How Does One Inculcate the Ability to Think Before Speaking?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

How does one think before one speaks? Like in practice, how does one apply this, remember this? Even in actions, sometimes one just acts automatically. Like there is an urge/impulse and your body may instantly be acting upon it
How do we recognize these urges and stop before we act/speak when there seems to be just milliseconds/seconds between an urge and action?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Being able to think and deliberate before speaking requires a couple things:

1) Realization that one will be taken to account for what they say

2) Having a stillness in one’s heart such that one is hasty in speaking

1) Will We Be Taken to Account for What We Say?

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Mu‘adh (Allah be pleased with him), “Should I inform you of what will allow you to attain all of that!?” I (Mu‘adh) said, “Do tell, O Prophet of Allah.” He grabbed his tongue and said, “Control this.” I said, “O Prophet of Allah, will we be taken to task for what we say?” He said, “O Mu‘adh, may your mother be bereaved of you! Will people be thrown on their faces (or their beaks) in the Hellfire except due to the reapings of their tongues?” [Tirmidhi]

Reflect on this narration and the following, and keep it in the forefront of your mind.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Indeed, a servant (of Allah) will say a statement that is pleasing to Allah (Most High) and not give it much importance, by it Allah will raise them many ranks; and indeed, a servant will say a statement that earns the wrath of Allah and does not give it much importance, by it they will fall into Hell.”

In another narration, “…by it, they will into the Fire farther than the distance between the East and the West.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

2) Time to Think

If the heart is in a state of serenity and stillness, it will have the ability to be conscious of Allah (Most High) before speaking or acting.

If a person’s heart is in a state of hastiness and agitation, it will rush into things which is the source of regretful actions.

Try to increase in moments of stillness and focus. Before or After the Fajr prayer, sitting in the remembrance of Allah or engaged in reflection of Allah’s greatness and His generosity towards you will help you gain stillness.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.