What did al-Nawawi say about guarding the tongue?
The chapters of the Riyāḍ on backbiting, tale-bearing, and idle speech are a sobering audit of what most of us say in a day — and what we would not want read back to us on the Day.
10 passages from 6 books in the library
On guarding the tongue, the cited passages — from al-Ghazali's Evils of the Tongue and related books — warn that speech is where most sins gather: "backbiting, lying, self-praise," gossip, "falsehoods, and similar matters." He calls slander "going about with gossip" a grave affliction, and counsels that even silence in remembrance "from heedlessness is better than moving the tongue" in backbiting a Muslim. The remedy, he writes, lies in combining inner restraint with habit, so that the tongue trained in truth "automatically recalls its habit" and recoils from a lie when it hears one.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali — 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 →
-
"So neither does his hand resemble hands, nor his pen resemble pens, nor his speech resemble other speech, nor his writing other writings."
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 →
-
"fully. The 16th affliction is gossip. Allah Almighty says, A slanderer going about with gossip, and then"
-
"the tongue from backbiting. Know that the remedy for all evil traits is found in the combination of"
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 →
-
"all. Rather, I say, even seeking forgiveness with the tongue is a good deed, since moving the tongue"
-
"with his tongue, when he hears a lie from another, his tongue automatically recalls its habit and"
-
"with it from heedlessness is better than moving the tongue at that time in backbiting a Muslim"
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 →
-
"Greed sharpens your tongue. She spoke truly, for the tongue utters before the wealthy what it does"
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 →
-
"They should reflect on their tongue, acknowledging its exposure to backbiting, lying, self-praise,"
-
"The mouth was opened, and within it, the tongue was placed, capable of speech and serving as an"
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 →
-
"or engaging in jest, frivolity, play, backbiting, gossip, falsehoods, and similar matters that"
Want a different angle?
Type your question below — JM Scholar will ground its answer in the same sources.