God created man in the purest, most perfect and best of moulds. Allah (SWT) who asserts this fact in Qur’an 95:4 has, in his infinite wisdom, given man a just measure of all he requires to live a comfortable and stress-free life. A frustrated and miserable livingshall, no doubt, be the result of any deliberate attempt by man to misuse or misapply any part of his body.
As a human being, the discomfort and restlessness in life is better imagined if God had given man three instead of five fingers; one instead of two hands or legs; and two instead of one head or one stomach. To appreciate this singular favour and mercy of the most Beneficent upon mankind, we have a duty to preserve the form in which man was created by using every bodily organ for the right purpose(s) it was provided.
If you ask a young man (or woman) to state what he uses his mouth for, he is likely to say it is for eating even though he uses it to speak more than he eats with it. He isunlikely tomention those abominable things he does with the mouth including backbiting andtelling lies. He may also forget to say that he uses his ears to eavesdrop.In any case, the mouth and the ears are organs intended for mutual communication among living creatures including humans.
The acquisition of language skills which are basically four (listening, speaking, reading and writing) cannot be accomplished without the mouth and the ears playing their respectivenatural and basic communication roles. While it is listening in the case of the ear, it isspeaking and reading in the case of the mouth.Thus, it is obvious from this premise that while the main preoccupation of the mouth is speaking, the ears are essentiallyconcernedwith the art of listening.
As a student of Linguistics (and by extension Language Education), I can assert that listening and speaking are two distinct language (or communication) skills with neither of them less significant than the other.If this is true of human language, why then, if we may ask, did God give man one mouth instead of two just He gave him (man) two ears; or why did God give man two ears instead of one since He have him only one mouth? The search for an answer to this question is the focus of today’s discourse.
The wisdom in Allah’s choice of giving man two ears and just one mouth is for him (man) to talk less and listen more. Allah (SWT) prefers that we listen twice as much as we speak. If Allah (SWT) had wanted man to talk as much as he listens, He (SWT) would have given him two ears and two mouths. Talking less and listening more further signifies the unique virtue that is inherent in silence. Many of us fail to realize that, in silence, we conceal out shortcomings and hear the gaffes of others. If one doubts his own wisdom, it is preferred that he remains silent. Even the unwise and the clueless have been considered wise in their silence. Indeed, silence rarely betrays anyone. Few men ever regretted being silent over issues but many have made statements they wished were unspoken.
When we talk less, it reduces our propensity to engage in backbiting, rumor mongering and telling lies. Avoiding falsehood in our speecheshelps tosafeguard the sanctity of our fast, whether it is Ramadan or Superogatory fast; because Allah (SWT) does not accept the fasting of liars. When a man talks less, the tendency to gossip is reduced; saving others from the imminent evils of his tongue. The Prophet (SAW) said, “A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands other Muslims are safe”. Backbiting is one of the grave evils of the tongue; an organ of speech that is central to all the functions of the mouth. Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 49:12 “…Nor speak ill of each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother…?”
Silence as extolled in previous paragraphs should not be seen or taken to be a weakness. It could only be so if it becomes a manifestation of fear to take a decision. The justifications earlier outlined areonly meant to emphasize that saying nothing in certain circumstances is preferable to speaking. Ben Franklin (1706-1790) is known for describing silence as a virtue. He was one of the founding fathersof the United States. He was a diplomat, scientist, politician, inventor, writer and a postmaster. He was the tenth son of a soap make, Josiah Franklin. Ben Franklin wasindirectly quoting the Prophet (SAW) when he advised saying, “speak not but what will benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation”. Imams Bukhari and Muslim both relate on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA) that the Prophet (SAW) said, “Whoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day should either speak good or be silent…”
While “Speech is of Time”,“Silence”, they say, “is of Eternity”. Let us know that there is time to be silent in the world of communication. Let us speak only when it is necessary to do so and not because we must speak. Plato states, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something”. It is not unusual for most people to learn more from being quiet than from talking. For many wise men and women, silence is a teacher in disguise. May Allah (SWT) guide us as husbands, wives, parents, children, leaders, followers, colleagues and friends to listen more than we speak, amin.
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