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فضل الصدق وشؤم الكذب
Being Truthful and Lying
Being truthful means speaking the truth and also saying things that reflect
reality. Being truthful is one of the necessities of a human society, one of the
virtues of human behaviour, and brings great benefits, whilst lying is one of
the major elements of corruption in human society, and the cause of the
destruction of social structure and ties, one of the most evil features of bad
conduct, and causes widespread harm. Hence Islam commanded truthfulness and
forbade lying.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ
(119) سورة التوبة
Allah said: “O
you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in word and
deeds).” 9:119
Ibn
Katheer said: “It means: be truthful and adhere to truthfulness, and you will be
among its people and will be saved from calamity, and this will make a way out
for you from your problems.”
فَلَو صَدَقُوا اللَّهَ لَكَانَ خَيرًا لَهُم (21) سورة محمد
Allah says: “…
if they had been true to Allah, it would have been better for them.” 47:21
‘Abd-Allah Ibn Mas’ood said: “The Messenger of Allah ( the peace & blessings of
Allah be upon him) said: ‘You
must be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness
leads to Paradise. A man will keep speaking the truth and striving to speak the
truth until he will be recorded with Allah as a siddeeq (speaker of the truth).
Beware of telling lies, for lying leads to immorality and immorality leads to
Hellfire. A man will keep telling lies and striving to tell lies until he is
recorded with Allah as a liar.” (Muslim)
This Hadeeth
indicates that truthfulness leads to righteousness, an all-embracing concept
that includes all kinds of goodness and different kinds of righteous deeds.
Immorality is basically an inclination towards deviation from the truth, and the
immoral person is one who is inclined to turn away from the path of guidance.
Hence immorality and righteousness are incompatible.
Al-Hasan Ibn
‘Ali Ibn Abi Taalib (radi Allahu anhu)
said: “I
memorized from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam): ‘Leave that
which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt, for truthfulness
is certainty and tranquility, whilst lying is doubt and confusion.” (Tirmidhi)
In
the lengthy Hadeeth of Abu Sufyaan (radi Allahu anhu) describing his meeting
with Heraclius, Abu Sufyaan (radi Allahu anhu) said: “(Heraclius) said, ‘What
does He (the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) command you to do?’ I said,
‘He says:
worship Allah
alone and do not associate anything in worship with Him, and abandon that which
your forefathers did. He commands us to pray, to be truthful, to be chaste and
to uphold the ties of kinship.’”
(Bukhaari and Muslim)
Hakeem Ibn Hizaam reported that
the Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) said: “Two parties to a deal have the option of changing their
minds until they part; if they are open and honest, their deal will be blessed,
and if they conceal and tell lies, the blessing of their deal will be
diminished.” (Bukhaari and Muslim)
Truthfulness includes being truthful towards Allah by worshipping Him sincerely;
being truthful towards one’s own soul by making it adhere to the laws of Allah;
and being truthful with people in one's words and by keeping one's promises, and
in dealings such as buying, selling and marriage, so there should be no
deceiving, cheating, falsifying or withholding of information. Thus a person
should be the same on the inside and the outside.
As regards lying, it is highly forbidden, and is of varying degrees of
abhorrence and sin. The most obnoxious form of lying is falsely attributing
things to Allah and His Messenger, because this involves fabrication about the
religion and is an act of outrage against Allah. Hence one of the
characteristics of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) is that he
truthfully conveyed that which Allah commanded him to convey. So Allah said:
فَمَن أَظلَمُ مِمَّن افتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا لِيُضِلَّ النَّاسَ بِغَيرِ
عِلمٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَهدِي القَومَ الظَّالِمِينَ (144) سورة الأنعام
“… who does
more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allah, to lead mankind astray
without knowledge. Certainly Allah guides not the people of oppression” 6:144
وَمَن أَظلَمُ مِمَّن افتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أُولَئِكَ يُعرَضُونَ عَلَى
رَبِّهِم وَيَقُولُ الأَشهَادُ هَؤُلاَءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى رَبِّهِم أَلاَ
لَعنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ (18)سورة هود
“And who does
more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah? Such will be brought before
their Lord, and the witnesses will say, ‘These are the ones who lied against
their Lord!’ No doubt! The curse of Allah is on the oppressors” 11:18
Equally bad is lying about
the Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam), as he is reported to have said: “Whoever lies about me
deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.” (Bukhaari and Muslim)
The
basic rule with regard to lying is that it is not permitted, but there are
certain circumstances in which Islam permits lying to serve a greater purpose or
to prevent harm.
One of these situations is when a person mediates between two disputing parties
in order to reconcile between them, if reconciliation cannot be achieved in any
other way except lying. The
Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: “He is not a liar, who reconciles
between people and conveys something good or says something good.” (Bukhaari)
Another example is a man’s speaking to his wife, or a woman speaking to her
husband, with regard to matters that will strengthen the ties of love between
them, even if that is accompanied by exaggeration. Asma’ Bint Yazeed (radi
allahu anha) said: “The
Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: ‘Lying is not permitted
except in three cases: a man’s speaking to his wife to make her happy; lying at
times of war; and lying in order to reconcile between people.’” (Muslim)
One of the most important forms of both being truthful and lying is in the area
of promises and covenants. Being truthful in promises and covenants is one of
the characteristics by which the believers are known. Both promises and
covenants involve saying something about an issue to confirm that you will do
it, especially with regard to one's duties towards Allah.
Allah
said, praising some of His slaves:
وَالَّذِينَ هُم لأَمَانَاتِهِم وَعَهدِهِم رَاعُونَ (8) سورة المؤمنون
“Those who are
faithfully true to their trusts (all the duties which Allah has ordained,
honesty, and moral responsibility , etc.) and to their covenants.”23:8
أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَأُولَئِكَ هُم المُتَّقُونَ (177) سورة البقرة
“…
and who fulfill their covenant when they make it…” 2:177
Collected and Revised
By
Hamadi Al-Aslani
Manager of Editing and Translation
B.A. Islamic studies
B.A. English language
Jeddah Dawah Center
With the compliments of
www.rememberAllah.com |