THE CULTURE OF PEACE — Teachings of Islam

5. Salvation in Silence Hadith reports relate, in different ways, the importance of silence. According to one report (contained in the collections by at-Tirmidhi, al-Darimi and Ahmad) the Prophet said that the person who keeps silent has attained salvation. This does not mean that people should stop speaking and become totally silent. Rather, what it actually means is that one should become silent and think and only then should he speak. We should properly train ourselves and develop the habit of speaking less and keeping silent more, and of speaking only after we have properly thought what we are going to speak. This we can do by developing the habit of consciously engaging in this practice in our ordinary, everyday conversations. If we can develop this habit in our everyday conversations, then we will respond in the same way when we are faced with extraordinary or challenging situations. Ordinarily, what most people do is that when they are faced with a situation, they react immediately and unthinkingly, blurting out whatever comes to their mind at that moment. This is not at all a proper way to react. Rather, one must first think, and, only after that, begin to speak. If you respond in this way, you can save yourself from having to later repent about what you had said, because once you say something, you can never take it back. If people only think before speaking, and speak while keeping their emotions under control, most conflicts and strife will die out even before they are born. It generally happens that when one is faced with an unfavourable situation, one flares up and speaks in an unpleasant manner. A simple way to save oneself from this is to develop in one’s daily conversations the habit of first thinking and only then speaking. Once you become used to thinking and only then speaking in ordinary, dayto-day conversations, then, because of this habit, you will do just the same when you are confronted with difficult situations. Your habit of controlling yourself in ordinary, everyday conversations will make you able to speak in the same way while keeping yourself under control—to speak with mental discipline—in emergency situations, too. Much of the chaos and conflict in this world has to do with words. Some words provoke hatred and violence. Other words nourish a climate of