When 2016 drew to a close, it can be said that the world took a collective breath of relief. It was a year that seemed rife with disappearing hope, innocence, and justice. 2015 had ended on the high note of refugee resettlement plans and promises of “sunny days.” But the past year was very different. If anything, Canadians expressed a realization of the hollowness that words can carry and the pain they can cause.
The realities of the past year included bitter elections in the US and UK and a myriad of sexual abuse cases. These painful events had a common factor: they showcased the power of words. From ‘locker-room talk’ to questions of consent, from the culpability of hate speech to defining free speech, the usage of words was at the heart of all of these issues.
The blindness of our society to the power of words is shocking. It is disheartening to see the pain inflicted by words ignored or dismissed. The culture that has been cultivated is one defined by the saying “sticks and stones will break my bone but words will never hurt me.” Today, we as a society are slowly realizing how false that statement is. We now see how words are at the root of the problems we, as a society, face. Consent is a simple yes or no; an act of terrorism often starts with a person being filled with hate; mass shootings often involve a bullied child. We have learned that words do hurt; they inflict wounds that go deeper than the flesh and into the intricate networks of our brains.
Words on their own are harmless collections of sounds that have acquired meaning over time. But when combined, they become powerful weapons to inspire or destroy. “Say something good, or be quiet.” It is one of the Prophet Muhammad’s most well-known sayings taught to children in regards to lying and cursing. But for adults living in the real world far removed from the simplicity and innocence of childhood, its scope is much wider.
When the Prophet said “Say something good, or be quiet,” he wasn’t just talking about lying and cursing. He was talking about the pain that our tongues can inflict too. He was talking about the so-called “locker room talk that diminishes the value of women and other groups, making them seem like lesser people and creating a sense of distance that makes the physical crimes of sexual assault and domestic abuse easier to enact and justify. He was talking too about the words of hate directed against a minority group that falls on the ears of a troubled individual and results in catastrophic massacres like the Charleston Shooting. He was talking too about the ‘jokes’ that a child hears which is repeated to their disabled classmate.
It’s just a joke. It’s just kids being kids, or boys being boys. We need to stop being politically correct. These are all excuses for the usage of painful words that we have heard repeated by people many times. Allah says in the Quran: "Not a word does he (or she) utter, but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it).''[50:18]. This poignant verse reminds us that there is no word that we utter too insignificant or that that goes unnoticed. Every action has a consequence. As Ali, one of the companions of the Prophet, once said: “Words are under your control until you speak them.” May this become something that we are aware of even more in the future, lest our words take on a power that causes unpredictable harm.
Maryam Baksh is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia. She is a member of the Muslim community in Vancouver.
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