Know that the Arabs were praised for naming a thing by the name of another when it is close to it, or when it occurs because of it. By this custom, inner speech was called “speech” because it can later become spoken, heard speech.

The opponent treated this figurative naming as literal reality, then denied the literal reality of speech altogether. The reality of speech, around which rulings revolve, is what is spoken and heard, with letters and sound.

Proof from the speech of the Arabs and the rulings of the Sharia

No denial exists of the permissibility of such figurative expressions as “speech in the eyes”, or “in the self there is speech”. Yet figurative usage does not change the legal reality.

If that were accepted as literal speech, rulings would collapse. Consensus exists among jurists that one who swears not to speak for an hour, then only speaks within the self, has not broken the oath until an utterance occurs.

Likewise, if one swears to speak after the afternoon prayer, then utters a word, the oath is fulfilled even if that word had not occurred in the self beforehand.

Contracts are established only by heard utterance, and nothing of them is valid by inner speech.

Slander within the self does not require the legal punishment, while uttered slander does. Sale and purchase do not bind by inner resolve without uttered offer and uttered acceptance, or what carries its meaning.

Qur’an verses that restrict “saying” to mouths, tongues, and heard utterance

وَيَقُولُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ لَوْلَا يُعَذِّبُنَا اللَّهُ بِمَا نَقُولُ
“They say within themselves: Why does Allah not punish us for what we say.” (Al Mujadalah: 8)

إِن كُنتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي
“If I had said it, then You would surely have known it. You know what is within myself.” (Al Maʾidah: 116)

فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ وَلَمْ يُبْدِهَا لَهُمْ قَالَ أَنتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ
“Yusuf عليه السلام kept it within himself and did not show it to them. He said: You are worse in position, and Allah knows best what you describe.” (Yusuf: 77)

يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ
“They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts.” (Al ʿImran: 167)

كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا
“Grievous is the word that comes out of their mouths. They say nothing but a lie.” (Al Kahf: 5)

إِن تَلَقَّوْنَهُ بِأَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِكُم مَّا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِ عِلْمٌ
“When it was taken up with your tongues, and you said with your mouths what you had no knowledge of.” (Al Nur: 15)

ذَلِكُمْ قَوْلُكُم بِأَفْوَاهِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَقُولُ الْحَقَّ وَهُوَ يَهْدِي السَّبِيلَ
“That is your saying with your mouths, while Allah says the truth and He guides the way.” (Al Ahzab: 4)

These verses fix “saying” and “speech” to what exits the mouth and is carried by the tongue. Inner meaning is known to Allah, yet rulings attach to uttered speech, not inner motion.

Speech and its opposites, and the agreement of sound minds

Heard utterance is speech even when intention is absent, such as the utterance of the possessed, the intoxicated, and the sleeping.

Silence applies to one who is present, thinking within the self and gesturing, yet not uttering and not making a sound.

Silence and muteness are opposites of speech in the customary language and the agreement of sound minds.

بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَذَا فَاسْأَلُوهُمْ إِن كَانُوا يَنطِقُونَ
“Rather, this chief of theirs did it, so ask them if they can speak.” (Al Anbiya: 63)

أَفَلَا يَرَوْنَ أَلَّا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلًا
“Do they not see that it does not return to them any speech.” (Ta Ha: 89)

Criticism fell upon worshipping what cannot produce speech that is heard. Silence is the absence of utterance from one who normally utters.

Muteness is inability to utter due to impairment. What is opposed by silence and muteness is only heard utterance.

Proof from agreed legal effects in worship, oaths, punishments, and transactions

Inner speech does not invalidate prayer in that moment, while deliberate utterance unrelated to correcting the prayer invalidates prayer by agreement.

Differences among the madhhahib concern uttered speech and its cases, not inner speech.

Inner resolve does not establish sale, purchase, marriage permissions that require expression, or legal punishments. The Sharia distinguishes between what is in the self and what is uttered, attaching binding effects to utterance.

Reports on whispering and the removal of inner speech from the ruling of speech

“Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah what their chests whisper within them, as long as it is not spoken, and not acted upon.” (Sahih al Bukhari 3/145, number 2528; Sahih Muslim 1/116, number 127)

A man mentioned finding thoughts so hateful that becoming burnt coal would be more beloved than speaking them, and “All praise is for Allah who returned his matter to whispering.” (Ahmad 5/248, number 3161; Abu Dawud 7/435, number 5112; Ibn Hibban 1/360, number 147)

“We find within ourselves something enormous to speak of.” “That is pure iman.” (Sahih Muslim 1/119, number 132)

These sound reports distinguish between what occurs within the self and what is spoken, and they fix pardon and legal non attachment to the absence of utterance and action.

Speech and silence in prophetic guidance

“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say good or be silent.” (Sahih al Bukhari 8/11, number 6018; Sahih Muslim 1/68, number 47)

This command joins good utterance with silence, making silence the opposite of utterance. If inner motion were “speech” in reality, speech and silence would gather in one state, which sound reason and the language reject.

Consent and what replaces speech in necessity

“The previously married woman expresses herself, and the virgin’s consent is her silence.” (Ibn Majah 3/71, number 1872, with discussion of the chain in the quoted notes)

Silence was made consent for the virgin due to shyness from utterance, and the understood gesture of the mute person can take the place of utterance in necessity according to many ulama, while gesture from one who can speak does not take the place of utterance in binding rulings.

This clarifies the difference between speech and other than it, even when naming broadens in some contexts.

The foundation that refutes kalam nafsi and preserves the distinction between Creator and creation

Speech, in meaning, remains one: heard utterance with letters and sound. The difference lies in the states of speakers, not in changing the definition.

Created speech depends on known instruments and points of articulation, and impairment affects it.

As for Allah, He has been a Speaker eternally and continues to speak whatever speech He wills, making whom He wills hear what He wills, when He wills. Naming agreement does not require sameness in what is named.

Just as knowledge and hearing share names while differing utterly between Allah and creation, likewise speech remains speech, while Allah speaks without tongue, lips, palate, or any instrument, and creation speaks with instruments.

This overturns the claim that inner meaning is the reality of speech, and it preserves the legal and linguistic reality upon which the Sharia rulings attach. (Kitab al Ibanah 3/385-437)

Full Article

Inner speech (kalam nafsi) and what is similar, and that it is not speech in reality, and it does not have the ruling of speech

Know that the Arabs were praised for a habit of naming a thing by the name of another thing when it is close to it, or when it occurs because of it. This is well known in their language.

Allah addressed them with what is understood and not ignored, so He sent down the Qur’an in the language of the Arabs, on what they were accustomed to, to strengthen the proof against them.

So the opponents used as proof the saying of Allah:

وَيَقُولُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ لَوْلَا يُعَذِّبُنَا اللَّهُ بِمَا نَقُولُ
“They say within themselves: Why does Allah not punish us for what we say.” (al Mujadalah 8)

And His saying جل وعز:

إِن كُنتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي
“If I had said it, then You would surely have known it. You know what is within myself.” (al Maidah 116)

And His saying تعالى:

And they said: The Arabs say: “I see speech in his eyes.” And they say to the one addressed: “In your self there is speech.” And they held on to the line attributed to al Akhtal: “Indeed, speech is from the heart, and the tongue was only made as a proof for the heart.” (This line is fabricated and falsely attributed to al Akhtal. No trace of it is in his collected poetry. See what Dr Bakrim verified in his marginal note on the author’s letter to the people of Zubayd, 120. In that letter, al Sijzi also mentioned these verses and the line attributed to al Akhtal, with a brief discussion similar to what is here in this book al Ibanah. Ibn Qudamah also quoted some of al Sijzi’s words in al Burhan fi Bayan al Quran, 7675.)

So they altered it and said: “Speech is from the heart.”

No denial of the permissibility of using what they mentioned. Rather, that was affirmed as figurative usage.

The reality of speech, around which rulings revolve, is what is spoken and heard, with letters and sound. Inner speech was only called speech because it can later become spoken, heard speech.

The opponent makes what is figurative with the Arabs into literal reality, and denies what is literal reality with them altogether.

If that were removed, the rulings of the Sharia would be invalid, because there is no disagreement among the jurists that whoever swears that speech will not be done for an hour, then speaks within himself of matters, but does not utter anything until an hour passes, then the oath is fulfilled and no oath breaking occurs.

If someone swears to speak immediately after the afternoon prayer, and then utters a word that was not even in thought before that, then the oath is fulfilled.

Allah said:

يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ
“They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts.” (Al Imran 167)

And He said:

كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا
“Grievous is the word that comes out of their mouths. They say nothing but a lie.” (al Kahf 10)

And He said:

There is also no disagreement among the jurists that what is heard from the possessed, the intoxicated, the sleeping person, and those like them, from utterance, is speech, even if intention and inner resolve is not established from some of them in that state.

The opposite is the one who sits in their presence, thinking a great deal, speaking within himself, and gesturing with head and limbs, yet does not utter and does not make a sound, so that person is silent with them.

So it became clear that the reality of speech is what is heard and understood by agreement, and everything other than that is from the opposites of speech.

In the opponent’s definition of speech, when it was said: “It is opposed by silence, muteness, and impairments,” what supports what was said is clear, because what is opposed by these things is only heard utterance.

Whatever is not heard utterance enters into these things for which opposition to speech was made a condition.

Abu Bakr Ibn Furak (d. 406 AH) mentioned in the book authored on clarifying the pure statement of al Ashari (d. 324 AH) that silence, muteness, and impairments are not opposites to speech. Rather, they are meanings connected to the selves of their people, just as speech is a meaning established in the self of the speaker. (See Mujarrad Maqalat al Shaykh Abi al Hasan al Ashari by Ibn Furak, 059, 063, 068.

It was previously mentioned that many of these creed issues that the author attributed in this book al Ibanah to Abu al Hasan al Ashari have no trace in his book al Ibanah, which was the last of what he authored, and in it he clearly declared that he held what Imam Ahmad and the imams of the Sunnah held, that the Noble Qur’an is truly the speech of Allah, not a meaning established in the self, and that Allah spoke it with sound and letter in a manner befitting the majesty and perfection of Allah.

What the author quoted here are statements of Ibn Kullab that al Ashari adopted at a stage of his scholarly life, then later turned away from all of that and authored his final book al Ibanah.)

Whoever is content with this from himself has spared an opponent the effort of refuting, because people of sound minds agree that silence and muteness are opposites of speech. Allah said, informing about His Prophet Ibrahim عليه السلام:

بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَذَا فَاسْأَلُوهُمْ إِن كَانُوا يَنطِقُونَ
“Rather, this chief of theirs did it, so ask them if they can speak.” (al Anbiya 63)

And He said:

أَفَلَا يَرَوْنَ أَلَّا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِمْ قَوْلًا
“Do they not see that it does not return to them any speech.” (al Allah 189)

So He criticised them for worshipping what cannot produce speech that is heard.

There is also no disagreement among people before these opponents that silence is the absence of utterance from one who normally utters, and that muteness is the inability of an individual to utter because of an impairment, either heaviness of the tongue or its cutting.

So it became known that speech is only heard utterance in reality, and success is with Allah.

Then there is no disagreement that contracts are only established by heard utterance, and nothing of them is valid by inner speech. If a person spoke within himself of something in prayer, the prayer is not invalidated in that moment.

If a person uttered a word deliberately that is not connected to correcting the prayer, the prayer is invalidated by agreement. If a person spoke within himself of slandering another, the legal punishment is not required.

If the slander was uttered, the legal punishment is required. If a person spoke within himself of selling a house to another for a known price and did not utter it, nothing is binding.

If the offer was uttered, and the one addressed spoke within himself of accepting, and did not utter, ownership is not established. When acceptance is uttered, or what carries its meaning, ownership is established.

So it became clear that the reality of speech is what rulings attach to, and success is with Allah.

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al Makki reported, saying: Abd al Rahman ibn Abd Allah Ibn al Muqri reported to us, saying: My grandfather reported to us, saying: Sufyan reported to us, from Misar, from Qatadah (d. 117 AH), from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah what their chests whisper within them, as long as it is not spoken, and not acted upon.”

Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn al Hasan al Iskandarani reported to us, saying: Abd Allah ibn Yahya al Asbahani reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn al Mufaddal al Asbahani reported to us, saying: Ismail ibn Zayd reported to us, saying: Sufyan ibn Uyaynah reported to us, from Misar, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed Allah has excused my ummah for what their selves speak within them, as long as they do not act upon it, and do not speak it.”

Al Bukhari reported it from al Humaydi, from Sufyan. (Sahih al Bukhari 3/145, number 2528.)

Umar ibn al Qasim ibn al Hasan, and Munir ibn Ahmad ibn al Hasan, and Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn al Hasan, and others, reported to us, saying: Abd al Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyad reported to us, saying: Bishr, meaning Ibn Musa, reported to us, saying: Khallad, meaning Ibn Yahya, reported to us, saying: Misar reported to us, saying:

Qatadah reported to us, saying: Zurarah ibn Awfa reported to us, from Abu Hurayrah, raising it, who said: “Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah what their selves whisper, or what their selves speak within them, as long as it is not acted upon, and not spoken.”

Abu Matr Ali ibn Abd Allah reported to us, saying: Abd Allah ibn Yahya al Tamimi reported to us, saying: Abd Allah, meaning Ibn Muhammad ibn Zakariyya, reported to us, saying: Ismail ibn Amr al Bajali reported to us, saying: Misar reported to us, then he mentioned, with its chain, similar to it.

Al Bukhari reported it from Khallad ibn Yahya, from Misar.

Muslim reported it from Zuhayr, from Waki, from Misar.

And from Hisham, from Qatadah, from Misar. (Sahih Muslim 1/116, number 127.)

Ibn Abi Arubah, Hisham al Dustuwai, Abu Awanah al Waddah, Hammad ibn Salamah, Hammam ibn Yahya, Shayban ibn Abd al Rahman, al Qasim ibn al Walid, and others followed it from Qatadah likewise.

Abd al Rahman ibn Umar ibn Muhammad reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn al Hasan al Adawi reported to us, saying: Muadh ibn al Muthanna reported to us, saying: Khalid ibn Khudash reported to us, saying: Abu Awanah reported to us.

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim reported to us, saying: Yusuf ibn al Qasim ibn Yusuf reported to us, saying: Abdan ibn Ahmad ibn Musa reported to us verbally, saying: Abu Kamil reported to us, saying: Abu Awanah reported to us, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah what their selves speak within them, as long as it is not acted upon, and not spoken.”

The wording is the hadith of Muadh ibn al Muthanna, and the meaning is one. Muslim reported it from Said ibn Mansur, Qutaybah ibn Said, and Muhammad ibn Ubayd, from Abu Awanah. (Sahih Muslim 1/116, number 127.)

Jafar ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al Sulami reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn al Husayn al Ajurri reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Yahya al Halawani reported to us, saying: Ibrahim ibn al Hajjaj al Sami reported to us, saying:

Hammad reported to us, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah what their selves speak within them, as long as the tongue does not utter it, and the body does not act upon it.” (The author’s shaykh Jafar al Sulami was not found to have criticism or praise. The hadith was reported by al Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil al Athar 4/320, number 1631, from the route of Abu al Yasa Wahb ibn al Mubarak, from Hammad ibn Salamah. Abu al Yasa was also not found with criticism or praise.

The hadith is authentic without doubt because it was reported from Qatadah by more than one of the reliable hadith masters, and among those previously mentioned with the author are Abu Awanah and Misar, and their hadith is in the two Sahih collections.)

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Hajj reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Qarqasani reported to us, saying: al Fadl ibn al Habbab reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Kathir reported to us, saying: Hammam reported to us, saying: Qatadah reported to us, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah every matter their selves speak within them, as long as it is not spoken, and not acted upon.”

Hibat Allah ibn Ibrahim ibn Umar reported to us, saying: Ali ibn al Husayn ibn Bandar reported to us, saying: al Hasan ibn Ahmad Ibn Fil reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Hayyaj reported to us, saying: Yahya ibn Ubayd al Rahman reported to us, saying: Ubaydah ibn al Aswad reported to us, from al Qasim ibn al Walid, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa,

from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said: “It has been permitted for me regarding my ummah what their selves speak within them, except what they speak, and what they do.” (Its chain is good. A group of reliable imams followed al Qasim ibn al Walid from Qatadah. This hadith from this route is from the notable contents of this book al Ibanah. Al Hafiz Abu Nuaim, who was from the time of the author, pointed to it in Hilyat al Awliya 2/259.)

Abd al Rahman ibn Umar reported to us, saying: Hamzah ibn Muhammad al Hafiz reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Shuayb reported to us, saying: Musa ibn Abd al Rahman al Masruqi reported to us, saying: Husayn al Jaufi reported to us, from Zaidah, from Shayban, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:

“Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah what their selves speak within them, as long as it is not spoken, and not acted upon.”

Muslim reported it from Ishaq ibn Mansur, from Husayn, from Shayban. (Sahih Muslim 1/116, number 127.)

Shababa ibn Sawwar reported it from al Masudi, from Qatadah, from Zurarah, from Imran ibn Husayn, and that is an error. (Meaning from al Masudi, Abd al Rahman ibn Abd Allah ibn Utbah al Kufi. He was truthful but became confused. He was criticised for opposing the reliable imams from the students of Qatadah who reported it from him from Zurarah from Abu Hurayrah as raised, as in the two Sahih collections and others. See al Ilal by Ibn Abi Hatim 4/124 and al Daruqutni 8/317.)

Tahir ibn Muhammad ibn Jafar al Basri reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ubayd ibn Ismail al Saffar reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ubayd Allah al Tarsi reported to us, saying: Shababa ibn Sawwar reported to us, saying: al Masudi reported to us, from Qatadah, from Zurarah ibn Awfa, from Imran ibn Husayn, who said: The Messenger of Allah said:

“Indeed Allah forgives for my ummah what their selves speak within them, as long as it is not spoken, and not acted upon.”

Salam ibn Sulayman al Madaini, the nephew of Shababa, followed him.

al Khasib ibn Abd Allah reported to us, saying: Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Ishaq reported to us, saying: al Hasan ibn Jarir reported to us, saying: Salam reported to us, saying: al Masudi reported to us, from Qatadah, then he mentioned similar to it. (Ibn Adi reported it in al Kamil 3/467 through Khalid ibn Abd al Rahman al Khurasani, and 4/323 through Salam ibn Sulayman, both from al Masudi. In the second route is al Dahhak ibn Hajrah, about whom al Daruqutni said he used to fabricate hadith. Ibn Adi said in the first place: the confusion is from al Masudi. He said in the second place: al Masudi erred in this hadith from Qatadah. Some reported it from him from Qatadah from Zurarah ibn Awfa from Abu Hurayrah, and that is correct.)

Ibn Jurayj reported it from Ata ibn Abi Rabah, from Abu Hurayrah.

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Makki reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn al Rabi al Jizi reported to us, saying: Yusuf ibn Said al Mudaysisi reported to us, saying: Hajjaj reported to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from Ata, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said:

“Indeed Allah has pardoned for my ummah every matter their selves speak within them, as long as they do not speak, and do not act.” (al Bayhaqi reported it in al Sunan al Kubra 10/104, number 20014, through Abu Bakr al Naysaburi, from Yusuf ibn Said ibn Muslim al Musaysisi with it. Ibrahim ibn al Hasan ibn al Haytham and Abd al Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Salam followed al Musaysisi from Hajjaj.)

Abd al Rahman ibn Umar ibn Muhammad reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al Wasy reported to us, saying: Yazid ibn Sinan reported to us, saying: Abu Dawud reported to us, saying: Shubah reported to us, from Mansur, from Dharr, from Abd Allah, and al Amash from Dharr, from Abd Allah ibn Shaddad, from Ibn Abbas, that a man said: O Messenger of Allah, a man speaks within himself of a thing, so that becoming burnt coal is more beloved to him than speaking it.

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: One of them said: Mansur or al Amash: “All praise is for Allah who did not enable any of you except for whispering.” The other said: “All praise is for Allah who returned his matter to whispering.” (Ahmad reported it in al Musnad 5/248, number 3161. Abu Dawud reported it in al Sunan 7/435, number 5112. Ibn Hibban reported it in al Sahih 1/360, number 147, and others, through routes from Mansur and al Amash, from Dharr ibn Abd Allah al Murahbi with it. Its chain is authentic.)

Muhammad ibn Ali reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Shuayb reported to us, saying: Amr ibn Ali reported to us, saying: Abd al Rahman ibn Mahdi reported to us, saying: Sufyan reported to us, from Mansur and al Amash, from Dharr, from Abd Allah ibn Shaddad, from Ibn Abbas, similar to it.

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim reported to us, saying: Yusuf ibn al Qasim reported to us, saying: Jafar ibn Muhammad al Naysaburi reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab al Naysaburi reported to us, saying: I heard Ali ibn Uththam say:

“I came to Suayr ibn al Khams, and I asked him about the hadith of whispering, and he did not report it to me.

So I turned away crying. Then he met me and said: Mughirah reported to us, from Ibrahim, from Alqamah, from Abd Allah, who said:

I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about a man who finds something, so that falling from the sky and birds snatching him would be more beloved to him than speaking it.

He said: That is pure iman.” Muslim reported it from Yusuf ibn Yaqub al Saffar, from Ali ibn Annam. al Nasai reported it from al Husayn ibn Mansur, from Ali ibn Annam. (Sahih Muslim 1/119, number 133. al Sunan al Kubra of al Nasai 9/248, number 10432.)

Sulayman al Taymi reported it from Mughirah, from Ibrahim, from Aishah, and it is sent. al Thawri reported it from Hammad, from Ibrahim, from the Prophet ﷺ as sent. (al Sunan al Kubra of al Nasai 9/250, number 10440. In it is the route of Ibrahim al Nakhai from the Mother of the Believers Aishah, and it is sent. al Tirmidhi said in al Jami 1/144: no hearing is known for Ibrahim al Taymi from Aishah. al Sunan al Kubra of al Nasai 9/248, number 10433.)

Abd al Rahman ibn Umar al Bazzaz reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Bishr al Zubayri reported to us, saying: Ruh ibn al Faraj reported to us, saying: Yusuf ibn Adi reported to us, saying: Abd al Rahim reported to us, from Muhammad ibn Amr, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “We surely find within ourselves something that we do not love to speak of, even though the sun has risen upon it.”

He said: “Have you found that?”

They said: Yes.

He said: “That is explicit iman.”

It was also reported from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah.

Abd al Rahman ibn Umar al Bazzaz reported to us, saying: Hamzah ibn Muhammad ibn Ali reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Shuayb reported to us, saying: Ishaq ibn Ibrahim reported to us, saying: Jarir reported to us, from Suhayl, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

Some people came from the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and said: “We find within ourselves something that we see as enormous to speak of.”

He said: “Have you found it?”

They said: Yes.

He said: “That is pure iman.”

Muslim reported it from Zuhayr ibn Harb, from Jarir. (Sahih Muslim 1/119, number 132.)

Shubah reported it from Asim, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah as raised. Israel followed him from Asim, but he stopped it. Shubah also reported it from al Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah as raised. Abu Muawiyah differed and said: from al Amash, from Abu Salih, from some companions of the Prophet, from the Prophet.

al Thawri reported it from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from Abu Salih, from the Prophet as sent. (al Sunan al Kubra of al Nasai 9/247, number 10430.)

A report was narrated from Aishah through another route besides the disputed hadith of Mughirah.

Munir ibn Ahmad ibn al Hasan reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Bahzadh reported to us, saying: al Rabi ibn Sulayman reported to us, saying: Asad ibn Musa reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Hazim reported to us, from Layth, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, from Aishah, who said: “My maternal uncle said to her: O Mother of the Believers, a man speaks of a thing such that if it were seen, his neck would be struck, and if it were spoken, his hereafter would be lost.”

So she said “Allahu Akbar” three times, then she said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about that, so he said “Allahu Akbar” 3 times, and he said: That is not felt except by a believer.” (al Sunan al Kubra of al Nasai 9/247, number 10431. Abu Bakr al Mutarriz reported it in Fawaid, number 50.)

Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ishaq al Tanisi reported to us, saying: Abd al Wahid ibn Ahmad ibn Ali reported to us, saying: al Hasan ibn Mansur reported to us, saying: Dawud ibn Muadh reported to us, saying: Jafar ibn Sulayman reported to us, from Thabit al Bunani, who said:

“I met Umar ibn Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, and I said to him: What is said about a thing that one of us speaks within himself and cannot control, a thing such that one does not like to speak a word of it even if the universe belonged to him, and for one to fall from the sky is more beloved than speaking a word of it?”

He said: “That is pure iman.”

Thabit said: “So I said to him: May Allah give relief from that pure matter.”

So he said: “From what?”

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions, and the followers, removed inner speech from being speech, when he said: “as long as it is not spoken,” and when they said: “more beloved than speaking it.”

Al Ashari (d. 324 AH) and those who agree with him claim that what a person finds within himself is the reality of speech, not what is uttered, so they openly oppose truth, transmitted proof, and reason.

al Husayn ibn Jafar ibn al Qasim reported to us, saying: Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al Mufassir reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ali reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Mawsili reported to us, saying: Abu al Yaman al Hakam ibn Nafi reported to us, from Ismail ibn Ayyash, from Ayyub ibn Salamah, from Aban ibn Uthman, that he heard Uthman say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever prays two rakat of prayer and does not speak within himself of anything in them, he does not ask Allah for anything except that it is given to him.” (No trace of this hadith is in the collection of Abu al Yaman al Hakam ibn Nafi by the narration of Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Isa al Khuzai. al Bukhari reported from Abu al Yaman with his chain to Humran the freed servant of Uthman, from Uthman ibn Affan, a hadith about ablution with similar meaning that will be mentioned. In the author’s chain is Ismail ibn Ayyash, and his narration is weak from other than the people of al Sham. This is from that category because his shaykh Ayyub ibn Salamah is Makkan and Madinan. What will be mentioned after this is enough.)

Abd Allah ibn al Hasan ibn Abi Siraj reported to us, saying: Jafar ibn Muhammad ibn Yazid al Jawhari reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Abdan ibn Abd al Ghaffar in Makkah reported to us, saying: Abu Marwan Muhammad ibn Uthman al Uthmani reported to us, saying: Ibrahim ibn Sad reported to us, saying: Ibn Shihab reported to us that Ata ibn Yazid reported to him that Humran, the freed servant of Uthman, reported to him:

He saw Uthman call for water, then he poured over his hands 3 times and washed them, then he put his right hand into the water and rinsed his mouth and sniffed water into his nose, then he washed his face 3 times, and his hands to the elbows 3 times, then he wiped his head, then he washed his feet 3 times to the ankles, then he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever performs ablution like this ablution of mine, then prays two rakat of prayer, not speaking within himself in them, then what has passed of his sins will be forgiven.” (al Bukhari reported it from Abd al Aziz ibn Abd Allah, from Ibrahim ibn Sad, from Ibn Shihab. Sahih al Bukhari 1/43, number 159. Muslim reported it in his Sahih 1/204, number 226, through Ibn Wahb, from Yunus, from Ibn Shihab.)

Yunus ibn Yazid reported it from al Zuhri.

Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah al Qurashi reported to us, saying: Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al Mufassir reported to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Ali al Marwazi reported to us, saying: Abbad ibn Musa reported to us, saying: Talhah ibn Yahya reported to us, saying: Yunus reported to me from Ibn Shihab, from Ata, from Humran:

That Uthman ibn Affan called for ablution, then he mentioned similar to it. (Muslim reported it in his Sahih 1/204, number 226.)

Abd al Rahman ibn Umar reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al Wasy reported to us, saying: Yazid ibn Sinan reported to us, saying: Abu Amir, meaning al Aqadi, reported to us, saying: Zamah ibn Salih reported to us, from Salamah ibn Wiharam, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever prays two rakat of prayer and does not speak within himself of anything in them, then for him is a servant or a horse.”

So a man stood and prayed two rakat of prayer, then when he finished and sat, Shaytan came to him and said: Which will you take, the servant or the horse?

So he sat thinking for a long time, then he came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, I prayed two rakat of prayer and did not speak within myself, then when I sat, Shaytan came to me and said: Which will you take, the servant or the horse?

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled. (Ibn Adi reported it in al Kamil 4/367–368. al Bayhaqi reported it in Shuab al Iman 4/511, number 2897, through Ibrahim ibn Said al Jawhari, from Abu Amir al Aqadi with it.

Salamah ibn Wiharam was trusted by Ibn Main and Abu Zurah, yet Imam Ahmad weakened what Zamah narrated from him specifically. Ahmad’s son Abd Allah said: I asked my father about Salamah ibn Wiharam and he said: Zamah narrated from him reports that are rejected. I fear his hadith is weak.)

So this promised what was mentioned for the one whose prayer of two rakat is completed without inner speech, and that is something a person cannot repel. The prayer with it is valid and sufficient, and the opposite is utterance.

Among the 3 jurists, the disagreement about utterance in prayer is known.

So the Madinan says: If speech is done deliberately for the benefit of the prayer, the prayer is not invalidated, and if it is for other than that, it is invalidated. (Meaning Imam Malik. Imam Ahmad also has 2 narrations about one who speaks deliberately in prayer for the benefit of the prayer. See al Masail al Fiqhiyyah from Kitab al Riwayatayn wal Wajhayn by al Qadi Abu Yala 1/138, and al Mughni by Ibn Qudamah 2/35. See al Mudawwanah 1/219, al Tafri by Ibn al Jallab 1/116, and al Maunah by al Qadi Abd al Wahhab 1/240.)

The Makkan says: If speech is done forgetfully in prayer, the prayer is not invalidated, and if it is done deliberately, it is invalidated in every matter. (Meaning Imam al Shafii. See al Umm 1/148–150, and al Hawi by al Mawardi 2/182.)

The Kufan says: If speech is done in prayer, forgetfully or deliberately, the prayer is repeated. (Meaning Imam Abu Hanifah. See Mukhtasar al Quduri, 30, and al Mabsut by al Sarakhsi 1/170.)

All agree that inner speech does not break the prayer, except when another meaning is joined with it

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Tamimi reported to us, saying: Ibrahim ibn Ahmad reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Abd al Hadrami reported to us, saying: al Nadr ibn Salamah reported to us, saying: Amr ibn Hammad reported to us, saying: Asbat reported to us, from al Suddi, from Murrah, from Ibn Masud, who said:

“We used to speak in prayer and talk, and a man would speak to his companion, and they would return greetings, until I entered and gave salam, and the Prophet ﷺ did not return salam to me, and that became severe upon me.

Then when the Prophet ﷺ finished his prayer, he said: Nothing prevented me from returning salam to you, O Abd Allah, except that we were commanded to stand in prayer in devotion and not speak.” (This hadith with this chain and wording is from the notable contents of this book al Ibanah. In its chain is al Nadr ibn Salamah, and it appears he is the Marwazi known as Shadhan.

He is accused. Abu Hatim said: he used to invent hadith and was not truthful.

The foundation of the hadith is in the two Sahih collections from Alqamah from Abd Allah ibn Masud, who said: We used to give salam to the Prophet ﷺ while he was in prayer, and he would return it.

Then when we returned from the Negus, we gave salam and he did not return it and he said: Indeed in prayer there is occupation. See Sahih al Bukhari 2/62, number 1199, and Sahih Muslim 1/382, number 538.)

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim reported to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Qadi reported to us, saying: Yusuf ibn Yaqub reported to us, saying: Hafs ibn Umar reported to us, saying: Shubah reported to us, from Abu Ishaq, from Asim, who said: Ali said:

“Whoever finds a rumbling in his stomach, or urine, or a nosebleed, then let him turn away and perform ablution. If he speaks, he repeats the prayer. If he does not speak, he prays what remains.” (In the author’s chain is Hafs ibn Umar. If he is al Abli, then he is a liar. If he is the Basri, then he is abandoned. If he is al Raffa, then his hadith is worthless.

All of them narrate from Imam Shubah. Ahmad reported in al Musnad 2/93, number 668, and al Bazzar in al Musnad, with Kashf al Astar 1/233, number 476, from Ali ibn Abi Talib, that while they were praying with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he turned away while they were standing, then he returned with his head dripping, then he prayed the prayer, then he said: I remembered I was in major impurity when I stood for prayer and I had not washed.

Whoever among you finds a rumbling in his stomach, or is like what I was upon, then let him leave until he finishes his need or his washing, then return to his prayer. In its chain is Ibn Lahi’ah, and he is poor in memory.)

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Marzuq reported to us, saying: al Fadl ibn Jafar ibn Muhammad and al Husayn ibn Ibrahim ibn Jabir, both from Damascus, reported to us, saying: Abd al Rahman ibn al Qasim reported to us, saying: Abd al Rahman ibn Yahya reported to us, saying: al Walid ibn Muhammad reported to us, from al Zuhri, who said:

Thalabah al Qurazi informed me that he reached Umar ibn al Khattab, and they used to speak when Umar sat on the pulpit until the caller finished his call and Umar spoke. When Umar spoke, their speech would stop and they would be silent, and no one would speak until the imam finished his sermon. (Malik reported it in al Muwatta, the narration of Yahya 2/143, number 343. Abu Musab reported it 1/170, number 439. al Tahawi reported it in Sharh Mushkil al Athar 9/435, number 3829, and Sharh Maʻani al Athar 1/370, number 2114. al Bayhaqi reported it in Shuab al Iman 3/282, number 5717. al Nawawi graded it authentic in Khulasat al Ahkam 2/808.)

Reports on listening in Jumu’ah

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿUmar al Tujibi reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al ʿAdawi reported to us / (1165), who said: Muhammad, meaning Ibn Ahmad Ibn al Nadr, narrated to us, who said: Muʿawiyah, meaning Ibn ʿAmr, narrated to us, who said: Zaʾidah narrated to us, from Sufyan, from Abu Ishaq al Sabiʿi, from Hilal ibn Qays, from Zayd ibn Suhan, who said:

“When the Friday prayer comes, then listen, and do not play with pebbles. If a man near to the listener is speaking, then pinch him, and if he is far, then point to him.” (It was reported in their Musannaf works by ʿAbd al Razzaq 3/214, number 5381, and Ibn Abi Shaybah 1/451, number 5216, through the route of Sufyan, meaning al Thawri, with it. In its chain is Hilal ibn Qays, and it was said he is Hilal ibn Zayd ibn Qays. Al Bukhari mentioned him in al Tarikh al Kabir 8/208–209, and Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him in al Jarh wa al Tadil 9/75, and they left him blank, so they did not mention criticism or praise, and no narrator from him is known except Abu Ishaq al Sabiʿi, while Ibn Hibban, as is his habit with those like him, included him in al Thiqat 5/505 and 7/572.)

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Yaʿqub reported to us, who said: ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah reported to us, who said: Muhammad, meaning Ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Maymun, narrated to us, who said: al Walid, meaning Ibn Muslim, narrated to us, from al Awzaʿi (d. 157 AH), from al Zuhri (d. 124 AH), that he disliked speech in the masjid while people were in prayer. (The narration of al Walid ibn Muslim al Qurashi from al Awzaʿi is strong and relied upon. The shaykh of al Sijzi, ʿAbd al Rahman, and his shaykh ʿAli, need further identification. See al Jarh wa al Tadil 9/17, and Tahdhib al Kamal 31/93.)

Inner speech and divorce

ʿAli ibn Ibrahim ibn al Hasan al Daqaq reported to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Faqih reported to us, who said: ʿAli ibn Ghalib narrated to us, who said: ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah, meaning Ibn al Madini, narrated to us, who said: Muʿadh ibn Muʿadh narrated to us, who said: Dinar ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us, who said:

“I asked al Hasan (d. 110 AH) about a man who fears that he may have divorced his wife.”

He said: “If he spoke it as spoken speech, then yes, otherwise it is nothing.” (In the chain is Dinar ibn ʿAbd Allah, and it appears he is Abu Mukays al Habashi, the long lived one who claimed he was a servant to the servant of the Prophet ﷺ, Anas ibn Malik.

Ibn Hibban said in al Majruhin 1/295: he narrated fabricated matters from Anas, and it is not permissible to mention him in books, nor to write what he narrated except for the purpose of exposing him.)

ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad reported to us, and ʿAli ibn Ibrahim reported to us, who said: ʿAli ibn Ghalib narrated to us, who said: ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Mahdi narrated to us, from Habib ibn Abi Habib, from ʿAmr ibn Harm, who said:

Jaabir ibn Zayd (d. 93 AH) was asked about divorce which a man speaks within himself.

So he said: “If his tongue clearly expresses it, then he has divorced. If his tongue does not clearly express it, then it is not divorce.” (Its chain is good. Habib ibn Abi Habib is al Anmati al Ansari. It is a strong likelihood that the author narrates this report from the copy of Imam ʿAli ibn al Madini through the narration of Abu al Hasan ʿAli ibn Ghalib ibn Salam al Suksuki al Batlahi from him, and it is fitting that a serious study be devoted to this Madinan copy.)

Inner preparation and the meaning of “I intended to speak”

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Makki reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Dibili narrated to us, who said: Saʿid ibn ʿAbd al Rahman, Ibn Hassan al Qurashi al Makhzumi, Abu ʿUbayd Allah, narrated to us, who said: Sufyan narrated to us, from al Zuhri, from ʿUbayd Allah, meaning Ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from ʿUmar, in the report of al Saqifah:

“I had prepared within myself a speech which I wanted to stand and say in front of Abu Bakr, and I was guarding against him because of some sharpness, and he was more complete than me and more forbearing.

So I went to speak, and he said: ‘Take it slowly.’ So I disliked to anger him.

Then he praised Allah and spoke well of Him. By Allah, he did not leave anything of what I had prepared, except that he brought it, or he brought something better than it.” (Al Bukhari reported it from ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah, from Ibn ʿUyaynah. Sahih al Bukhari 8/168, number 6829. Muslim also reported it from Abu Bakr and Ibn Abi ʿUmar, from Ibn ʿUyaynah. Sahih Muslim 3/1317, number 1991.)

Munir ibn Ahmad ibn al Hasan reported to us, who said: ʿAli ibn Ahmad ibn Ishaq reported to us, who said: al Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn Habib narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad narrated to us, who said: Juwayriyah narrated to us, from Malik, from al Zuhri, that ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah ibn Masʿud informed him, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, who informed him from ʿUmar, in the report of al Saqifah:

“I had prepared a speech that pleased me, and I wanted to stand and say it in front of Abu Bakr, and I was guarding against Abu Bakr because of some sharpness.

When I wanted to speak, Abu Bakr said: ‘Take it slowly.’

So I disliked to anger him. Abu Bakr spoke, and he was more forbearing than me and more dignified.

By Allah, he did not leave a word that pleased me in what I prepared, except that he spoke with its like, or better, from his immediate thought, until he became silent.” (Al Bukhari reported it from Yahya ibn Sulayman, from Ibn Wahb, from Malik and Yunus. Sahih al Bukhari 3/132, number 2462, and 5/67, number 3928.)

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAli al Bawardi narrated to us, who said: Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad al Firyabi narrated to us, who said: al Salt ibn Masʿud al Jahdari narrated to us, who said: Hushaym ibn Bashir narrated to us, who said: al Zuhri informed us.

Al Husayn ibn Jaʿfar ibn al Qasim and Turab ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd reported to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Dimashqi reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn ʿAli narrated to us, who said: Surayj, meaning Ibn Yunus, narrated to us, who said: Hushaym narrated to us, who said: I heard al Zuhri, who said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah informed me, who said: Ibn ʿAbbas informed me, from ʿUmar, in the report of al Saqifah:

“When he became silent, I wanted to speak, and I had prepared a speech which pleased me, and I wanted to say it in front of Abu Bakr, and I was guarding against him because of some sharpness, and he was more forbearing than me and more dignified.

So he took my hand and said: ‘Sit.’

I disliked to disobey him, and Turab said: to anger him. So he spoke, and by Allah, he did not leave anything I had prepared from my speech, except that he brought its like from his immediate thought, or better.” (Ibn Hibban reported it in al Sahih 2/145, number 413, through Abu Yaʿla, from Surayj ibn Yunus, from Hushaym ibn Bashir with it. Its chain is authentic.)

ʿAbd al Jabbar ibn Ahmad ibn ʿUmar reported to us, who said: ʿAbd al ʿAziz ibn Ismaʿil al Saydalani reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn ʿAmr al ʿUqayli narrated to us, who said: my grandfather Yazid ibn Muhammad ibn Hammad al ʿUqayli narrated to me, who said: ʿAbd al Rahim ibn Hammad al Thaqafi narrated to me, who said: al Aʿmash narrated to us, from al Zuhri, from ʿUbayd Allah, from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAwf informed me of the report of al Saqifah from ʿUmar with something like that. (In its chain is ʿAbd al Rahim ibn Hammad al Thaqafi. Al ʿUqayli said in al Duʿafa al Kabir 3/81: “Unknown by transmission, his report is not preserved.” Al Dhahabi said in Mizan al Iʿtidal 2/604: “A weak shaykh, I did not see criticism mentioned about him, and this is strange.” The author graded it as strange, and the report has already come earlier with something like it.)

This is strange.

So ʿUmar clarified that what was prepared within himself was not spoken speech in that state, since he said: “I wanted to speak with it.”

Speech and silence in prophetic guidance

al Khasib ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn al Hasan ibn Ishaq reported to us, who said: Yahya ibn ʿUthman narrated to us, who said: ʿAli ibn Maʿbad narrated to us, who said: Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us, from ʿUmarah al Ansari, from Ibn Sabrah, that he heard him narrating, from Thabit al Bunani (d. 127 AH), from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said three times:

“May Allah have mercy upon a man who spoke and gained, or was silent and was safe.”

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Hajj reported to us, who said: Abu al Zahir Muhammad ibn Ahmad reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn ʿAbdus reported to us, who said: ʿAbd al Jabbar ibn ʿAsim narrated to us.

Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamawayh reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Dhuhali reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn Yahya al Marwazi narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd al Jabbar ibn ʿAsim narrated to us, who said: Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us, from ʿUmarah ibn Ghaziyyah, from Ibn Sabrah, meaning he heard him narrating, from Thabit, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“May Allah have mercy upon a man who spoke and gained, or was silent and was safe.” (It was reported by al Qudaʿi in Musnad al Shihab 1/339, number 582, and al Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al Iman 7/19, number 4589, through the route of ʿAbd al Jabbar ibn ʿAsim, from Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash with it. Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash is weak in his narration from other than the people of al Sham, and this is from that category because his shaykh ʿUmarah ibn Ghaziyyah is Madinan.

It has a supporting report from Ibn Masʿud that comes after this with the author.

It also has a supporting sent report from al Hasan al Basri in Kitab al Samt by Ibn Abi al Dunya, number 41, and in Musnad al Shihab by al Qudaʿi 1/338, number 581, and in Shuʿab al Iman by al Bayhaqi 7/17, number 4585, through two routes from al Hasan with it as a sent report.

Mubarak ibn Fadalah narrated it from al Hasan from Anas as raised, and it was reported by al ʿAskari, as mentioned in al Maqasid al Hasanah by al Sakhawi, number 515.

These routes are not free from weakness, yet they strengthen the report of Anas through Ibn ʿAyyash. For that reason, al Albani graded it as good in al Silsilah al Sahihah, number 855.)

It is strange through the report of ʿUmarah ibn Ghaziyyah, and it is well known through the report of Ismaʿil from him.

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al Qurashi reported to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Sulayman and Muhammad ibn Musa al Sami narrated to us, who said: ʿAwn ibn Salam narrated to us, from Abu Bakr al Nahshali, from al Aʿmash, from Abu Waʾil, who said:

ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud stood on al Safa and said: “O tongue, speak good and gain, and be silent and be safe.”

It was said to him: “Is this something you say, or did you hear it from the Messenger of Allah?”

He said: “No. Rather, I heard it from the Messenger of Allah.” (It was reported by Ibn Abi al Dunya in Kitab al Samt, number 18, by al Shashi in al Musnad 2/82, number 602, by al Tabarani in al Muʿjam al Kabir 10/197, number 10446, and by al Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al Iman 7/16, number 4584, and others, through the route of ʿAwn ibn Salam with it.

Al Mundhiri said in al Targhib wa al Tarhib 3/534: al Tabarani reported it, and its narrators are the narrators of the authentic collections, and Abu al Shaykh in al Thawab, and al Bayhaqi with a good chain.)

So the Prophet ﷺ distinguished between speech and silence. If what is within the self were speech, then a person would be speaking a matter and silent from it in one state, and this contradicts what sound reason requires.

Consent and what replaces speech in necessity

al Husayn ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Ahmad, al Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Mahmud reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn al Hasan ibn Ishaq reported to us, who said: Ruh, meaning Ibn al Faraj, narrated to us, who said: Yahya ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Bukayr, and ʿAmr ibn Khalid, narrated to us, who said: al Layth ibn Saʿd narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Abi Husayn narrated to me, from ʿAdi ibn ʿAdi al Kindi, from his father ʿAdi, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he used to say:

“The previously married woman expresses herself, and the virgin’s consent is her silence.” (Ibn Wahb reported it in al Jamiʿ 1/136, number 231. Ibn Abi Shaybah reported it in al Musnad 2/278, number 774. Ahmad reported it in al Musnad 29/261–262, number 17724. Ibn Majah reported it in al Sunan 3/71, number 1872, and others, through routes from al Layth ibn Saʿd with it.

In it is a break, since ʿAdi ibn ʿAdi ibn ʿUmayrah al Kindi did not hear from his father, as Abu Hatim said in al Jarh wa al Tadil 3/7. The wording of the report is authentic without doubt, and it has many supporting reports with its meaning in the two Sahih collections and others through more than one of the companions.)

Because the previously married woman does not usually feel shy from giving permission by spoken utterance, marriage is not permissible for her except by spoken permission that is heard.

Since the virgin is different, her silence was made permission, because withholding is not something that is usually felt shy about, so leaving off withholding is permission for marriage.

In this meaning, the understood gesture of the mute person takes the place of utterance for the one who can speak according to many of the ulama, while a gesture like that from a person who can speak does not take the place of utterance in rulings.

So the difference between speech and other than it becomes clear, even if other than it is sometimes named by its name in a broad sense, or takes its place in a state of necessity or excuse.

The report commanding good speech or silence

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Hajj reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn Saʿid ibn ʿAbdan narrated to us, who said: Abu al Layth al Faraʾidi narrated to us, who said: ʿUthman, meaning Ibn Abi Shaybah, narrated to us, who said: Abu al Ahwas Salam ibn Sulaym narrated to us, from Abu Husayn, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, that he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say good or be silent.” (Al Bukhari reported it in his Sahih 8/11, number 6018, and Muslim 1/68, number 47, through the route of Abu al Ahwas with it. Salam did not narrate from Abu Husayn except this.)

The report of liʿan and the choice between speech and silence

ʿUmar ibn al Qasim ibn al Hasan reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn Usamah ibn Ahmad al Tujibi reported to us, who said: Ibn Rushdayn, and his name is Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Hajjaj, narrated to us, who said: Hisham ibn ʿAmmar narrated to me, and I asked him about it, and Muhammad ibn Maymun al Baghdadi narrated to me, and they both said: ʿIsa ibn Yunus narrated to us, who said: al Aʿmash narrated to us, from Ibrahim, from ʿAlqamah, from ʿAbd Allah, who said:

“We were in the masjid of the Messenger of Allah, and a man came and said: ‘What is said about a man who finds a man with his wife.

If he kills him, will you kill him. If he speaks of it, will you flog him. If he is silent, he remains silent upon anger. O Allah, open, O Allah, open.’”

He said: “So he was tested, and he was a man from the Ansar. He accused his wife. When she began to engage in the mutual oaths, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her: ‘Stop.’ She engaged in the mutual oaths.

When she went away, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Perhaps she will bring him black and curly haired.’”

He said: “So she brought him black and curly haired.” (Muslim reported it from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, from ʿIsa ibn Yunus. Sahih Muslim 2/1134, number 1495.)

Poetry on money making the silent speak

ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Fardi reported to us, who said: ʿUthman ibn Ahmad reported to us, who said: Ishaq, meaning Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Sinin, narrated to us, who said: Abu Muhammad Sufyan ibn Muhammad al Musaysisi narrated to us, who said: Khalid ibn Yazid narrated to us, from Shabib ibn Shaybah, from Abu Masʿud, who said:

Ziyad ibn ʿUbayd was a scribe for Ibn ʿAbbas in al Basrah, and he became wealthy, so a poet said about him:

“The dirhams have made men speak after inability, men who for a long time were silent. So they have not returned good to a neighbour, nor have they raised noble houses. Such is wealth, it mends every weakness, and it leaves every possessor of status silent.” (The lines are attributed to Khalid ibn Safwan, as in al Ishraf fi Manazil al Ashraf by Ibn Abi al Dunya, number 376, through al Husayn ibn ʿAbd al Rahman, from Shabib ibn Shaybah, from Khalid with it.)

The report on sleep during prayer and the harm of unintended speech

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Musa al Qurashi reported to us, who said: Musa ibn Muhammad ibn Harun al Ansari al Zurqi said: al Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman al Muradi, the companion of al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), wrote to me in his letter, who said: Ibn Wahb narrated to us, who said: Yahya ibn ʿUbayd Allah al ʿUmari, Saʿid ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al Jumahi, and Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH), narrated to me, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿAishah, the wife of the Prophet, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“When one of you becomes drowsy in his prayer, then let him sleep until sleep leaves him, because one of you, if he prays while drowsy, perhaps he will go seeking forgiveness and end up insulting himself.”

Munir ibn Ahmad and ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿUmar reported to us, who said: al Hasan ibn Yusuf reported to us, who said: Muhammad, meaning Ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al Hakam, narrated to us, who said: Anas, meaning Ibn ʿIyad, narrated to us, from Hisham, from his father, from ʿAishah, that the Prophet ﷺ said the same with identical meaning.

al Fadl ibn Fadalah, Jariyah ibn Harm, and a group followed them from Hisham.

(Al Bukhari reported it from ʿAbd Allah ibn Yusuf, from Malik. Sahih al Bukhari 1/53, number 212. Muslim reported it from Qutaybah, from Malik. Sahih Muslim 1/542, number 786. Abu al Aswad Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al Rahman narrated it from ʿUrwah, from ʿAishah with the same wording. The routes of Ibn ʿIyad, Ibn Fadalah, Ibn Harm, and Abu al Aswad are rare routes. Praise is due to Allah that the author listed his chain for the first of them.

He also has, as is his habit, many routes. He has wide knowledge in gathering routes for a single report. His book al Ibanah is a clear proof of that. For that reason, al Dhahabi said in Tadhkirat al Huffaz 3/11 when mentioning the book al Ibanah: it is a long book in its subject, indicating the man’s leadership and his insight into narrators and chains.)

Speech of creation and the speech of Allah

Once what has been mentioned is established, then it should be known that the states of those described with speech and those described with silence are different.

There is a speaker for whom speech cannot exist except by a known instrument, which is the mouth, tongue, palate, and teeth, and letters have known points of articulation from that instrument.

When an impairment reaches the instrument, the speech connected to it is removed or reduced. These are the qualities of created human beings. For one whose state is like this, silence is the opposite of speech, and it is the stopping of this instrument from the known utterance without an impairment affecting it.

It is permissible for heard utterance to exist from what is not an animal, and from what has no instrument suitable for utterance according to what is customary, or it has an instrument, but custom has not established utterance from it that is understood.

This meaning most commonly occurs for one of two reasons: either to strengthen proof upon the one commanded, or so that certainty increases for the one who already has certainty. In that is a manifestation of power.

Some of what has come in the Qur’an and the prophetic reports from this type will be mentioned after this, if Allah wills.

When heard, understood utterance is found from some of what was mentioned, then it is speech, but it is not a characteristic of the one from whom it appears, and that being is not described as a speaker in the original sense, nor as silent.

These meanings are connected to created matters.

As for Allah , then He has been a Speaker eternally, and He continues to speak whatever speech He wills. He makes whom He wills from His creation hear whatever He wills from His speech whenever He wills. He speaks to whom He wills, with what is known and not unknown.

He is One who knows and speaks, He is not like anything, and nothing is like Him. He is not described except with what He described Himself with.

He is not a body, nor in the meaning of a body. He is not described with an instrument, a tool, or a limb. Exalted is He greatly. His speech is the best speech. From it are surahs, verses, and words, and all of that is letters.

It is truly heard from Him in a hearing that creation can understand. There is no modality for His speaking and His addressing. It is permissible that a number of those addressed are addressed by Him in a single state, with what He wills for each one of them, without His addressing this one distracting Him from addressing that one.

Many of the ulama forbade using the term silence for Him for meanings.

The first is that silence from what is beneficial is not from the qualities of praise.

The second is that silence, as it is known, is the stopping of an instrument of speech from its owner without an impairment, and Allah is far above instruments and tools connected to the essence.

The third is that silence occurring after speech involves change of states, and Allah does not change, and does not transform, and does not cease.

Some of the people of transmission permitted using the term silence because it came in a report.

They said its meaning is leaving off establishing, reproach, and reckoning today, and a day will come when establishing, reckoning, and reproach will occur.

That leaving off is in the meaning of silence. There is no change of state in that, and no attribute occurs that is not fitting for the One praised.

Reports have been narrated from more than one of the followers and those after them, claiming that Allah spoke with wordings containing ugliness and opposition to foundational principles.

Those reports are not authentic from them. Every narration that contains real resemblance is weak. Whoever relies upon it is ignorant. Whoever believes what is in it, after knowing its corruption, is a disbeliever. (A very important condition. The author did well to mention it so that one does not dare to declare disbelief in creed matters on the slightest uncertainty. Safety is for the one whom Allah makes safe, and guides to the path of the righteous Salaf.

Resemblance is an affliction. Far above is the Lord of the universes from being likened to His creation. “There is nothing like Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” (al Shura 11).)

As for what was narrated and the people of innovation claim it is resemblance, while the narration is established and its meaning is not what they claim, then it is not permissible to discard it because of their claim.

Rather, it is accepted upon what the Salaf accepted, it is passed on as it came, and what the Salaf interpreted from it is interpreted.

The foundation that must be known is that agreement in naming does not require agreement in what is named.

So when it is said: Allah is One who exists, One, living, knowing, hearing, seeing, speaking, and it is said: the Prophet was one who existed, living, knowing, hearing, seeing, speaking, that is not resemblance, and no one from the Salaf and the imams opposed that. Allah exists eternally.

One, not as a number. Living, eternal. Knowing, hearing, seeing, speaking eternally. He is not described with the opposites of these qualities. The created one from us only came into existence after not existing.

Life occurs, meaning it settles, then it becomes death by the disappearance of that meaning. Knowledge occurs after not knowing, and what was known can be forgotten. Hearing, seeing, and speaking occur with limbs which can be afflicted by impairments.

So what is used for creation is not resemblance to what is used for the Creator , even if the names of these qualities agree.

Likewise, whoever says: knowledge is recognising what is known as it is, and hearing is perceiving what is heard as it is, and Allah was described with eternal knowledge, then a human being was described with acquired knowledge, that person does not become one who resembles.

So in the same way, one does not become one who resembles if one says: speech is letter and sound for the one from whom it is found, and Allah is described with eternal speech, then a human being or other is described with speech.

Rather, the difference between them is made clear: Allah speaks without a limb, while others speak with a limb. Allah knows without inner concealment, while others know with inner concealment. Allah hears without a tool, while others hear with a tool.

The meaning of knowledge is one, and the states of those who know are different. The meaning of hearing is one, and the states of those who hear are different.

In the same way, the meaning of speech must be one while the states of speakers differ. There is no difference in what sound reason requires. There has not come in the transmitted texts anything that requires leaving what has been said.

(From the author’s earlier words, “As for Allah, then He has been a Speaker eternally,” up to here, Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah quoted it in Darʾ Taʿarud al ʿAql wa al Naql 2/88–90, attributing it to al Sijzi and to his book al Ibanah.

The existence of some differences indicates another copy from which Ibn Taymiyyah was quoting, and it was in al Sham. In it was also the second original relied upon in this editing, and even the first Iraqi original which later, in some way, moved to al Sham as well)

Refuting al Ashʿari’s comparison

This is the benefit by which al Ashʿari (d. 324 AH) supported his statement, misled his reason, and deceived the heedless with it, when he said:

Just as Allah’s knowledge is without inner concealment, His hearing is without piercing, His sight is without closing, and His face is without composition, then likewise His speech must be without letter and without sound.

What his foundation requires is other than what he said. Rather, just as Allah’s knowledge is without inner concealment, and it is recognising what is known as it is, while the knowledge of others is recognising what is known as it is, but with inner concealment, then Allah’s speech must be without tongue, lips, or palate, even if it is letter and sound.

The speech of one of us is by tongue, lips, and palate, and it is letter and sound.

Since the definition of knowledge, eternal and created, did not differ, even though there is a tremendous difference between the two knowledges, then the definition of speech, eternal and created, must not differ, even though there is a difference between them.

So if it is admitted that the speech of other than Allah is letter and sound, then what has been imposed is binding. If that is denied, then disagreement with every person of intellect is enough in the matter. Success is with Allah.

The report about Allah “being silent” about matters

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Hajj reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn al Tanuhi reported to us, who said: Ibn Fil, and he is Ahmad Sahl ibn Abi Saʿid ibn Ibrahim, narrated to us, who said: Ibn Shabawayh narrated to us, who said: Ishaq al Azraq narrated to us, from Dawud ibn Abi Hind (d. 140 AH), from Makʿhul (d. 112 AH), from Abu Thaʿlabah, who said: The Messenger of Allah said:

“Indeed Allah has obligated obligations, so do not neglect them. He has forbidden forbidden matters, so do not violate them. He has set limits, so do not overstep them. He was silent about matters, not out of forgetfulness, as a mercy, so do not search into them.” (al Daruqutni reported it in al Sunan 5/325, number 4396, through routes from Ishaq al Azraq with it.

A group followed al Azraq from Dawud ibn Abi Hind, among them ʿAbd al Rahim ibn Sulayman with al Tabarani in al Muʿjam al Kabir 22/221, number 589, Muhammad ibn Bakr with Ibn Battah in al Ibanah 1/407, number 314, and ʿAli ibn Mushir with al Hakim in al Mustadrak 4/129, number 7114. al Nawawi graded it good in al Adhkar, 630.

Some narrated it from Dawud, from Makʿhul, from Abu Thaʿlabah as stopped, and al Daruqutni preferred it as raised in al ʿIlal 6/324. Even with preferring it as raised, a defect remains, which is the break between Makʿhul and Abu Thaʿlabah, because he did not hear from him, as al Mizzi stated in Tahdhib al Kamal 33/167.

A missing intermediary exists from the class of the followers. Some supporting reports may strengthen it. See Anis al Sari, number 1181.

For that reason, Ibn al Samʿani graded it good in his Amali, as quoted in Jamiʿ al ʿUlum wa al Hikam 2/150 by Ibn Rajab, and al Nawawi as mentioned. Ibn Kathir graded it authentic in his Tafsir 1/621 and 3/207. The author mentioned after it the report of Salman as a supporting report for the report of Abu Thaʿlabah.)

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn ʿAli ibn al Hasan al Naqqash al Tanisi reported to us, who said: ʿUmar ibn Sinan al Manbiji narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Daʿif narrated to us, who said: Ishaq al Azraq narrated to us, from Dawud, from Makʿhul, from Abu Thaʿlabah al Khushani, from the Prophet ﷺ with its like, except that he said:

“And He was silent about matters without consulting you, so do not search into them.”

This is preserved from the report of Ishaq, from Abu Bakr Dawud ibn Abi Hind, from Makʿhul.

The name of Abu Thaʿlabah is Jurthum, and it was said: Lashr. (See the disagreement regarding the name of Abu Thaʿlabah in al Asami wa al Kuna by Imam Ahmad 1/47, al Tarikh al Kabir by al Bukhari 2/250, al Maʿrifah wa al Tarikh by al Fasawi 3/170 and 3/198, Asmaʾ Man Yuʿraf bi Kunyatihi by Abu al Fath al Mawsili, number 28, al Istiʿab by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr 2/467, and others.)

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿUmar reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Sukkari reported to us, who said: Yahya ibn ʿUthman reported to us, who said: ʿAbd al Qahir ibn Rushdayn narrated to us, from his father, from Muʿawiyah, meaning Ibn Salih, who narrated it to him from Yunus ibn Khabbab, from Abu ʿUbayd Allah, from Salman, from the Prophet ﷺ:

He was asked about cheese, clarified butter, and fur garments.

So he said: “Is not the lawful what Allah made lawful in the Qur’an, and the unlawful what Allah made unlawful in the Qur’an, and what Allah was silent about, then He pardoned it.” (In the chain is Rushdayn ibn Saʿd al Misri, and although he was devout, he was not granted reliability by them. Ibn Yunus said in Tahdhib al Kamal 5/195: he was a righteous man, and there is no doubt in his righteousness and virtue, yet he was afflicted by the heedlessness of the righteous, so he became confused in reports. al Nasai said in al Duʿafa wa al Matrukin, number 203: abandoned in reports.

The author did well by grading it as gharib (strange). al Bayhaqi reported it in al Sunan al Kubra 9/537, number 19391, through the route of Ibrahim ibn Tahman, from Yunus ibn Khabbab with it. Yunus ibn Khabbab is also weak. His shaykh Abu ʿUbayd Allah is the freed servant of Ibn ʿAbbas.

Al Bukhari mentioned him in al Tarikh al Kabir 9/53, and Ibn Abi Hatim in al Jarh wa al Tadil 9/405, and they left him blank. Ibn Hibban included him in al Thiqat 5/570. No narrator from him is known except Yunus ibn Khabbab, so he is unknown in state, as Shaykh Saʿd al Hamid said in his note on Sunan Saʿid ibn Mansur, Tafsir section 2/322. Abu ʿUthman al Nahdi followed Abu ʿUbayd Allah from Salman. Ibn Majah reported it in al Sunan 4/459, number 3367, through Sayf ibn Harun, from Sulayman al Taymi, from Abu ʿUthman al Nahdi with it. Sayf ibn Harun is weak, but the report has supporting reports that strengthen it. Among them is the report of Abu Thaʿlabah which came earlier.)

This is strange.

The report from Bilal ibn Saʿd and the Qur’an verse

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al Qasim and Hibat Allah ibn Ibrahim ibn ʿUmar reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil reported to us, who said: Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Dawlabi narrated to us, who said: Muwhib ibn Yazid narrated to us, who said: Sadaqah ibn al Muntasir, Abu Shuʿbah al Shaʿbani, narrated to me, who said: al Dahhak narrated to me, from Bilal ibn Saʿd, that he used to say while admonishing us:

“O worshippers of the Most Merciful, today speech occurs and Allah is silent. Soon Allah will speak and silence will occur. Then smoke will rise from deeds, blackening faces. So fear a day in which return will be to Allah, then every self will be repaid for what it earned, and they will not be wronged.”

اتَّقُوا يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
“Fear a day in which return will be to Allah, then every self will be repaid for what it earned, and they will not be wronged.” (al Baqarah 281) (In Kunya al Dawlabi the wording is: “And fear,” up to the end of the verse. Abu Tahir al Salafi reported it in al Mashyakhah al Baghdadiyyah, number 34, through Abu Bakr al Naysaburi, from Muwhib ibn Yazid with it. Its chain is good. al Dahhak is Ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Abi Hawshab al Nasri al Dimashqi.)

The report: “Whoever is silent is saved”

Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamawayh reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn al Hasan ibn Ishaq reported to us, who said: Abu al Zunbaʿ reported to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad narrated to us, who said: Ibn Lahiʿah narrated to us, from Yazid ibn ʿAmr, from Abu ʿAbd al Rahman al Hubli, from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever is silent is saved.” (al Tabarani reported it in al Muʿjam al Kabir 13/47, number 113, through ʿUthman ibn Salih, from Abu al Zunbaʿ Ruh ibn al Faraj al Misri, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Fahmi, from Ibn Lahiʿah with it.

Ibn Lahiʿah is poor in memory, but two of the ʿAbd Allah narrators reported from him here, ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak in al Zuhd wa al Raqaʾiq, number 385, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb in al Jamiʿ, number 302.

Their narration from Ibn Lahiʿah is sound. A supporting route strengthens it where ʿAmr ibn al Harith was paired with him. al Tabarani reported it in al Muʿjam al Awsat 2/264, number 1933, Ibn Shahin in al Targhib fi Fadaʾil al Aʿmal, number 388, and Ibn ʿAbd al Barr in al Tamhid 21/37, through Ahmad ibn Salih, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb, from Ibn Lahiʿah and ʿAmr ibn al Harith, from Yazid ibn ʿAmr with it. The author graded the report good. See also al Silsilah al Sahihah, number 536, and Anis al Sari, number 3671.)

This is a report with an Egyptian chain, good, as a chain.

In it, salvation is promised for the silent one, and he is the one who does not utter.

According to al Ashʿari, in the state of silence a person is speaking what is being silent from, and this opposes transmitted proof and contradicts sound reason.

Poetry on silence and speech

Some said:

“Die with the illness of silence, it is better for you than the illness of speech.” (Diwan Abi Nuwas, 587, Dar Sadir.)

Another said:

“If speech is from silver, then silence is from gold.” (The author attributed it in his letter to the people of Zubayd, 223, and it is a famous wise statement that is common on people’s tongues. Most sources consider it from the advice of Luqman to his son, and some consider it from the words of the Prophet Sulayman ibn Dawud عليه السلام.

See al Zuhd by Imam Ahmad, number 272, al Samt wa Adab al Lisan by Ibn Abi al Dunya, number 47 and 736, al Zuhd by Ibn Abi ʿAsim, number 33, and al Maqasid al Hasanah by al Sakhawi, number 263.)

From this type there is much, and it clarifies that silence, with all people of intellect, is the opposite of speech, and two opposites cannot gather at one time in one place.

The report about a word leading to Allah’s pleasure or anger

Munir ibn Ahmad ibn al Hasan reported to us, who said: ʿAli ibn Ahmad ibn Ishaq reported to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Nasr reported to us, who said: Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Wasiti reported to us, who said: Muʾammal, meaning Ibn Ismaʿil, narrated to us, who said: Hammad, Hammad, and Sufyan narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Saʿid, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Taymi, from ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqas, who said: Bilal ibn al Harith told me that

he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Indeed a man speaks a word fromnot Allah’s pleasure, he does not think it reached what it reached, and Allah writes for him by it His pleasure until the day he meets Him. Indeed a man speaks a word from Allah’s anger, he does not pay attention to it, and Allah writes for him by it His anger until the day he meets Him.”

He said: ʿAlqamah said: “How much speech has the report of Bilal ibn al Harith prevented from being spoken.” (Ibn ʿAsakir reported it in Tarikh Dimashq 10/410, number 2620, through Abu Saʿid ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Salm al Subhi, from Muʾammal ibn Ismaʿil with it.

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Taymi is reliable. Ibn Hajar said in al Taqrib, number 5691: reliable, with singular reports. ʿAmr ibn ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqas followed him from ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqas with it. Malik reported it in al Muwatta 5/1434, number 816, the narration of Yahya. Saʿid ibn Mansur reported it in al Musnad, Tafsir section 4/1411, number 607.

Ibn Abi Shaybah reported it in al Musnad 2/44, number 552. al Tirmidhi reported it in al Jamiʿ 4/137, number 2319. al Nasai reported it in al Sunan al Kubra 10/379, number 11769. Ibn Majah reported it in al Sunan 5/113, number 3969. al Hakim reported it in al Mustadrak 1/106, number 136, and many others through routes from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAlqamah, from his father ʿAmr, from his grandfather ʿAlqamah ibn Waqqas, from Bilal with it. al Hakim graded it authentic and al Dhahabi agreed. The report has supporting reports and follow ups. See al Silsilah al Sahihah, number 888, and Anis al Sari, number 1061.)

The report to Muʿadh on silence except for good

ʿAbd Allah ibn al Hasan ibn Aghlab reported to us, who said: al Hasan ibn al Khadr ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us by dictation, who said: al ʿAbbas ibn Muhammad al Basri narrated to us, who said: Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb narrated to us, who said: Abu Hani narrated to me, from ʿAmr ibn Malik, from Fadalah ibn ʿUbayd, from ʿUbadah ibn al Samit:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out one day, and he travelled upon his riding animal, and his companions were with him. No one went forward in front of him.

So Muʿadh ibn Jabal said: “O Prophet of Allah, I ask Allah to make our day before your day. What is thought if something occurs, and may Allah not show us that, which deeds will be done after you?”

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ became silent.

He said: “Jihad in the path of Allah, may my father and mother be given for you, O Messenger of Allah?”

He said: “Jihad in the path of Allah is a good matter, yet something that holds back people is more controlling than that.”

He said: “So fasting and charity?”

He said: “Fasting and charity are a good matter, yet something that holds back people is more controlling than that.”

So Muʿadh mentioned every good that he knew, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said about all of that: “Something that holds back people is more controlling than that.”

So he said: “May my father and mother be given for you, O Messenger of Allah, what is the matter that holds back people more controlling than that?”

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pointed to his mouth and said: “Silence, except for good.”

Muʿadh said: “Will Allah take us to account for what our tongues spoke?”

So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ struck Muʿadh ibn Jabal on the thigh, then he said: “O Muʿadh, may your mother lose you, or whatever Allah wills. Is not what makes people fall upon their noses in Jahannam except what their tongues utter.

So whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say good, or let him be silent from evil. Speak good and gain, or be silent from evil and be safe.”

This is hasan and ghaeib (strange). (Al Bukhari reported it in Khalq Afʿal al ʿIbad, 73. al Hakim reported it in al Mustadrak 4/319, number 7774. al Qudaʿi reported it in Musnad al Shihab 1/389, number 666. al Diyaʾ al Maqdisi reported it in al Ahadith al Mukhtarah 8/333–334, number 405, through routes from ʿAbd Allah ibn Wahb.

The routes of al Hakim and al Diyaʾ are earlier and later, while al Bukhari and al Qudaʿi have a very brief wording. al Hakim graded it authentic upon the conditions of the two shaykhs, and al Dhahabi agreed, but ʿAmr ibn Malik was not narrated by the two shaykhs. al Haythami said in Majmaʿ al Zawaʾid 10/299: al Tabarani reported it and its narrators are the narrators of the authentic collections, except ʿAmr ibn Malik al Junbi, and he is reliable. It was not found in the printed Muʿjam works of al Tabarani, and it may have been in the missing portion. The author graded the report good and strange. See al Silsilah al Sahihah by al Albani, number 412.)

Like this there is much, and all of it indicates that speech is what is heard, and silence is its opposite.

Kitab Al-Ibānah by Imam al-Sijzī (3/385–437)

Author

ISHAQ. K

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Summary

Inner speech and what is similar, and that it is not speech in reality, and it does not have the ruling of speech

Proof from the speech of the Arabs and the rulings of the Sharia

Qur’an verses that restrict “saying” to mouths, tongues, and heard utterance

Speech and its opposites, and the agreement of sound minds

Proof from agreed legal effects in worship, oaths, punishments, and transactions

Reports on whispering and the removal of inner speech from the ruling of speech

Speech and silence in prophetic guidance

Consent and what replaces speech in necessity

The foundation that refutes kalam nafsi and preserves the distinction between Creator and creation

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Inner speech (kalam nafsi) and what is similar, and that it is not speech in reality, and it does not have the ruling of speech

All agree that inner speech does not break the prayer, except when another meaning is joined with it

Reports on listening in Jumu’ah

Inner speech and divorce

Inner preparation and the meaning of “I intended to speak”

Speech and silence in prophetic guidance

Consent and what replaces speech in necessity

The report commanding good speech or silence

The report of liʿan and the choice between speech and silence

Poetry on money making the silent speak

The report on sleep during prayer and the harm of unintended speech

Speech of creation and the speech of Allah

Refuting al Ashʿari’s comparison

The report about Allah “being silent” about matters

The report from Bilal ibn Saʿd and the Qur’an verse

The report: “Whoever is silent is saved”

Poetry on silence and speech

The report about a word leading to Allah’s pleasure or anger

The report to Muʿadh on silence except for good

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