Page 59 - The Muslim Way of Speaking

The Aspects of the Muslim Way of Speaking

ompense good-doers." (Surat al-Qasas: 14) tells us that the Prophet
Musa (as) received such blessing in his later years.
Several examples are provided in the Qur'an of the wise manner of
speech of the Prophets. One such example is that of a man who believed
himself to be great, merely due to wealth and property, and initiated an
argument about Allah. Faced with the wisdom of the answer of the
Prophet Ibrahim (as), he then recognized his own insincerity:
What about the one who argued with Ibrahim about his Lord, on
the basis that Allah had given him sovereignty? Ibrahim said,
"My Lord is He Who gives life and causes to die." He said, "I too
give life and cause to die." Ibrahim said, "Allah makes the sun
come from the East. Make it come from the West." And the one
who was an unbeliever was dumbfounded. Allah does not
guide wrongdoing people. (Surat al-Baqara: 258)

Speaking in a sincere manner

One of the manners of speech which is the most effective is that
which is sincere, because, as with words that are wise, sincere speech at-
tains the heart and conscience of the listener directly. It is in a human
beings' nature to be prone to the effects of sincerity. Sincere speech aids
people to see the truth of an idea which they had till then not believed
in, which they would not have tolerated, and which, therefore, they
would have opposed and refused to evaluate objectively. It encourages
the listener to also think sincerely, as well as to judge and speak sin-
cerely. Compared to one who speaks sincerely, the insincerity of one
who makes flowery speeches with much affectation is immediately rec-
ognizable. Indeed, often, people see that speaking insincerely only
works against the person.
One of the more important characteristics of those who speak sin-
cerely is that they take refuge in Allah, with no attempt to elaborate
their speech in some peculiar way. Sincere speech reflects the honest

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