Riyad as-Salihin · Chapter 366

Prohibition of observing silence from Dawn till Night

باب النهي عن صمت يوم إلى الليل

Here the prohibition is on a strange-sounding practice: vowing to stay completely silent for a whole day, from dawn until night, as if speechlessness were itself an act of worship. The Arabic term for it is samt, deliberate silence treated as devotion. Islam has no such ritual, and these two hadith make that plain.

What ties the chapter together is the phrase the Companions use to dismiss it: this is an act of the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), the pre-Islamic past. Faith is not expressed by sealing the mouth and withdrawing from people; it is expressed through speech that is good, through dhikr, advice, and kindness. Silence has its place, but a silence vowed as worship has no place in the religion.

Hadith 1800

'Ali (May Allah be pleased with him) said:

عن عليّ رضي الله عنه قال‏:‏ حفظت عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏:‏ ‏ "‏لا يتم بعد احتلام، ولا صمات يوم إلى الليل‏" ‏‏.‏ قال الخطابي في تفسير هذا الحديث‏:‏ كان من نسك الجاهلية الصمات، فنهوا في الإسلام عن ذلك، وأمروا بالذكر والحديث بالخير‏.‏

I have retained in my memory the saying of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that: "No one is considered an orphan after he has attained the age of maturity; and it is unlawful to remain silent from dawn till night." [Abu Dawud with Hasan (good) Isnad].

In plain words

The Prophet taught that no one is counted an orphan once grown, and that vowing total silence from dawn until night is not allowed. Faith is not shown by sealing the mouth.

Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1800 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 290

Hadith 1801

Qais bin Abu Hazim (May Allah be pleased with him) said:

وعن قيس بن أبي حازم قال‏:‏ دخل أبو بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه على امرأة من أحمس يقال لها‏:‏ زينب، فرأها لا تتكلم‏.‏ فقال‏:‏ ما لها لا تتكلم‏؟‏ فقالوا‏:‏ حجت مصمته، فقال لها‏:‏ تكلمي فإن هذا لا يحل، هذا من عمل الجاهلية‏!‏ فتكلمت‏.‏ رواه البخاري

Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) came upon a woman named Zainab from the Ahmas tribe and noticed that she was observing total silence. He said: "What has happened to her? Why does she not speak?'' People informed him that she had sworn to remain silent. He then said to her: "You should speak, it is not permissible (to observe silence), for it is an act of the Days of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah)." (After hearing this) she started speaking. [Al-Bukhari].

In plain words

Finding a woman who had vowed to stay completely silent, Abu Bakr told her to speak, calling such silence a practice of the pre-Islamic days. The religion is lived through good speech, not by withdrawing into silence as worship.

Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1801 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 291