Ibn Abbas narrated that whenever the Prophet offered the night (Tahajjud) prayer, he used to say, "O Allah! All the Praises are for You; You are the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. And all the Praises are for You; You are the Keeper of the Heavens and the Earth. All the Praises are for You; You are the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and whatever is therein. You are the Truth, and Your Promise is the Truth, and Your Speech is the Truth, and meeting You is the Truth, and Paradise is the Truth and Hell (Fire) is the Truth and all the prophets are the Truth and the Hour is the Truth. O Allah! I surrender to You, and believe in You, and depend upon You, and repent to You, and in Your cause I fight and with Your orders I rule. So please forgive my past and future sins and those sins which I did in secret or in public. It is You Whom I worship, None has the right to be worshipped except You." (Bukhari)
Our entire life must therefore be spent on seeking and spewing the truth. In fact, as the world progress, speaking the truth becomes even more difficult, hence Allah says, “By (the Token of) time (through the Ages), verily Man is in loss, except such as have Faith and do righteous deeds and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth and of Patience and Constancy.” (Qur'an 103v1-3)
Standing by truth in a corrupting world is really hard; as such the few who uphold it will be specially rewarded. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "He who abandons lying (to cover up), having already done something wrong, will have a castle built for him just within Paradise. He who abandons disputing (cantankerous argumentation), despite speaking the truth, will have one (a castle) built for him in the middle of Paradise. He whose character is good will have a castle built for him in the highest part of it." (Tirmidhi)
However, although you may be speaking the truth, you have other things to consider: what do I intend to achieve? Is it the right time to speak? Is this the right place? Am I saying it in the right way? We must be careful because even the truth can hurt - even the speaker! "Truth uncompromisingly told will always have its jagged edges." — Herman Melville
People who are affected by the truth we speak might want to naturally feel bad about what we say, but most of the time, it is the way “the truth” has been presented to them. Some people present the truth carelessly; in fact, sometimes deliberately to hurt. Truth doesn't always have to be bitter; it can be delivered in a palatable way, a humane way. Ultimately, the bigger picture, our ultimate goal should be our focus, when presenting the truth.
As Muslims, we are taught to control our tongue, even when speaking the truth, we must be careful of the fitna (calamity) that may arise from poor presentation. We should weigh our words and think through the consequences and implications of our utterances and consider whether silence is the best option or delayed response will better achieve the desired result. When we talk, we should speak with respect for the person we are addressing and for their feelings. We must learn to do these naturally and not hypocritically because our non-verbal communications speak volumes more than the words we utter. This is when we will get the rewards for speaking and pursuing the truth is a world that triumphs on hiding it.
- Contributed by Shamsideen AbuSuad, UK. 2011
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