Words match the deeds [25.365]
2009 January 24
Malik related to me that he heard that
Abdullah ibn Masud رضي الله عنه used to say, “You must tell the truth. Truthfulness leads to right action. Right action leads to the Garden. Beware of lying. Lying leads to corruption, and corruption leads to the Fire. Don’t you see that it is said, ‘He speaks the truth and acts rightly,’ and, ‘He lies and is corrupt.’”
[Muwatta Book 56, Number 56.7.16]
Sometimes, there is that overwhelming temptation to speak a little white lie. Then, they snowball, and before you know it, you’ve uttered a mother of all whoppers. Save yourself the grief, preserve your dignity, and speak the truth. If that is absolutely impossible, you might need to invest in learning how to stay silent!
Although I make every effort to watch what I speak, sometimes an incorrect fact slips through. I am working on staying shush!
You know – a number of bloggers sent me their posts for 7Pi7D, and then asked for my opinion on them. I told all of them that I like what they have done, but most of them inisted that I was lying and what they wrote was not good enough. I think peoples thinking and insecurities must change for us to concentrate on speaking and understanding the truth. The spoken word is no longer believeable unfortunately… everything seems to require verifiation… *sigh*
Me too @ “working on staying shush!”
I think that might be a characteristic of people who write out their thoughts, the insecurity that comes with it all: Did I convey everything I meant, thought, and felt? Did he/she get it? But what you said is very true: it seems like words have little meaning until extensively verified. Don’t worry, I won’t do that to you (although I *did* already think that what I’m writing isn’t good enough and that you’ll be polite enough to not say so
)
Lies are so easy to slip out when the situation seems to be screaming for it. I try to just stay silent but it’s difficult when people ask and insist on the brutality of truth- then i just tell them and warn them that the truth can be painful but will always make you see the light.