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Lesson 37: Have A Pure Mouth

Tradition

أَفْوَاهُكُمْ مِنْ طُرُقِ رَبِّكُمْ فَأَحَبُّها إلى اللّه أَطْيَبُها رِيْحاً فَطَيَّبُوها بِما قَدَرْتُم عَلَيْهِ.

The Prophet (S) is narrated to have said: “Your mouths are one of the pathways towards God and the most beloved mouth in front of God is the one which is the best smelling. So make your mouths sweet smelling as much as possible.”1

Brief Commentary

This tradition, which has been narrated in the book Wasa’il al-Shi’ah, has both an inner meaning and an outer meaning in regards to our mouths. The outer meaning relates to the fact that we use our mouths to remember God through reciting the verses of the Quran or through reciting various supplications. Therefore, we have to be careful to keep our mouths clean and pleasant smelling.

The inner meaning of this tradition is referring to the fact that we use our mouths as a means of communication with others. Just as we can speak words of positive import to others, we can also say negative things which hurt them. These negative forms of speech, such as lying, insulting, slandering, and backbiting pollute our mouths in a spiritual way. As our mouths become more and more polluted, we become less able to use them to connect with our Creator (as well as with others). Keeping our mouths physically and spiritually clean is one of the important pathways to becoming closer to our Lord.

  • 1. Wasa’il al-Shi’ah, vol. 1, p. 358.