O Believers Why Do You Say What You Do Not Do — The Quran's Rebuke of the Words-Deeds Gap
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لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفۡعَلُونَ
— الصف 2
Verse: "O believers, why do you say what you do not do? Great is the hatred in Allah's sight that you say what you do not do." (61:2-3) — "Great in hatred" (kabura maqtan) — became great in Allah's loathing. The greatest hatred: speech unconfirmed by action. The preacher who calls but doesn't apply, the father who teaches values but contradicts them, the orator who softens hearts then is harsh with his family. Meaning is not silence: the verse doesn't command silence to avoid saying what you don't do — it commands implementing what you say. The condemned thing is the gap between words and deeds. Lesson: before advising others — review yourself: do you apply what you're about to say?
Source: Ibn Kathir (8/100); Al-Sadi
Question: Does the verse command silence so that one does not say what they do not do?
Answer: No — it commands implementing what one says, not silence. The condemned thing is the words-deeds gap, not the words themselves.