(RA) relates that ALLAH'S Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever believes in ALLAH and the Last Day should speak a good word or remain silent. And whoever believes in ALLAH and the Last Day should show hospitality to his neighbor. And whoever believes in ALLAH and the Last Day should show hospitality to his guest.” (Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Muslim). When we have nothing beneficial to say, silence is golden. Once, Mu`âdh b. Jabal asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) to inform him of some good work that would admit him into Paradise and distance him from the Hellfire. The Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned to him the virtues of many good deeds, then said: “Shall I inform you of the foundation of all of that?” Mu`âdh said: “Certainly.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) took hold of his tongue and said: “Restrain yourself from this.” Mu`âdh then asked: “O Prophet of ALLAH! Are we held to task for the things that we say?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “May your mother be bereaved of you, O Mu`âdh! Does anything topple people headlong into the Hellfire save the harvests of their tongues?” [Sunan al-Tirmidhî and Sunan Ibn Mâjah]. We should avoid speaking ill of others. We should rather remain silent unless we are seeking justice for some wrong that has been perpetrated against us. ALLAH says: “ALLAH does not like that evil should be mentioned in public except by one who has been done injustice. And ALLAH is all-hearing, all-knowing.” [ Sûrah al-Nisâ' : 148]. Our tongues are like double-edges swords. They can work for us and against us, both in this world and the Hereafter. We will be held accountable for what we say. ALLAH tells us: “a person does not utter a statement except that there is an observer by him ready to record it.” [ Sûrah Qâf : 18]. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed a servant will speak a word pleasing to Allah that he thinks to be insignificant, but because of it Allah raises him by many degrees. And indeed a servant will speak a word displeasing to Allah that he thinks to be insignificant, but because of it, He will consign him to the Hellfire.” [ Sahîh al-Bukhârî ] We must be vigilant not to speak falsehood. We must think about what we are saying and the possible consequences of our words before we go ahead and speak. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A man might speak a word without thinking about its implications, but because of it, he will plunge into the Hellfire further than the distance between the east and west.” [ Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim ] Al-Nawawî comments on the meaning of this hadith, saying: “This hadith encourages us to guard our tongues. A person who wants to speak should think upon what he is about to say before he utters it. If it then shows itself to have some benefit to it, he may speak it; otherwise he should refrain from doing so.” May ALLAH aid us through in our attempt to act as Muslims. Aameen.