This is a General course that students from any level in studies can take. It is essential for every believer to know this information since sins of the tongue can be major sins and will be accounted for on the Day of Judgement.
This course draws from Book R of the contemporary English legal text Reliance of the Traveler by Shaykh Nuh Keller which compiled and summarized the works of Imam Nawawi and Imam Nahlawi on “Holding One’s Tongue” (Hifz al-Lisan). Insights from other texts such as Imam Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum al-Din, Imam Birgivi’s Tariqa Muhammadiyya and Imam Mawlud’s Maharim al-Lisan may also be included.
The sins of the tongue are a major source of the regrets and wrong that human beings commit in the life; the tongue can do something as good as enter one into eternal salvation or eternal punishment, and good and bad deeds in between. This is why this work is so important to study, in its condensed format.
The goal of this course is to understand the importance of holding one’s tongue, and learn to evaluate the status of the things we say in light of the Sacred Law of Islam. The purpose is to avoid those sins, in order to save oneself from the consequences of wrong use of the blessing of speech in both this life and the next. The objective of this is to draw nearer to Allah Most High and refrain from doing things that will makes us distant from Him.
This is a general level course that can be taken at any level and alongside any other courses.
This course belongs to the category of tarbiya, or inculcating essential religious character traits and a basic knowledge of morality in speech.
Because speech is perhaps our most common volitional act and we speak and write thousands of words each day, this course will connect the categories of sins of the tongue with modern-day applications such as using foul language, reading about backbiting on social media, lying on applications, and more. A Muslim is a person from who tongue and hands others are safe, and so this is about creating a holistic and healthy society in which speech is positive and constructive, by learning the few things to avoid when speaking.
- Teacher: Shaykh Abdullah Anik Misra
