What is the ruling on idle talk, and is it recorded among the good deeds or the bad deeds?

The questioner : This is a question that comes up, saying: If we say that the utterance is recorded, is it recorded with the good deeds or with the bad deeds?

The Shaykh : It is recorded as an act of this person, and the reckoning is with Allah; that is one view. Or we say that it is closer to the bad deeds, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) This indicates, on its apparent meaning, that it is obligatory to remain silent if the speech is not good. No, no, it is either one of the good deeds or one of the bad deeds. If we say that idle talk is a bad deed, it is recorded for the one who commits the bad deed. If we do not say that, then it is recorded for whom Allah wills; Allah commands whom He wills of the two to record it. These are matters of the unseen that we cannot determine who records idle talk. Yes.

The questioner : If someone were to say that the verse of idle talk is with the good deeds and not with the bad deeds, the righteous would have no distinction among themselves if they all engaged in idle talk and all attained honor.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : And then there is the matter of honor.

The Shaykh : No, it is possible to say that they have a distinction in that they are rewarded for it, for their abstention from idle talk, so their abstention from idle talk is recorded in the scale of good deeds.