You hear these following ayahs during Jumah and they are important.

Read more for details, but the meaning of these ayahs, as explained by Sh. Husain Abdul-Sattar,
is if one is honest, truthful and clear in speech- Allah SWT will reform their deeds (straighten
their deeds in another translation) and forgive them and grant them success. Essentially, what
this means is if one is honest, Allah SWT will change a person so they no longer commit sins
and their deeds are of a better nature. In other words, through the blessedness of the speaking
truthful words, Allah SWT Himself will make you into a better human being, which is what the
goal of tasawwuf and all the dhikr and ibadah we perform is!!

Therefore, it is important to always speak the truth, especially when it is hard to do so, and in
doing so, Allah SWT will help us in our tazkya and spiritual development. This represents a
CORE teaching in our religion!

Every jumu’ah we hear the khateeb read the verse:

‫يَا َأيُّهَا الَّ ِذينَ آ َمنُوا اتَّقُوا هَّللا َ َوقُولُوا قَوْ اًل َس ِديدًا‬

Believers! Have conciousness of Allah and say ‘qawlan sadeeda‘ (33:70)

What is qawlan sadeeda?

‫ َس ِديدًا‬is from Sadd: seen-daal-daal (‫)س د د‬, which literally means wall, that has no space in it, or
gaps or holes.

Qawlan Sadeeda is speech that has no ambiguity, it is clear, it is straight–like the wall, having
no holes or gaps. ‘Tasdeedus Sahm‘ is a phrase which means to throw the arrow straight on the
mark, when it reaches the bulls-eye; the arrow doesn’t go right or left. So sadeed refers to a
speech that is to the point, clear, doesn’t go right or left–not mixed with exaggeration.
Qawlan Sadeeda gives a vast meaning:
1- a statement that is true
2- a statement that is proper and appropriate. It is possible you may say a 100% true statement
but it’s not appropriate.

Say that which is in accordance to reality, it is not reduced, increased and it is accurate.

What is the benefit of having taqwa and saying qawlan sadeeda? The next verse says:

ِ ‫يُصْ لِحْ لَ ُك ْم َأ ْع َمالَ ُك ْم َويَ ْغفِرْ لَ ُك ْم ُذنُوبَ ُك ْم ۗ َو َم ْن ي ُِط ِع هَّللا َ َو َرسُولَهُ فَقَ ْد فَا َز فَوْ ًزا ع‬
‫َظي ًما‬

‫ يُصْ لِحْ لَ ُك ْم َأ ْع َمالَ ُك ْم‬He will reform your deeds. What does this mean? It means that Allah azza wa jal
will accept  your deeds.

‫ َويَ ْغفِرْ لَ ُك ْم ُذنُوبَ ُك ْم‬And He will forgive your sins; Allah will cover and forgive your past sins, your
future sins and those you do due to forgetfulness.

ُ‫ َو َم ْن ي ُِط ِع هَّللا َ َو َرسُولَه‬And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger:

 ِ ‫ فَقَ ْد فَا َز فَوْ ًزا ع‬Then indeed he has attained the greatest success. Meaning he has attained his
‫َظي ًما‬
ultimate goal.

May Allah azza wa jal make us among those who say qawlan sadeeda and those who acheive the
greatest success, Ameen.

Taken from Tayyibat Blog

Here are different ways to understand honesty, truthfulness and what qawlan sadeeda implies.

-honesty in thinking to bring about good thinking

-honesty in advice with sincerity
-honesty with your soul with islamic beliefs
-honesty with others in not being a hypocrite
-honesty in questions means good answers
-honesty in honoring a contract or covenant
-truthfulness in reciting the book of Allah- the truest words of all
-truthfulness in using the book of Allah for dawah and not using your own words
-truthfulness in saying dhikr, because dhikr is the most true thing
-truthfulness in saying kalimah which takes you to Jannah, just as all truthful words lead to
somewhere, while lies are a dead-end
-truthfulness in your lifestyle and how you live to be true to the truth as a testimony to the
veracity of the truth you live upon
-truthfulness being related to words of wisdom, Sunnah and Quran with accuracy
-truthfulness as being worried about your truthfulness as a sign of your being true to the truth
-truthfulness in being true not just to the words you are about to say, but the whether those words
are true and fitting to the time, place, appropriateness, and to whom you are saying (think of
‘nasiha’- giving spiritual counsel advice)
-truthfulness in saying what is always best
-lying as a harm to others
-lying as a confusion
-lying as a distortion
-lying as a fib, inaccuracy, blurring
-lying as an equivocation
-lying as not speaking a truth earlier
-straightforward speech in being direct and clear
-straightforward speech in people understanding what you meant

-honesty is therefore a “process of being” because this has not just to do with the tongue but the
mental tongue as well, the language is of supreme importance in all the social sciences and this is
because it is tied to cognition and thinking and more importantly to all types of “transformational
change”

-when one hears a foreign language, it is like seeing the outside architecture of a building, the
sharpness and the softness, the speed and narrowness, the perceived intent, all from a lack of
understanding of the nature of the language, but yet it tells us something, but when a person
speaks that language it is as if they have entered that building and their familiarity with the inner
design (etymology, word choice, patterns, ) is governed by their intellectual honesty- hence from
here, they may see the sun setting when in fact it is rising because they have convinced
themselves…language is like the needle of a compass while honesty is the field telling you
which way is north.

And Allah is the Haqq- the TRUTH. What more needs to be said?

Subhana kallahumma wa bihamdika ash-haduana la illaha illa ant astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk,
ameen.