It is rightly said that silence is fence around wisdom. Our Prophet said
We can learn and interpret a lot from this Hadith. Taking from this hadith we can have idea that being silence is best practice then speaking idle. So if it is not wroth speaking we should not speak and we should only speak when it is important and beneficial to speak. We should only speak on topics about which we have considerable knowledge. Speaking continuously without any point and without any knowledge makes ones posture bad and low. We can refrain it by following true message of Allah in Quran. In Quran Allah Almighty says:
In above mentioned ayah of Quran it is obvious that we should not talk without knowledge and make disputes. In our society there are many people who speak without proof and try to comment on every issues regardless of their knowledge and expertise. They entangle in every discussion yet they have no right to do so. Even If are asked to comment on some issue about which you don’t have sufficient knowledge best answer should be simply apologizing that “I’m afraid I don’t feel myself able to comment on this issue”. This is better than saying unnecessary, irrelevant and inappropriate words. If you not qualified to talk on issue you are not well aware of, don’t feel embarrassed to say “I don’t know” because even most notable scholars in Islam like Imam Humbal and Iman Shafee were used to respond same in such situation. This shows sincerity and wisdom of those great people. It is clear that those people haven’t learnt to brag about. Rather they learnt to get close to Allah Almighty.
So this can be one of important principle in Islam being silent is better than talking rubbish. Our prophet Muhammad Peace be upon Him said
So it can be inferred that tongue has important role in building character of person. If one speaks good and always try to be reasonable by his words eventually his character will bloom. It is found in some ahadiths that one word can cause punishment of hellfire for 70 years. So we should be very careful and aware of consequences before we speak non sense or words of no use.
Our Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon Him also told us “”
You might think that if you say good than why should you be quite. So we must know what good things to talk about are and Quran guide us about that. According to Quran, speaking for sake of helping others, charity, speaking to unite people, speaking to spread useful knowledge and speak to correct someone when necessary. So we must consider above mentioned criteria before speaking and speak only when needed. There are many problems which arise due to unnecessary talking. Lying, back biting and accusing are most common wrongdoings according to Islam which are related with unnecessary speaking.
It is sickness in the heart if some one speaks idle and on topics about which he has no sufficient knowledge. As a Muslim we are bound to orders of Allah Subhan Wa Ta’ala so we must follow the mannerisms of believer which is totally in light of Quran and Hadith. In Quran and Hadith there are number of instructions about ethics of speaks. The summary of all this that
We should try to analyze our speech daily. Always try to correct our self by leaving unnecessary talks and safeguard our talks. This will keep us on path or righteous people. We should always pray that May Allah keep us in list of good people. May Allah grant us wisdom to speak good.
Author: Learn Quran Academy Team