It is narrated that Imam Hussain (as), grandson of the Holy Prophet (saw), said to a man who was backbiting another before him,
‘O you, stop backbiting, for it is the daily meal of the dogs of Hell.’

A person asked Allah’s Messenger (may peace and blessings be upon him) who among Muslims were better. Upon this (the Holy Prophet) remarked: One from whose hand and tongue, Muslims are safe.

Commentary
Are others safe from your words (back-biting, comments, sarcasm, hurtful jokes, fitnah, etc) and your deeds (retaliation, plotting, etc)?

Angels stand by your side, recording your words. It is better to be silent than to comment. “Speak good, or else be silent,” says Rasulullah (saw). Busy yourself with finding your own faults, and you shall have little time to comment on others.

Angels stand by your side, recording your deeds. It is better to forgive than to retaliate. Busy yourself with seeking forgiveness for your own soul, and you shall have little time to plot revenge or to ponder about the deeds of others.

When others are safe from your words and deeds, it means that you are now safe from words and deeds that will destroy you on Judgement Day. On that Day, Man will regret what evil he has said and done. He will be filled with relief, for all the evil which was not said and done. So restrain yourself, for your own good.

Will you not then take heed?

Ponder and practice.

Rasulullah S.A.W said, “An intelligent person is one who is constantly thinking about and preparing for death.”
Think about it. How does one prepare for death?
1) By seeking knowledge of Islam. So study about Allah, his Prophet, of good deeds and evil deeds. But knowledge itself is useless without…

2) Practising it. Perform good deeds, small or big, and avoid all evil deeds. But all performance is useless unless you are…..

3) Sincere (Ikhlas). To do lillahi ta’ala. But you will never achieve sincerity, as long as you do not have…

4) True Faith (Iman). You must

  • truly believe in Allah,
  • truly be in awe of Allah,
  • truly depend and ask only from Allah,
  • truly hope from Allah,
  • truly fear Allah,
  • truly put your trust in Allah.

But such faith does not come from reading books or talking about Islam or listening to fiery speeches about Islam; it comes from…

5) Striving hard in Allah’s path (Jihad). This does not mean going around trying to convert the world to Islam; it does not mean waving a sword at disbelievers showing them the ‘terror’ that Islam can inflict. It means fighting hard to cleanse the evil in yourselves –

  • the jealousy,
  • the greed,
  • the stinginess,
  • the arrogance,
  • the pride,
  • the laziness,
  • the hatred,
  • the lack of faith,
  • the stupidity,
  • the blindness of the heart,
  • the backbiting and
  • all the terrible sins that we do day after day, year after year until death comes a calling.

That is jihad. As you can see, this is a full-time job, that will take all your life to complete. But you will never start to strive for all this until you begin to…

6) Realize…

  • Realize that you will die soon.
  • Realize that you will be shown all your deeds (good and bad) on Judgement Day.
  • Realize that Allah watches you all your life and that no deed escapes His repayment.
  • Realize that money, fame, and property cannot buy your way out of Hell.
  • Realize that only iman and good deeds can.
  • Realize that you live only once.
  • Realize that you are responsible for yourself.
  • Realize that in the end, you are the one who will gain or lose.
  • So many people have realized, studied Islam, and yet have gone astray – becoming terrorists, extremists, and fundamentalists. Why?

They have forgotten the most important thing in Islam. Which is that…….

7) Islam is about yourself. Correcting yourself. Cleansing yourself. Not about fighting with people or proving other people wrong.

  • In the grave, you will be asked about yourself.
  • What you did.
  • What you said.
  • What was your intention?

Then Allah will tell YOU, what is your final destination.
“And do not be as those who forget Allah, then Allah makes them forget about themselves….”Al-Qur’an.
Have you thought of yourself lately? Every man who forgets about himself lands in Hell.
Ponder…and practice.