کلمہ خیر اور کلمہ شر کی اہمیت

Narrated by Bilal bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him), he said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "A man utters a good word from his tongue without realising its worth and rank, yet because of it Allah records for him His pleasure and good favour until the Day he meets Him. And likewise a man utters an evil word from his tongue without realising its reality or its outcome, and it so happens that because of it Allah records against him His wrath and anger until the Day he meets Him." (Tirmidhi, Malik, and Sharh al-Sunnah)

This blessed hadith shows both the virtue and the harm of the tongue — how precious a single word can be, and how injurious and destructive it can be; both may be clearly gauged from the hadith above. Taking Allah's name, conveying Allah's word to someone, uttering a word to help an oppressed person, speaking the truth before a tyrant ruler — through all such things a person attains great ranks. Sometimes, without even paying attention, words of good issue from a person's tongue and become the means of lofty ranks. Conversely, it also happens that in heedlessness and inattention a word issues from the tongue that hurls a person into the depths of destruction and casts him into Hell — and this is no ordinary depth; according to one narration its depth is greater than the distance between the East and the West (reported by Bukhari).

This hadith also shows that Allah's pleasure and good favour are not momentary or temporary but last until the Day of Judgement, the Last Day; and beyond that, the favours and mercies Allah bestows upon such a person are beyond describing — he will benefit from them directly. It should also be kept in mind that whoever Allah is pleased with is granted the ability to do righteous deeds in this world, which are themselves a cause of Allah's pleasure. Allah protects him from the punishment of the grave in Barzakh, widens his grave, and then on the Day of Judgement he will rise in blessedness and felicity with the shade of the Almighty's mercy upon him; he will be admitted into Paradise and its blessings will be his lot.

By contrast, the one whose tongue utters words that provoke Allah's wrath — Allah's anger and displeasure with him too are not momentary or temporary; Allah remains angry with him until the Day of Judgement, and beyond that, the blazing fire of Hell will be enough for him. It is another matter if he repents in this world and reforms himself; then Allah's decree concerning him is changed, and forgiving his faults Allah can make him a beloved, close servant — the door of repentance is in any case open to everyone.

As for the words in the blessed hadith, "records it for him until the Day he meets Him," this by no means means that Allah's pleasure or His displeasure is limited only to that Day and ceases thereafter. This is supported by the verse of the Qur'an in which Allah said to Iblis: "And upon you is My curse until the Day of Recompense" (Sad 78). This by no means implies that after the Day of Recompense Iblis will be freed from the grip of the curse; until the Day of Recompense there is upon him the curse and rebuke of Allah, and beyond that there will be added to the curse the punishment of Hell as well, which Iblis and his followers will see for themselves. Likewise, in the case of the people mentioned in the hadith, Allah's pleasure or displeasure will continue for ever and ever, even after the day of death.