Liars, and telling Lies.

Hadiths on telling lies

Liars

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي ; وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي ; وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي ; يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

Seek refuge from Shaitaan, the Outcast (i.e. the Devil). True; but how? It is said to recite ‘Aaoozo billahe min-ash-shaitan ar-rajeem’ whenever Shaitaan tends to misguide anyone. But how about eliminating the cause of Shaitaan coming near to us? Prevention is better than cure, isn’t it? To achieve that, we have to search Qur’an for the remedy. It is said that once you diagnose the illness, the treatment gets easier. And diagnosing the cause of descend of devil on human being is best achieved by following Qur’an. When we read and understand Qur’an, we shall come to know: Shaitaan descends on whom? Let us refer to following verses from Holy Qur’an:

 هَلْ أُنَبِّئُكُمْ عَلَى مَنْ تَنَزَّلُ الشَّيَاطِينُ

“Shall I inform you (O people!) upon whom the devils descend?

تَنَزَّلُ عَلَى كُلِّ أَفَّاكٍ أَثِيمٍ

“They descend on every lying, sinful person.”

(Aayah No’s 221 & 222, Surah Ash-Shua’ra, Chapter No. 26, Holy Qur’an).

The liars it is, on whom the devil descends, along with other sinners. A dreadful disclosure for us!Actually it is not a disclosure as it is clearly mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, but since we seldom try to read and seek guidance from Qur’an, it is as good as a disclosure for us. What a pity! Nevertheless, the fact is that lying is one of the worst traits a human can possess.

There are even more soul-searching facts, mentioned in Qur’an, about liars. Here is a question: 

Why do people lie?

Let us try to find out the answer in Qur’an. Refer to following:

 إِنَّمَا يَفْتَرِي الْكَذِبَ الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الْكَاذِبُونَ

“It is only those who believe not in the Ayaat of Allah, who fabricate falsehood, and it is they who are liars.” (Aayah No. 105, Surah Al-Nahl, Chapter No. 16, Holy Qur’an).

The verse mentioned above should be understood in two different contexts: it is not only applicable to disbelievers who invent falsehood in the religion and belie the word of Allah, but it applies equally to any types of lies (howsoever small or big). Truly, disbelievers are the biggest sinners, the biggest liars. Regarding the lies spoken by believers, it was narrated that Abdullah said: Rasool-Allah (PBUH) said, “Beware of lying, for lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to Fire (of Hell). A man may lie and strive hard in lying until he is recorded with Allah as a ‘Liar’. You should be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A Man may speak truth and strive hard in speaking truth until he is recorded with Allah as a truthful person.”

(Hadith No. 4989, Book of Etiquette, Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 5).

How much lies do all of us speak? We can’t keep a count for sure. Every now and then our lips utter a lie; a ring on door and we ask our son to say that Papa is not at home, phone call and we say to our daughter to say Mom is busy in kitchen and shall call you later (so as not to disturb our relaxation time), excusing from offices by giving false sickness certificate; these are few of the examples of those lies we speak and do in our daily lives. There might be so many others to mention; howsoever small or big, the fact is that a lie is a lie and one who is associated with them is a liar.

Do we, by becoming liars, try to be of that category (disbelievers)? A liar does directly / indirectly not believe in the Ayaat of Allah (i.e. Qur’an). Such is the magnitude of sin committed when some one keeps on lying. Why don’t we give a thought before we are about to utter a lie?

Is it OK to speak lies for fun?

It is not only bigger lies that are prohibited, even lying for smaller reasons or fun is not allowed. For example: it is very common for a group of friends to gather and get involved in gossip. The talk may be composed of several irrelevant false issues which are discussed for the sake of amusement and passing time. Even this type of lie is prohibited. Here is a hadith to explain this:

It was narrated that Bahz bin hakim said: My father narrated to me that his father said: I heard Rasool-Allah (PBUH) say, “Woe to the one who speaks and tells lies in order to make people laugh; woe to him; woe to him.”

(Hadith No. 4990, Book of Etiquette, Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 5).

Lying is one of the characteristics of a Hypocrite.

Lying is one of the characteristics of a hypocrite. Given below is a hadith in this context.

Abdullah bin Amr (RA) narrated that Rasool-Allah (PBUH) said, “Whoever has following 04 characteristics will be a pure hypocrite and whoever has any one of the following characteristics will have characteristics of a hypocrite:

1.) Whenever he/she speaks, he/she speaks a lie. 

2.) Whenever he/she makes a covenant, he/she proves to be treacherous (implying that he/she always do khayanah in amanah and/or proves to be dishonest).

3.) Whenever he/she makes a promise, he/she breaks it.

4.) Whenever he/she quarrels, he/she behaves in a very evil and insulting manner.”

 (Hadith No. 34, Book of Faith, Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1 & Hadith No. 210 (58), Book of Faith, Sahih Muslim, Vol. 1).

No one will like himself / herself to be labelled as having a characteristic of a hypocrite or being called a hypocrite. And if that really is the case, then why do we keep on telling lies? And we speak lies as if it is a normal thing, not a sin at all. How strange!

Permitted lies

In spite of all these prohibitions on lying, there are some exemptions also for us. Yes, there are few permissible lies too. Following hadith tells us which lies are permitted to be spoken:

Humaid bin Abd Ar-Rahman bin Awf narrated that his mother Umm Kulthum bint Uqabah bin Abi Mu’ait (who was one of the first Muhajir women who swore allegiance to the Prophet, PBUH) told him that she heard Messenger of Allah (PBUH) say: “He is not a liar who reconciles between people saying good things and conveying good things.”Ibn Shihab said that she said: “I did not hear of any concession being granted concerning anything that people call lies except in three cases: War, Reconciling among people & What a man says to his wife or a woman says to her husband.”

(Hadith No. 6633 (2605), Book of Al-Birr, Sahih Muslim, Vol. 6).

This hadith requires a little bit of explanation. The three exemptions listed above are:

1. War – Scholars explain that it is not regarded as a lie if someone is in a war-like situation and he / she tells a lie in front of disbelievers to save life.

2. Reconciling – This is self-explanatory; if we try to reconcile two people by giving and spreading good information about each or any of them; it is not termed as a lie.

3. Husband & Wife saying to each other – This is one of the noblest exemptions for us. If a man or a woman has a spouse who is not much good looking but he / she praises her / him for her beauty or his smartness, then it is not regarded as a lie. This may be extended to praising the spouse for any of his / her action also. However, praise for any action which violates Islamic laws, is not allowed.

Conclusion

Having discussed all, it is evident that telling lies is a big sin and continuing being a liar leads the person to be recorded with Allah as a ‘Liar’. Being recorded with Allah as a ‘Liar’ is a dreadful thing, as it means that the person is put in the same category as that of a disbeliever. Therefore, it is very important for us to give up this bad habit, if anyone of us possesses it. Except for the three exceptions mentioned above, we are not supposed to speak lies in any matter of our lives. Remember,

 إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ

“Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.”

 (Aayah No. 3, Surah Az-Zumar, Chapter No. 39, Holy Qur’an).

May Allah forgive me if I am wrong and guide us to the right path…Ameen. 

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُون ; وَسَلامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ ; وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّالْعَالَمِينَ.