Ask our children:
1. What is the strongest part in the body?
2. When last did we speak to our friends about Allah Ta‘ala?
3. Must we guard our tongue only while fasting or all the time?
Now tell them the story:
One day the Quraan teacher stood in front of his class and asked the children: “O my class, what is the strongest part of the body?” Abu Bakr stood up and answered: “It is the brain, because we are learning all the time from birth till death. Therefore the brain is carrying tons of information.” The teacher said: “Good try, but the brain cannot be the strongest. If we wish to become a haafiz and we sit down to memorize the Quraan, we will learn and learn, but after a while our brain will get tired.” ‘Umar stood up and said: “Teacher! It is the heart. From the moment we come into the world till we die, our heart is beating, pumping blood and working all the time, even while we are asleep.” The teacher said: “You are also incorrect. If we run a race, at the end of the race we are fighting for breath. The heart gets tired.” Then the teacher explained to the children: “My dear class, the strongest part of the body is the tongue. We may speak from morning till the evening, every part of the body may get tired, but the tongue will never get tired. Not a day did the tongue ever complain: ‘Please! Could you close your mouth now, I wish to rest for a while. I am extremely tired.’ We may sleep and sleep, and get tired of sleeping. We may eat and eat, and eventually our stomach will refuse to accept anymore. But when it comes to speaking, we may speak and speak, and go on speaking for ever more. The tongue will never tire, as it is ever ready to fire.”
Now encourage our children:
My dear children! The tongue is the strongest, so the one who can control the tongue will qualify to be the strongest. May it never happen that in the month of Ramadhaan, while our stomach stays away from halaal (lawful) food and drink, but our tongue is involved in haraam (forbidden) backbiting, teasing, swearing, back answering and speaking lies. The evil of the tongue will wipe out the good of the fast. My dear children! Do not forget; every word we speak, Allah Ta‘ala hears it and our angels record it. If we are fasting and we are all alone in the kitchen, we will not cheat and try to eat something because we know Allah Ta‘ala is watching us. In the same way before we speak let us ask ourselves: “Will Allah Ta‘ala be happy with what I am about to say or not?” Let us speak good or simply remain silent. In the month of Ramadhaan, let us bless our tongues with abundant recitation of the Quraan Majeed and the beautiful zikr of Allah Ta‘ala.