What do words say?

Assalaamu alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh.

When we speak words, do we truly understand their meaning and what we are saying? I will give you a few examples.

1. "I wish I were thinner."
   
2. "I wish I had straight hair."
   
3. "I hate being lazy!"
   
4. "I hate being poor!"

The first sentence, "I wish I were thinner," says that the speaker doesn't like their weight and would like to lose some. It also implies that they are struggling to find the control they need to make weight loss or exercise happen to reach their goal. It is a self-directed statement.

The second sentence, "I wish I had straight hair," is a whole different story. It is saying that the speaker isn't happy with their hair and wishes it was a different texture. It is saying that the person isn't happy with how Allah specifically created something in them. This is not self-directed, but actually a complaint of dissatisfaction to Allah. It is called ingratitude, lack of appreciation, and lack of satisfaction or contentment with a characteristic of the body Allah gifted them with.

The third sentence, "I hate being lazy!" is another self-directed sentence, expressing an extreme dislike of laziness in themselves and setting a criteria of what should be avoided or corrected in regards to that bad quality.

The fourth sentence, "I hate being poor!" also expresses the speakers strong dissatisfaction with the amount of rizq (sustenance) Allah has provided for them at that time in their lives. I expresses not only disagreement with Allah's Judgement and Fairness, but also rejection of His Tests.

I won't belabor this; inshaa Allah you will see from these examples how important it is to think about what the words actually say, BEFORE saying them. Which angel would be recording those sentences, the right-hand one or the left-hand one?

May Allah increase our taqwa and emaan that we may speak with clear understanding words that are only pleasing to Him - ameen!