Often, we notice things that are somehow not how they should be. We sense and we know something is wrong. And we also have a feeling, an idea, a notion, what it is.
But we hesitate to call things the way we see them. We lapse into shyness and, shall we say, into timidity, and we do not speak up. It is a silence born of weakness.
Psychologists may say it is a physical or psychological ailment or deficiency. But for Allah, it is a clear moral and spiritual issue.
We hesitate to speak up because we are fearful of consequences -- mostly for us: looking foolish or offending people.
And that is where the rub is:
Fearing people and thinking of how they will react, rather than fearing Allah and thinking of what he would want us to say or do.
Allah publicly admonishes Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, on such an issue.
Wa Takhshannaasa,
Wallahu Ahaqqu An Takhshaahu!
Paraphrase:
"You are more afraid of people than you are of Allah?"
So, if bluntness means frankness, and speaking the truth, we all need to be blunt and frank. And we all need to train ourselves into being able to do that.
Let us all read the Hadith and the Qur'an and see how this concept figures in both of them.
Neither Allah nor his Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, seem to be too tolerant of willful ambiguity and vagueness in speech or of hesitation and vacillation in action, when the situation calls for clear speech and decisive action.
Speaking the truth -- and saying the right thing -- has always been the distinguishing feature of Islam throughout history.
It sets Islam apart as a system directly from God, rather than being a creature of human contingency and convenience.
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