Foul Mouth and Insults
We start of this weeks reminder with a hadith of the Prophet SAWS in which he is reported to have said:
“The believer is not a slanderer, nor does he curse others, and nor is he immoral or shameless
Dear brothers and sisters, unfortunately we live in a time and a place where it is all too common to have cursing as part of the every day language. It is so prevalent now that nobody reacts when it is heard in the steet, such is the commonplace occurrence that is swearing.
We need to be mindful that this is not the characteristic we ought to be adopting, besides the fact that it is something prohibited to us as Muslims, it is also a sign of weak grasp of language where every other sentence uttered contains a curse word.
The imam also mentioned the Prophet SAWS being quoted as saying:
Abusing a Muslim is Fusuq (evil doing) and killing him is Kufr (disbelief).
Dear brothers and sisters, the challenge we face with this reminder is that Shaitaan has embedded this awful trait into the culture of society. From TV programs to idols, from sportsmen to Hollywood films, we see foul language used in every day situations, in humour and by people who in the past wouldn’t have used foul language.
For those of us who are old enough to remember, this has gotten exponentially worse over the last couple of decades and the level at which it is now shocks all who take time to ponder.
And so, with this problem clear to see, what are the practical steps that we can take to overcome this?
This reminder concludes with 3 practical steps we can all take to eliminate foul language from our tongues.
- Remind oneself the role they play in this life. Dear brothers and sisters, sometimes it’s worth looking within oneself to be reminded of the purpose of our lives. Yes, we are Muslims and our life purpose is clear in that we are here to worship Allah SWT. But more than that, each and every one of us has a special purpose living here. Our role is one of dawah and invitation to Islam. And this is best done through the mannerisms and etiquettes we show to non-Muslims. How else are they going to see the truth from us if our behaviour does not reflect the fact that we represent the truth? How will they know to be the Ummah of the best of all creation SAWS, if we are not demonstrating the manners taught by the best of all creation?
This is a key fact brothers and sisters, because there will come a time where we will be witness to the disbelieving souls who will claim they did not know about the message. We will then be asked if we conveyed the message to them in our behaviour as Muslims. If we find ourselves lacking at this time then what will come of us?
Hence, it is vital that we convey the best of manners and this includes eloquence and softness in speech.
- We should aim to be around others who share this idea of eloquence in speech. Avoid those people who curse frequently and without regard as inevitably habits are passed on amongst people and you may run the risk of developing that habit yourself.
- If this is a habit, we ought to seek help of Allah SWT through dua and prayer in order to rid ourselves of it. Alongside that, a swear box should be set up so that each time you slip, money is placed in the box which is then given to a charity. Others find that each time, they swear, 2 nafl prayers is a great way to break the habit too.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to remember that bad language not only tarnishes our own character and perception by others but also it serves to register in those around us on our character and our values. Let us be mindful of this and follow in the footsteps of the best of all creation SAWS when he was reported to have said:
“Whoever believes in God the Last Day must speak good or keep silent.”
