Your tongue may be the determining factor in your ultimate destiny. May Allah protect you from Jahannam. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said whoever can guarantee to me what is between his lips and what is between his legs, I can guarantee to him Jannah, because it is dangerous. If you look at marital problems, problems between blood brothers, problems between brothers in the community, killing and many other problems - the tongue has a major role to play. If you are wondering why your Imaan is weak, one of the first things you have to start with is checking your tongue out. The biggest source of strengthening your Imaan is your tongue.

The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam taught us to say good or remain silent. That is not a Haraam or Halaal standard, but that is a standard above that. If it is good then I am going to say it, and if it is neutral I am going to keep it to myself. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam referred to some of the tongue ailments as Moobiqaat (موبقات). Do you know what Moobiqaat means? Doomers and destroyers. He put some tongue ailments in the same category as Moobiqaat like usury, black magic and killing, and one of them is accusing women in their honour.
In Shu'bal-Imaan (شعب الإيمان ) by al-Bayhaqi:
مَرْحَبًا بِكَ مِنْ بَيْتٍ ، مَا أَعْظَمَكَ وَأَعْظَمُ حُرْمَتَكَ ، وَلَلْمُؤْمِنُ أَعْظَمُ حُرْمَةً عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مِنْكِ
When the Prophet sallallahu ' alayhi wa sallam saw the Ka'bah after not seeing it for a long time, he looked at it and he talked to the Ka'bah. He said how honourable are you, but the honour and sanctity of a believer is more honourable than you. Then he said Allah has prohibited the blood and the honour and wealth of the believers.

Let me tell those people who have loose slanderous tongues what this Hadith means, in a basic way in which they have probably never heard it before. Would anyone curse the Ka'bah? Everyone holds it sacred and it is beyond the imagination of a Muslim to curse the Ka'bah. Would anyone take a sledgehammer, go to the Ka'bah and try to take it down? Or take a hammer and chisel, go to the Ka'bah and try to take it down and demolish it? That is stuff most of the major sinners of this Ummah do not even imagine. What would you do if someone cursed or tried to demolish the Ka'bah? Speaking about the honour of a believer is a bigger sin than speaking about the Ka'bah or cursing the Ka'bah. Taking down the Ka'bah stone by stone is a smaller sin than killing a believer. The honour and sanctity of a Muslim is big in the eyes of Allah and the righteous believers.

When you stand before Allah on The Judgment Day and He asks you why you said that about your brother, you have an opportunity to defend yourself. Why did you say this about your sister? Why did you say this about those righteous people? That brother that was in prison and those people who are defending the Ummah - why did you say that about them? You get the opportunity to answer. O Allah, I found it on Google? I ask you by Allah, is that going to stand before Allah? That does not even stand in the most oppressive of manmade courts today, to stand before the court of 'Allaamul-Ghuyoob, Al-Hakam and Al-'Adl. I found it on a forum or on a Twitter, so I went passing it along? Is that a defence you can put before Allah?

Al-Fudhayl Ibn 'Iyaadh said I know some of my friends who would remain silent from a Friday to a Friday - meaning from one Friday to another Friday, they would not say anything but some Qur'an, Dhikr and Ibaadah. They protected their tongues. Abu Na'eem and Ibn Abi Dunya narrated that Ibn Abbaas spoke to his tongue and he told his tongue - speak good and you will succeed, otherwise you will regret it. He was warning his tongue and reminding himself that it is a dangerous muscle. Ibn Abbaas said it reached me that there is no bigger enemy to one than his own tongue on The Judgment Day.

Let your example be the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Anas Ibn Maalik said he served him for ten years and he never said Uff to him. That is how you really know someone - when you live with them and you interact with them. Anas even said that sometimes he did not do stuff the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam told him to do. He never said Uff to him, yelled or screamed at him or cursed him.

Get in the habit of contemplating what you say before you utter it. Al-Hasan al-Basri said one who does not restrain his tongue does not know his Deen. Whatever words you have, they are your prisoner. You have got them as a prisoner and you have control over them. Feel good that they are your prisoner. Once you let them out, you are their prisoner. You have become a prisoner to them and you have to handle their consequences in this Dunya and before Allah.

You find many who are willing to leave drinking, adultery and fornication, usury and other sins, but they cannot restrain the tongue. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:
إِذَا أَصْبَحَ ابْنُ آدَمَ فَإِنَّ الأَعْضَاءَ كُلَّهَا تُكَفِّرُ اللِّسَانَ ، فَتَقُولُ : اِتَّقِ اللَّهَ فِينَا ، فَإِنَّمَا نَحْنُ بِكَ ، فَإِنِ اسْتَقَمْتَ اسْتَقَمْنَا ، وَإِنِ اعْوَجَجْتَ اعْوَجَجْنَا
When you wake up, the limbs tell the tongue - fear Allah in us. If you do good, we will be in good status. If you do bad, we are going to be bad.
They are going to fry because of the tongue. It is amazing to see how many would never go near major sins, yet they unleash their tongues on the believers day and night. People who you look at and say Allahumma Baarik - the Miswaak in the mouth, the long beard, the beautiful Hijaab, in and out of the Masjid, 'Umrah and Hajj every other day. All that hard work and they are trying to donate it to people by what they do on their tongues.
In Al-Awsat (الأوسط), at-Tabaraani narrated a Hadith from Baraa' Ibn 'Aazib radhiallahu anhu:
الرِّبَا ثَلَاثَةٌ وَسَبْعُونَ بَابًا أَيْسَرُهَا مِثْلَ أَنْ يَنْكِحَ الرَّجُلُ أُمَّهَ ، وَإِنَّ أَرْبَى الرِّبَا عِرْضُ الرَّجُلِ الْمُسْلِمِ
In Mustadarak al-Haakim, he said this is in accordance with Bukhari and Muslim. I know some scholars said it is weak, but I believe it is authentic. Ribaa is seventy three sections or in another narration seventy two - the least of it in sins is similar to one having sexual relationship with his mother. Please listen to this. Ribaa is seventy two or seventy three levels or categories, and the least of it is equivalent in sins to one having sexual relationship with his mother, and the worst form of Ribaa is one dishonouring a Muslim. What do you mean O Prophet of Allah sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam? Meaning that one having sex with his mother is less of a sin than dishonouring a Muslim. Usury is less of a sin than dishonouring a Muslim. A lesson for those who call themselves refuters, the modernists who have the whispers of the devils, and the masses of the Ummah who are ignorant in this matter.
Be careful with your tongue because most of the punishment in Jahannam is from it. Be careful of the tongue because most of the punishment in your grave is from it. Wallahi, you do not want that punishment in the grave. Sometimes you tell someone to stop talking about that sister or that brother and they say but brother, it is true. It is on the internet, go ask her ex-fiancée, go ask the local Imaam or go ask the community. Let us assume for our purpose that what you are saying is true. We are not arguing that - that is exactly what we are talking about! That is Gheebah (غيبة) and you have no business talking about it. It is a major sin when it is true! Now if it is not true, that is called Buhtaan (بهتان) and that is another tongue ailment. Like I said, each one of these are ailments you can talk about for Halaqaat.
Some sit and speak about their brothers, and fill their stomachs with the flesh of their brothers.
...أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ... ﴿الحجرات: ١٢﴾
Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). (Surat al-Hujuraat: 12)
After a hefty feast on the flesh of Muslims, one goes to the Masjid and makes Salah or does 'Umrah, and then after that he or she thinks they are going to sleep in their grave like a bride or bridegroom.

After the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam passed by a grave, he said a man in that grave is being punished and he is being punished because of something that his tongue said. Some justify it and say but I will go say it to his face. If you go say it to his face, then you went from one sin to another. You moved from backbiting to harming your brother! If you want to go to his face, tell him in wisdom and kindness and advise him (being a mirror to your brother), then go do that. That is enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and we want you to do that. Go tell him that is wrong brother, you cannot do that. Try to guide him and help him, or tell those he will listen to.

Let us assume a brother did fornication or adultery - who are you to talk about it or repeat it? Who are you to confront him, unless it is to make Naseehah and advice? Are you the Khaleefah? If you have a Khaleefah, you can go to the Khaleefah so he can lash him. Otherwise, that is it - you do not mention it. If you are raising the matter to the Khaleefah then go ahead, and if you are giving him advice then go ahead. One needs to either advise him in a kind and sincere way, or put a lid on it. Once we get the Khaleefah, then you can tell the Khaleefah and he will do what he has to do.

Among the reasons harming a Muslim with the tongue is a big deal is because it is one of the most hurtful things to Muslim brothers and sisters. It gets many depressed and agonised for days and weeks, and sometimes for a lifetime. Today not only do I want to talk about those who do that gossiping, backbiting, lying and slandering, but I want you to be happy if you are on the receiving end. Giggle when you hear someone talk about you. Smile and be happy. Can you imagine all the freebie reward you get out of the person who slandered you, and all the sins you are going to put on him? Deeds you never worked for and never expected. That is why the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam called them bankrupt - because they have a lot of deeds but they are going to give them to you. Not only are they going to give them to you, but your sins are going to pile on them. Remember in the Tawheed class we spoke on Qantarah (قنطرة). After all the obstacles and after the Siraat, right when your foot is going to be on the front steps of Jannah, those who have disputes amongst each other have to go to a detour. They have to go al-Qantarah and settle the disputes before they enter Jannah. Some get their deeds lowered and some get their deeds raised.
When someone complained to al-Fudhayl Ibn 'Iyyaadh and said someone is talking bad about me, he said he is pouring good on you - he is pouring deeds on you. How many times have we spoken on this subject in Khutub and Duroos, and someone comes and says Wallah Shaykh I needed to hear that. It agonises the believers and that is why it is so big of a sin. From now on if you are on the receiving end, be happy. If you are spoken about, do not be depressed and sad. You know that Laylat al-Qadar that person stayed up all night in - you get that Laylat al-Qadar out of him. Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Mahdi said such stunning words. He said if I did not hate that Allah be disobeyed on this earth, I would love for people to talk about me, gossip about me and slander me. What is better than getting deeds you never expected when you are standing before Allah? Your own mum would not give you those deeds. I still remember the setting in 1994 when I read it for the first time in the third volume of Faydh Al-Qadeer (فيض القدير) by Mannaawi. I still remember the year and the setting and I will never forget it, because it brings happiness to your heart.
Al-Hasan al-Basri heard someone talking about him, so he went to the market and bought some dates. Why Hasan al-Basri? Someone is talking about you - he is slandering and backbiting you so why do you go take him dates? The man asked him that question. He said you gave me your deeds so I am going to give you something in return. I am going to add to that and say al-Hasan al-Basri should have told him what I gave you is nothing compared to what you gave me.

Please share this with your family and friends.
Jazak Allah khair