TAMING THE BEAST CALLED TONGUE

By

Mubaarak Olayemi Ismail

Many people are fed up of their tongues; because this innocent looking body part that lies among the teeth has been the reason why many books of evil record are heavy of sins like lies, slandering, cursing, backbiting and other bad deeds and many have tried all their best to chain it down but the beast keep breaking off of the chain. 

Are you also facing this trouble of this beast we call tongue

Do you know that this beast can be tamed?

Do you know that it can even be turned to a source of Jannah?

Let’s start from here.

The first hint of taming the tongue is Dua, pray to Allah to assist you in keeping your tongue away from the wrong and also assist you in using it the right way. Yeah, your tongue might be a beast, but with Allah’s help, you’ll defeat it – Allah helped prophet Daawud alayhi ssalaam against Jaalut, remember that!

 Cultivating the act of being silent will help you greatly on his cause, you don’t have to talk until it is extremely necessary, yes, EXTREMELY NECESSARY, underline that.  Like ‘Umar was reported to say “I have never regretted my silence, but my words – I do regret them”. The act of being silent can be achieved by leaving things that doesn’t concern you and also keeping off the company of those who can make you fall into this. Once you see them carrying their tongues into matters that do not concern them; admonish them and if that is impossible, pick up something and leave their midst, before the virus spreads.

Tongue is meant for talking and there are sometimes that you have to talk, I meant the EXTREMELY NECESSARY times you have to talk, you should thread carefully and don’t let the beast lay his claw on you. Whenever you feel this urge to talk, quickly push the pause button and reflect on things you are about to say, are they worth saying? Won’t they land you to trouble in here or the hereafter? You have to place your brain before your mouth so as not regret anything you say? Ask your brain about anything you want to say and don’t ask the tongue, the tongue will be eager to say it but it’s the brain that will tell you that this is a trash, just keep it. This triple filter test of Socrates may help you out on that (He’s a kaafir, I know but wisdom is every muhmin’s property), whenever you are about to talk, ask yourself, …

Is this the truth? Yeah, since lying is often regarded to as the most common sin we commit with our tongue, if anything you want to say is not the truth, it’s not worth saying - thank you, just keep the lie with your tongue.

 And to always have the truth to say, you have to start behaving properly and normally to avoid having any cause to lie, you should do good things at the right time as this would reduce your cause to lie, and they are sometimes you just got screwed… I mean screwed … and you think lying will only cover you up. Stop it, my dear stop it, don’t lie! Learn to speak the truth even if it is extremely bitter and any consequence after the truth will be your punishment for not doing the right thing or you earn a very big reward. And you know something wonderful in refraining from telling lie, Shaytan would already be feeling himself when you are about to lie but end up ashamed when you give it up, like my mum would say “say the truth and let the devil be ashamed”. And another thing is that people will begin to notice your integrity when you begin to say the truth in extreme cases and you’ll soon be known for it, that’s a good source of rest of mind and a fine reputation, but if you chose to lie – mehn, you need another 100 lies to cover that up. Man, just keep your tongue off that pedal.

And if it passes the first filter question, then ask this; is it a good thing you want to say? You know, there are some things that are truth but they are not good to say; such as backbiting, backbiting is a truth about the person but it’s not good to say. The prophet said that anyone that believes in Allah and the last day should say which is good or keep shut. So, bro if that thing you wanna say is not the good… huh… just keep that damn beast shut, shut!  Before it lands you into trouble. Also remember that the meat of a Muslim is haraam – And whenever you are tempted to backbite, remember the filthy actions of yours that Allah has concealed it from people.

And the third question, ask yourself, is this thing I want to say useful, if it is not, just keep shut. If you are able to keep off from useless talks, you’ll be able to keep off many arguments, if people persist repeatedly on their stance and you are also not agreeing with them, instead of turning it into a great shout and you say a lot of useless things, just tell them “You’re right!” and anybody that condemn that, tell them “You are right”. Like the adage of Yoruba “Ojo ti alabahun ti gbon ogbon hun ni eru e ti fuye” (Tortoise loads become lighter the day the learnt the wisdom of saying yes to people”.

And also, learn to say sorry – instead of coming up with useless arguments, admit that you are wrong and quickly apologize, that will save you from a lot of unnecessary argument. And also learn to say sorry when you are not wrong, just to save the day. Saying sorry when you are right doesn’t mean you are stupid, it only means that you value that relationship. Learn to say sorry! 

These are the triple filter test of Socrates, if anything you would pass these three tests – I think it’s good to go, I’m telling you, the talking will be silver! But remember, Silence is golden. Yes, is there any other thing better than silence? ... Shut up, I know you will say ‘No’ But yes, there are other things better than being silent, there are saying the Adhkaar and reciting the Quraan, these are very much better than just being silent, they can change that beast to a monk and your tongue can now lead you to Jannah. May Allah help us.

You need a good conclusion to this write up? I think the first hint I shared should do, scroll up and read it again, it is a good conclusion to this.

May Allah ease our affairs