Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … To say it, steadfastness (istiqamah) is just one word, but it is such a comprehensive word that it encompasses both commands and prohibitions. When a person abandons any obligatory act (fard) or commits a forbidden act (haram), he deviates from the straight path and abandons steadfastness. The meaning of steadfastness is to act with utmost firmness upon the commands and prohibitions of Islam, to continuously fulfill the obligatory acts (fara’id), the Sunnah, the recommended (mustahabbat), and the encouraged (mandubat) acts, and to avoid the forbidden (muharramat) and prohibited (manhiyyat) acts. Merely expressing faith verbally is not called iman (faith); rather, true iman is that which is accompanied by action, because action is the fruit and result of iman. Just as a fruitless tree has no significance, similarly, iman without action has no value, and steadfastness is a sign of the perfection of iman.

Guarding the tongue and the calamities of the tongue—this is, in itself, an independent and extremely important chapter. It has been observed that most men and women of the present era have proven to be extremely incompetent in guarding their tongues. Abusive speech, obscene language, taunting and mocking, slander and backbiting, cursing and foul language have become their routine. Such people should know that the very thing about which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam feared the most for us, we have become its embodiment.