Do you know that one single word that comes out of our mouth can determine our final destination in the hereafter? Yes, just *one* word!
📚 Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “A servant (of Allah) may say a word which pleases Allah without thinking of its impact, and because of that Allah will raise him to degrees (of reward); And a servant (of Allah) may say a word which displeases Allah without thinking of its impact, and because of that he will be thrown into the Hellfire.”” [Sahih Al-Bukhari 6478]
We can say one word without even realizing how valuable that word is to Allah, but because Allah values that word so much, He raises our rank – just for one single word! For example, imagine someone coming up to us and saying: “You know, such-and-such person is …” and we can already tell that he or she is about to gossip or backbite this person, so we say: “Stop.” Just one word, and yet this ‘Stop’ can lead us to the highest levels in Jannah!
It is the same when a person carelessly says one word that displeases Allah. It’s because of this one, single word that he will be thrown into the Hellfire. May Allah protect us from His displeasure and the Hellfire. This is the severity of the tongue.
📚 In another hadith, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “When the son of Adam wakes up in the morning, all of his limbs begs to the tongue and they say: Fear Allah regarding us, for we are only a part of you. If you are upright, we are upright. If you are crooked, we are crooked.” [At-Tirmidhi 2407]
Every single morning, throughout our lives, our whole body begs and appeals to our tongue to fear Allah! Because whatever we say will be reflected in our body parts. So if our tongue is corrupted, all of our body parts will be corrupted as well.
So be aware and be conscious of what you say. And if we do not have anything good to say, it is best to remain silent.
📚 Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should either utter good words or keep silence.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari 6018]
