The Ruling on Silence as an Act of Worship to Allah the Exalted

The questioner : Now, if someone were to say, "Did not the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say ? He commanded silence except for one who speaks good."

The Shaykh : The answer is that we say he is commanded to speak good. Good in speech is either good in itself, such as dhikr (remembrance of Allah), enjoining good and forbidding evil, teaching knowledge, calling to Allah, and the like; or it is good for its purpose, meaning what is intended by it, such as making a companion feel at ease, bringing him joy, and the like. This is good, even if it is not good in itself, but because good was intended by it and it is not forbidden in itself, it becomes part of the good. So the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "let him speak good," includes... what?

The questioner : It includes what is good in itself, such as the remembrance of Allah the Exalted, and it includes what is good for the sake of its rectification.

The Shaykh : Yes, for what is intended by it. If that is the case, there is no need for silence. We say that a person remaining silent as an act of worship to Allah is a bid'ah (religious innovation), and this is from the practices of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance), may Allah protect us from it. People come to us and say, "O so-and-so, do you think it is such-and-such?" and he is silent. "O so-and-so, let us go out and look at the rains and the valleys," and he is silent. Is there anything of this in the Shari'ah? Never. But one might say, for example, if he broke his fast while fasting, or if he was a pilgrim and exited the state of ihram, he might say, "I remained silent so that I would not speak evil." We say that you remained silent from speaking good, because responding to your Muslim brother is undoubtedly good.