In daily life, we must speak with others out of various necessities. Being social creatures, we cannot remain silent. We express ourselves to one another out of need. Without society, a person alone can never manage their life. There is no substitute for the understanding built through speech. Almighty Allah is the one who taught us to speak with ease, and He has even set certain standards for how we speak. When speaking, one should speak well, or else remain silent. It is narrated from Abu Hurairah (RA) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent.” (Bukhari: 6031)
Because speech is an important blessing given by our Lord, believers must observe certain ethics and etiquette when speaking. It is the duty of all of us to make proper use of this blessing. We will be questioned by Allah on the Day of Judgment about the time we waste on idle talk. Allah has already said that He will take a meticulous account of everything His servants do in this world. The hadith also states: “Do not speak excessively without the remembrance of Allah, for excessive speech without remembering Allah hardens the heart, and the person with the hardest heart is farthest from Allah.” (Tirmidhi: 2411) We will be held accountable before Allah for every word we speak, so we must be mindful when we speak. Speech can create peace in one place and conflict in another. In the Holy Quran, Allah says: “Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record].” (Surah Qaf: 18)
Speaking more than necessary increases the risk of error, and the consequences of such errors can be severe. So one should think before speaking. Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) warned about this, saying: “Whoever’s talk increases, his mistakes increase too.” (Ibn Hibban)
Refraining from idle talk and idle deeds is one of the qualities of a believer. Describing the qualities of the faithful, Allah says: “Certainly will the believers have succeeded: they who are during their prayer humbly submissive, and they who turn away from ill speech.” (Surah Al-Mu’minun: 1-3)
Speaking without purpose or need cannot be a quality of a believer. Idle talk leads one to resort to lies, half-truths and misinformation, and, often without realizing it, one ends up establishing oneself as a liar. Idle talk also leads to backbiting, slander, tale-bearing and gossip. Allah has issued a stern warning about backbiting and slander. On being mindful of backbiting, it is stated: “O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it.” (Surah Al-Hujurat: 12)
The consequences of backbiting are also severe. Backbiting should not be considered merely “a sin of the mouth” — it also concerns the rights of others. It is not simply that a particular good deed is deducted for backbiting; rather, to satisfy the right of the person who was backbitten, some of the backbiter’s good deeds may be given to them. Once the good deeds run out, the wronged person’s sins may be transferred onto the backbiter instead. There is also the risk of being cast into Hell on the Day of Judgment as a result.
Speech does not merely express thought — it can also be a cause of honor or disgrace. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A servant may utter a word pleasing to Allah without giving it much thought, and Allah raises him in status because of it. And a servant may utter a word displeasing to Allah without realizing its consequence, and because of that word he is cast into Hell.” (Bukhari: 6478)
Let us avoid unnecessary and idle talk. May we speak only as much as is needed and as much as is beneficial. May Almighty Allah grant us the ability to exercise restraint in our speech. Ameen.