“And talk to the people in an Excellent Manner”

The above sentence is a part of the entire Quranic verse of Surah al Baqarah, in which Allah has taken important promises which includes: Being firm on Tawheed, Being excellent to parents, observing prayers as well as giving zakat. In the continuation of the verse, Allah adds up one more clause, “And talk to the people in an excellent manner.”

The inclusion of this clause about excellence in conversation amidst other most important essence of Islamic values gives us an idea how important is disciplined conversations. It refers not only to the content but also to the tone of talking to people. The Islamic rule of excellent conversation include, talking good about people while avoiding bitter criticism, negative, demoralising, backbiting and taunting. The Arabic Term here is ‘Qaule Ahsan’ and it has a very high status in Islam. One of the narration from Bukhari and Muslims informs us how vital is it to analyse before we utter a word from our tongue Many of us take our conversation for granted and speak whatever comes to our minds without cross examining the words: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever among you is a Believer in Allah and the day of Akhirah then”

1. If he speaks then he should speak good or keep quiet because whoever remains quiet will escape (from the punishment of  Grave and Hellfire both)
2. He should deal excellently with his neighbours
3. Should show generous hospitality within their capacity towards their guest

We should be aware that whatever we are narrating will be questioned on the day of Judgement and therefore keep a careful watch on our tongue. Abdullah ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) whose status is huge, was told by the Prophet (Peace be upon him), “O Abdullah, if you are just sitting on the ground and drawing lines in the sand yet Allah will question you about your intentions of drawing those lines.”