Develop the Habit of Speaking Less (Sayings of Shaykh al-Islam Hazrat Maulana Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

It was advised to develop the habit of speaking less, to control the tongue. The tendency to speak excessively, gradually leads a person into heedlessness, and as a result, the benefits of dhikr (remembrance of Allah) either diminishes or disappears altogether.

In this matter, today we are quite careless, as we have the habit of talking unnecessarily and without reason. We start conversations without any particular purpose, and during these conversations, we don’t even realize when a sin has been committed, when we have crossed a limit, or when the discussion has gone too far.

Sometimes we end up criticizing someone in a way that breaks their heart, causing pain to someone, or slandering or falsely accusing someone. These sins are committed due to carelessness of the tongue.

However, even if none of these sins occur—no lying, no backbiting, no slander, and no heartache—if a person is involved in unnecessary conversation that serves no purpose, then this is idle talk.

Such idle talk reduces or even extinguishes the light of the heart. In a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

من حسن اسلام المرء ترکہ ما لا یعنی(رواہ ترمذی و ابن ماجہ)

“Part of a person’s good Islam is leaving everything that which does not concern him.”

This means that a sign of a good Muslim is to abandon things that are neither beneficial for their Iman nor their worldly life. People are often engaged in no-purpose activities, pointless arguments, and unnecessary conversations, all of which diminish the light of the heart.

(Dars-e-Shu’ab Al-Iman, Volume 1, Page 128)

This Malfooz(Quote) is selected by Dr. Faisal Sahib.