2.36. SPEECH (continued)

God says

….And [always], O you believers – all of you – turn unto God in repentance, so that you might attain to a happy state!*-- Q.24:31

* The implication of this general call for repentance is that since “man has been created weak” (4:48), no one is ever free of faults and temptations – so much so that even the Prophet used to say, “Verily, I turn unto Him in forgiveness a hundred times every day” (Ibn Hunbal, Bukhari and Bayhqi, all of them on the authority of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar).
We should speak to Almighty God with humility, in low voice and with innermost remembrance at heart. He is aware of every word we speak and every thought that crosses our mind. Hence, let’s be mindful.

Call thou [all mankind] unto thy Sustainer’ path with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the most kindly manner:* …Q.16:125

*Cf. 29:46 – “And do not argue with and tact and, hence, on the use of reason alone in all religious discussions withthe followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in the most kindly manner”. This stress on kindness adherents of other creeds is fully in tune with the basic, categorical injunction in 2:256 “There shall be no coercion in matters of faith”.

Never call upon any other deity side by side with God. There is no other deity save Him. Everything is bound to perish, save His [eternal] Self. With Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back. -- Q.28: 88

* The continuous stress, in the Qur’an, on God’s transcendental oneness and uniqueness aims at freeing man from all sense of dependence on other influences and powers, and thus elevating him spiritually and bringing about the “purification” alluded to in the next verse. Since this objective is vitiated by the sin of shirk (“the ascribing of divine qualities to aught beside God”), the Qur’an describes it as “unforgivable” so long as it is persisted in, i.e., unless and until the sinner repents (and gives it up.)

Prophet said

3. “People will be turned over their faces in hell for abuse of their tongue.” – H:Ahmed, Tirmizi and Ibn Majah. N: Muaz.

4. “God disliked for you frivolous gossips, frequent questioning and squandering property”– H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Mughirah.