Closing our reflection series on guarding the tongue - Surah Al-Isra 17:53 and the call to speak what is best, not merely what is good.
We close this short series on the tongue where the Qur'an itself sets the bar: not merely good speech, but the very best of it. It is a fitting note to end on for our students at Darus Saulieghien Quraan Academy, whose tongues are already being trained daily in the recitation of Allah's Book.
Speak What Is Best
Allah (SWT) says:
وَقُل لِّعِبَادِى يَقُولُوا۟ ٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ يَنزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ ٥٣
"And tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them." (Surah Al-Isra 17:53)
Shaytan works through loose speech, whispered comments, and careless jokes - subtle discord rather than open conflict. Guarding the tongue against that is a quiet, constant struggle, a form of jihad against the easiest sin to fall into.
What Guarding the Tongue Actually Protects
The Prophet (SAW) said: "Whoever conceals [the faults of] a Muslim, Allah will conceal [his faults] in this world and the Hereafter." (Sahih Muslim 2699) A tongue that covers rather than exposes becomes a source of mercy, not only for others, but for its owner too.
Carrying This Forward
We hope our students leave this reflection with practical habits: a daily self-check, replacing gossip with a good word or a sincere du'a, and using the tongue more for dhikr than idle talk.
May Allah (SWT) make the tongues of our students truthful, kind, and wise, and let their silence, as much as their speech, be a form of worship. Ameen.