How do I control my tongue? What did the scholars say about speech?
Al-Ghazali gave the tongue its own book. He counted twenty-odd sins that issue from it — from backbiting to sarcasm to excessive joking — and traced each back to its root in the heart.
7 passages from 4 books in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 4 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"So neither does his hand resemble hands, nor his pen resemble pens, nor his speech resemble other speech, nor his writing other writings."
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"However, it can weaken and become unstable, requiring reinforcement through speech or learning to protect these beliefs."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"This is the sin of envy itself, not to mention how envy leads to discord, denial of truth, and letting loose the tongue and hand in vile acts in satisfaction from enemies."
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"You might wish that his tongue would be silenced, so he would not speak, or that he would fall ill, so that he would neither teach nor learn."
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"In terms of religion, when you envy someone, you wrong them, especially if your envy leads you to backbite, defame, or expose their faults."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Yahya ibn Mu'adh said the sign of renunciation is threefold, action without attachment, speech without greed, and dignity without leadership."
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"During my stay in Mali, the Sultan became angry with his chief wife, his cousin's daughter named Kasa, meaning queen in their tongue."
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