Sunni · Compare this tradition with another
Today's khutbah deals with the harm of the tongue, which is the key to the heart and the mirror of faith
no name given ·
ULEMA – Freitagspredigten ·
2026-09-18
· Kerpen
· Source
Truthfulness · main message
Repentance · carrying
Responsibility · carrying
The tongue is the key to the heart and the mirror of faith; whoever does not master it endangers himself and others, while restrained, God-pleasing speech leads to salvation.
Although the tongue is so small, it can lead a person either to Paradise or cast them into Hell.
The sermon addresses the tongue as a central organ of faith and as the key to the heart. It identifies current speech practices such as lying, cursing, slander, mockery, and excessive talking as grave sins. As a basis, a Quranic passage and several prophetic traditions are cited. The tongue is presented as decisive because it can lead a person to Paradise or cast them into Hell. The text advises restrained, wise speech and self-examination rather than preoccupation with the faults of others. The listeners are urged to first set the tongue on the right path and then the remaining parts of the body. The sermon concludes with a tradition in which the body parts admonish the tongue to fear God.
- What, according to this text, is the root of the evil?
-
Sin, personal failure, guilt before God; Turning away from God, indifference, idolatry
- Where does the evil reside?
-
in the heart, the will, or the soul of the individual
- What helps against it?
-
inner transformation, repentance, a change of mind; keeping the commandments, maintaining order, fulfiling one's duties
- What is human being according to this text?
-
willed by God, with a task and a responsibility
- Where is history heading?
-
the message stands outside of history
- What does the text base its claim on?
-
on the founder or prophet of the tradition; on the holy scripture of its own tradition
- To whom does the text's call for devotion apply?
-
to one's own fellow believers
- Where is the text's criticism directed?
-
at one's own community and at oneself
Related texts from other traditions
by similarity of the analysis, one text per tradition
What the text calls for
- Die Zunge schützen und nur wenige, weise Worte sprechen (inward)
- Sich mit den Mängeln der eigenen Triebseele beschäftigen (inward)
- Die Befehle und Ratschläge des Propheten befolgen (inward)
Passages cited
Koran 49:12 · Ahmed Bin Hanbel · Et-Tirmidhi: Ez-Zuhd: 61 · Et-Tirmidhi: Sunen: Ez-Zuhd: 60
Measured
- Basic stance
- -1 from -2 to 2
- Insistence
- 2 of 3
- Reach
- 3 of 5
- Concreteness
- 2 of 3
- Boundary
- 0 of 3
- Time
- past 2, present 2, future 2
Analysed with qwen3.8-27b, version v3.
The same standards apply to every tradition, see Values.
Full text in English
18.09.2026 “The Evil of the Tongue”!
O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, indeed some suspicion is a sin. And do not spy or backbite each other; would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful. (El-Hudschurat, 12)
Dear Muslims!
Today’s Khutbah deals with the evil of the tongue, which is the key to the heart and the mirror of faith.
In recent times, it has become customary to lie, to swear unnecessarily, to give false testimony, to insult, to slander, to talk behind people’s backs, to mock others, to make bad jokes about them, to praise oneself, to break one’s word, to talk unnecessarily, and to use bad words, even though all of this falls into the category of major sins.
Our Almighty Lord says in the Noble Quran:
“O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, indeed some suspicion is a sin. And do not spy or backbite each other; would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.” (El-Hudschurat, 12) Dear Brothers!
Although the tongue is so small, it can lead a person either to Paradise or cast them into Hell.
Therefore, the tongue is that part of the body which must be protected the most. The Prophet ﷺ said: “If the heart of a believer is crooked, his faith is crooked. And if the tongue of a person is crooked, his heart is crooked.” (Ahmed Bin Hanbel) Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said about the tongue: “Do not talk much without remembering Allah. For talking much without remembering Allah makes the heart hard. And surely the person farthest from Allah is the one whose heart is hard.” (Et-Tirmidhi: Ez-Zuhd: 61) In this sense, our scholars say: “To utter everything that comes to mind is a sign of stupidity and ignorance and leads to the heart becoming hard as stone.” Dear Believers!
Whoever wants to protect their tongue should act according to the principle “Speech is silver, silence is gold” and speak only few, but wise words.
This is done by heeding the commands and advice of our Prophet ﷺ, who is our role model in all areas of life. This also includes focusing on the flaws of our own nafs (lower self) rather than on the flaws of our fellow human beings.
Let us begin by taking care of the guidance of our tongue and continue with the guidance of our other body parts!
We wish to conclude our Khutbah with the following saying of the Prophet ﷺ, in which he explains the dangerous effect our tongue can have:
“When the son of Adam rises in the morning, all his body parts scold the tongue and say to it: ‘Fear Allah for our sake! For we depend on you: If you are straight, we are straight. But if you are crooked, we are crooked!’” (Et-Tirmidhi: Sunen: Ez-Zuhd: 60)
Full text in the original
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Werte Muslime!
Die heutige Khutbe handelt vom Unheil der Zunge, die der Schlüssel zum Herzen und der Spiegel des Glaubens ist.
Heutzutage ist es üblich geworden, zu lügen, unnötig zu fluchen, falsches Zeugnis abzulegen, zu beleidigen, zu verleumden, hinter dem Rücken anderer über sie zu reden, andere zu verspotten, schlechte Witze über sie zu machen, sich selbst zu loben, sein Wort zu brechen, unnötig zu reden und schlechte Worte zu gebrauchen, obwohl all dies in den Bereich der großen Sünden fällt.
Unser Allmächtiger Herr spricht im Edlen Koran:
„O ihr, die ihr glaubt! Vermeidet das häufige Mutmaßen, denn manches Mutmaßen ist Sünde.
Und spioniert nicht hintereinander her und redet nicht einer hinter dem anderen her. Möchte denn etwa einer von euch das Fleisch seines toten Bruders essen? Ihr würdet es verabscheuen! Fürchtet Allah!
Wahrlich nimmt Allah die Reue an und ist voller Barmherzigkeit!“ (El-Hudschurat, 12) Werte Brüder!
Obwohl die Zunge so klein ist, kann sie den Menschen entweder ins Paradies führen oder in die Hölle werfen.
Deshalb ist die Zunge jenes Körperteil, das am meisten geschützt werden muss. Der Prophet ﷺ sagte: „Wenn das Herz eines Gläubigen krumm ist, ist sein Glaube krumm. Und wenn die Zunge eines Menschen krumm ist, ist sein Herz krumm.“ (Ahmed Bin Hanbel) Außerdem sagte der Gesandte Allahs ﷺ über die Zunge: „Redet nicht viel, ohne dabei Allahs zu gedenken. Denn das viele Reden, ohne dabei Allahs zu gedenken, macht das Herz hart. Und gewiss ist jener Mensch am weitesten von Allah entfernt, dessen Herz hart ist.“ (Et-Tirmidhi: Ez-Zuhd: 61) In diesem Sinne sagen unsere Gelehrten: „Alles auszusprechen, was einem in den Sinn kommt, ist ein Zeichen von Dummheit und Unwissenheit und führt dazu, dass das Herz hart wie Stein wird.“ Werte Gläubige!
Wer seine Zunge schützen will, sollte nach dem Prinzip „Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold“ handeln und nur wenige, aber dafür weise Worte sprechen.
Dies tut man, indem man auf die Befehle und Ratschläge unseres Propheten ﷺ hört, der unser Vorbild in allen Lebensbereichen ist. Hierzu gehört es auch, dass wir uns mit den Mängeln unserer eigenen Triebseele beschäftigen und nicht mit den Mängeln unserer Mitmenschen.
Lasst uns damit beginnen, uns um die Rechtleitung unsere Zunge zu kümmern und hierauf mit der Rechtleitung unserer anderen Körperglieder fortfahren!
Wir wollen unsere Khutbe mit folgendem Ausspruch des Propheten ﷺ beenden, in dem er uns erklärt, welch gefährliche Wirkung unsere Zunge erzielen kann:
„Wenn der Sohn Adems am Morgen aufsteht, schimpfen alle seine Körperteile mit der Zunge und sagen zu ihr: „Fürchte Allah wegen uns! Denn wir hängen von dir ab: Wenn du gerade bist, sind auch wir gerade. Wenn du aber krumm bist, sind auch wir krumm!““ (Et-Tirmidhi: Sunen: Ez-Zuhd: 60)