relationships, in Islam? Islying ever considered and "acceptable"
action?
Praise be to Allaah.
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 ofthe
most evil features of bad conduct, and causes widespread harm.
HenceIslam commanded truthfulness and forbadelying.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"O you who believe! Be afraid of Allaah, and be with those who are
true (in word and deeds)." [al-Tawbah 9:119]
Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said (2/414): "It means: be
truthful and adhere to truthfulness, and you will be among its
peopleand will be saved from calamity, and this will make a way out
for you from your problems."
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"… if they had been true to Allaah, it would have been better for
them." [Muhammad 47:21]
'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah 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 thetruth until he will be recorded with Allaah
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
Allaah as a liar." (Reported by Muslim, 4721)
This hadeeth indicates that truthfulness leads torighteousness
(al-birr), an all-embracing concept that includes all kinds of
goodness and different kinds of righteous deeds. Immorality is
basically aninclination towards deviation from the truth,and the
immoral person (faajir) is one who is inclined to turn away from the
path of guidance. Hence immorality and righteousness are diametrically
opposed.
Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with them
both)said: "I memorized from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): 'Leave that which makes you doubt
for that which does not make you doubt, for truthfulness is certainty
and tranquillity, whilst lying is doubt and confusion." (Reported
byal-Tirmidhi, 2520; al-Nisaa'i, 8/327; and Ahmad, 1/200)
In the lengthy hadeeth of Abu Sufyaan describing his meeting with
Heraclius, Abu Sufyaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
"[Heraclius] said, 'What does he [meaning the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him] command you to do?' I said, 'He says:
worship Allaah 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 ofkinship.'"
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1/30 and Muslim, 1773).
Hakeem ibn Hizaam (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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 dealwill be diminished."
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 4/275 and Muslim, 1532.)
Truthfulness includes being truthful towards Allaah by worshipping Him
sincerely; being truthful towards one's own soul by making it adhere
to the laws of Allaah; 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 Allaah and His Messenger, because this involves
fabrication about the religion and isan act of outrage against Allaah.
Hence one of the characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) is that he truthfully conveyed that which
Allaah commanded him to convey. So Allaah said (interpretation of the
meanings):
"… who does more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allaah, to
lead mankind astray without knowledge. Certainly Allaah guides not the
people whi are zaalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.)"
[al-An'am 6:144]
"And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allaah?
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 Allaah is on the zaalimoon (polytheists, wrong-doers, oppressors,
etc.)." [Hood 11:18]
Equally bad is lying about the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), as he is reported to have said in the mutawaatir
hadeeth: "Whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his place
in Hell." (Agreed upon).
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 iswhen a person mediatesbetween two disputing
parties in order to reconcile between them,if reconciliation cannot be
achieved in any otherway. Um Kalthoom (may Allaah be pleased with her)
reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "He is not a liar who reconcilesbetween people and conveys
something goodor says something good." (Reported by al-Bukhaari,
2495).
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' bintYazeed said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: 'Lying is not permitted except in three
cases: a man's speaking to his wife to make her happy; lying attimes
of war; and lying in order to reconcile between people.'" (Reported by
al-Tirmidhi,1862; he said: it is a hasan hadeeth. See also Saheeh
Muslim, 4717).
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 sayingsomething about an
issue to confirm that youwill do it, especially withregard to one's
duties towards Allaah. Allaah says, praising some of His slaves
(interpretationof the meanings):
"Those who are faithfully true to their amaanaat (all the duties which
Allaah has ordained, honesty, moral responsibility and trusts, etc.)
and to their covenants." [al-Mu'minoon 23:8]
"… and who fulfil their covenant when they make it…" [al-Baqarah 2:177]
"Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with
Allaah [i.e., they have gone out for jihad (holy fighting), and showed
not their backs to the disbelievers], of them some have fulfilledtheir
obligations (i.e., have been martyred), and some of them are still
waiting, but they have never changed [i.e., they never proved
treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allaah] in the
least." [al-Ahzaab 33:23]
We ask Allaah to make ussincere and truthful in word and deed. And
Allaah knows best.
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