A muslim must not speak what will cause a damage to his image in this world and which will cause a decrease in his good deeds. It is forbidden to use our tongue uselessly i.e. to speak without any reason and to speak ill of others and to speak and praise deities other than ALLAH, to abuse, to back bite, to fight and to hurt b utterance of wrong words. These are called evils of the tongue. If we want to be good muslims, we will have to get rid of these evils first.
Muhammad s.a.w.w said
“The whole of the Muslim is sacred, his blood, his property and his honor.” [Muslim]
Thus we cannot harm what is made sacred for us.
In his farewell Khutbah, he (peace be upon him) said:
“...Indeed your blood, your wealth and your honor are all Haraam (sacred) to each other, just as this day is sacred (the Day of ‘Arafah), in this sacred month (Dhul Hijjaa) in this sacred place (the sacred precinct of Makkah).”
[Al-Baihaqee]
This means that we should care whiel speaking and we should abstain from hurting what has been declared as sacred by Muhammad s.a.w.w.
There are some common mistakes which people repeat without knowking. Sometimes they say we are saying the right thing, but even in the absence of a person, his truthful mistakes become backbiting. Few of the evils of the tongue are listed below;
1: backbiting
2: slandering and accusing
3: giving false testimonies and beign false witness
4: accusing pious women of adultery
5: lying
6: Tale Carrying (scandal) or Strife-making
7: Deceiving a Muslim who is Seeking Sincere Advice
8: Proposing to a Woman who is Already Engaged
9: Indulging in Defaming a Muslim
10: The Two Faced Person
11: Mockery, Sarcasm and Debasing Muslims
12: Disclosing and Spreading of Secrets
13: Reminding Others of One’s Generosity (to make him feel proud)
If you see these or any of these evils in your personality, please try to erase them and wash them off yourself. Being muslims we are the most responsible to carry the right message of islam since the other nations forgot it and they lost.