(Indeed, a servant may utter a word in the anger of Allah without giving it a thought) Does intention enter into the speech of both parties?

The questioner : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and also, a man may utter a word in the pleasure of Allah without giving it a thought ... to the end of the hadith. So the point of interest, O Shaykh, is "without giving it a thought." Where is the place for intention? What is the role of intention?

The Shaykh : The place for intention is that a man speaks; speech is an action. Correct. What is the problem?

The questioner : I mean, he did not intend this good word, or he did not expect it to lead to these matters.

The Shaykh : But he spoke good words, my brother, and that one spoke bad words. Whether he intended it or not, it has absolutely no relation to our previous discussion.

The questioner : So what is the interpretation of "without giving it a thought"?

The Shaykh : It means he does not care about it. That is the meaning of its interpretation. But the hadith, whether in this wording or that, has no relation to our previous topic, nor does it scratch the previous detail that we linked to the hadith which does not accept any addition unless one speaks or acts upon it. Then I draw your attention to something: the one who speaks a word without giving it a thought plunges into the Fire for seventy autumns, and the opposite is the opposite, as in the hadith or the other narration. We now have two words, one good or pleasant, and the other foul. Tell me now: which of the two men is the one from whom the pleasant word comes out without his giving it a thought, so that Allah the Exalted rewards him? And which of the two men is the one who speaks the foul word and plunges into the Fire for seventy autumns? Is it the man whose habit is to speak pleasant words, or the one who speaks the word that plunges him into the Fire for seventy autumns? And then the opposite. Do you not see that the one who speaks the pleasant word is the one whose nature and habit is to speak good words, but it does not occur to him that this word he said has this huge, great reward? And the opposite is exactly the opposite. That one, as they say, whose nature and habit is always and forever to speak words that do not concern him—whether they are correct or incorrect, in accordance with the Shari'ah or not in accordance with it—he throws out the word without giving it a thought and plunges into the Fire for seventy autumns. So it is not befitting, my brother, for us to take a word from the hadith without considering the context that we should observe when the Messenger (peace be upon him) spoke this word. Did he mean merely that a good man said a word and plunged into the Fire for seventy autumns, and the opposite is the opposite: a bad man whose speech is always bad, and a good word came out of him without his giving it a thought, so he has that status? Of course, that is not what is intended.

The questioner : I mean, a good person, but he utters a bad word, so it may plunge him... I mean, is it...

The Shaykh : How is the good person?

The questioner : I mean, is it prohibited that a person who has good sayings but speaks a bad word, so it plunges him into the Fire of Hell?

The Shaykh : I understood you now. Did you understand what I said just now?

The questioner : Yes, I understood your intent.

The Shaykh : What is your answer?

The questioner : Your statement is correct.

The Shaykh : Okay, so what is the meaning of your statement now?

The questioner : No, you are saying that the good man, it is always his nature to speak good words...

The Shaykh : No, no, I am not saying always. I say that this is his habit, and the opposite is the opposite. But you now think that the man who speaks the good word makes a mistake and says the bad word, so it plunges him into the Fire for seventy autumns?

The questioner : I mean, is this impossible?

The Shaykh : It is not intended. I do not say it is impossible, but this is not the intent of the hadith. The intent of the hadith is as if the hadith says: . The intent of the hadith is that a person should not habituate himself to being a chatterer with much speech, because whoever speaks much, as came in some reports, his mistakes increase. So the intent of the hadith is that a person should not speak as a chatterer, because a word may come out of him that he does not notice, and it plunges him into the Fire for seventy autumns. And if speech is necessary, let his speech be good. As for reversing the two images, they are completely contrary to the intent of the Lawgiver. A righteous man whose habit is to speak good words, but his tongue slips and he says a word that plunges him into the Fire for seventy autumns? Do you imagine a person who did good and lived well, and so on, his tongue slips, and it is not his habit, and he plunges into the Fire for seventy autumns? I do not understand this understanding at all. I understand that the intent of the hadith is to guide the Muslim not to speak much, fearing that a bad word may come out of him and plunge him into the Fire for seventy autumns. And the opposite is the opposite: the Muslim man may speak words that, as we said just now, he does not imagine will have that effect. As he (peace be upon him) said: . We all remember the story of that man, or that prostitute, who was in the desert and became thirsty. When she reached the well, she went down, drank, and was quenched. "This son of yours, or I do not know what will happen to you, does not drink while standing." When she came out of the well, she found a dog eating the dry earth from thirst. She said, or he said, because there are two narrations, one from a man and one from a woman: "This dog has suffered nothing but what I suffered." So she went down to the well, filled her sandal or shoe, held it in her mouth, came out of the well, and brought this little water to this dog, and it drank. He (peace be upon him) said: . And she was a prostitute, a fornicator, a wicked woman. Such a good deed does not occur to any person that it would expiate his sins. Similarly, the good word and the bad word, each of them may have a bad or good effect. But our discussion is about habit: from whom does the good word come out, and from whom does the bad word come out? When we study the social condition of people, the answer is as we explained just now. We pray 'Isha'. The host, O 'Azmi, are you inviting them to prayer?
'Azmi: The brothers have questions.