What corrupts the Tongue?
Talking in vain or uselessly
Researchers in ethics say that there is a cause of corruption for everything. The tongue is not an exception to this. Many things will corrupt it. Talking in vein or uselessly is one of the causes of corruption of the tongue.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
“One of the signs of goodness of a Muslim man’s submission to Allah (SWT) is avoiding vain talk.”
Ibn Abbas said:
Achieving the following five matters is more beneficial than owning the best types of horses:
(1) – Not involving yourselves in conversations that do not concern you, as there is no guarantee that you would not sin therein.
(2) – Not talking about things that do concern you, until you find the proper time; as a person may talk about a matter that does concern them but at the wrong time and therefore produce a bad consequence.
(3) – Not arguing with a wise or a foolish person, as the wise person would desert you and the foolish person would humiliate you.
(4) – Mentioning your brother, in his absence, with things with which you would wish him to mention you with in your absence and forgiving him for that which you would wish him to forgive you for.
(5) – Performing the actions of one who is certain that he would be rewarded for the good and punished for the bad that he does.
It is a fact that the majority of those who take the lead in vain talk during sinful gatherings talk so much that one who listens to them comes to realize that they themselves are not aware of what they are saying and that there is no thought process behind their words.
The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
“No servants of Allah will be correct until his heart is corrected, and his heart will never be corrected until his tongue is.”
The first phase of achieving this correctness is for a person to give up that which does not concern them and not to involve themselves in things that they were not asked about.
Islam has dispraised frivolities and idle talk as they are immaterial and evil. In fact, the more a person stays away from them, the higher their rank becomes with Allah (SWT). Conversely, the more a person indulges in them, the more their punishment will be with Allah (SWT).