Lying
Islam’s emphasis on nobility, ethics and morality can impress any open-minded person who has an objective and unbiased approach.
Teaching of morals in Islam has a dual purpose. On the one hand it compels to practice virtues and on the other hand it commands to give up vices. One of those main vices is the one of lying or uttering falsehood.
Lying is the worst of vices. It may be by tongue or by action or both and in all cases highly condemnable. Lying weakens the Iman or faith and exhibits the inner hollowness. Lying is against the teaching of all prophets.
Falsehood leads to wickedness or evil-doing and that then leads to the Hell-fire, and a man will keep on telling lies until he is written off by Allah SWT as a liar.
We need to remind ourselves that we are now the people who are blessed by Allah SWT with the perfect religion that encourages you to be truthful and tells you about its benefits and forbids you from falsehood and clarifies its dire consequences.
We will all be answerable for our deeds on the day of Judgement so be mindful of this. Like all other sins, falsehood is detested by the souls of the believers.
However, be wary brothers because if it is committed once then it becomes easy for man to commit again, and if it is commited again, It will be easier for man to commit it over and over until it becomes part of one’s instinct and he commits it on purpose. This is the person that will be held as a liar in the sight of Allah SWT
In Sura Al-Nahl, ayat 105, Allah SWT says:
They only invent falsehood who do not believe in the verses of Allah SWT, and it is those who are the liars
Dear brothers and sisters, think before you say something about others. Be very cautious while making comments about a person in his absence. Avoid suspicion and mistrust and think good of people.
Being truthful requires honesty and sincerity in words, deeds and all situations. Being truthful in words entails restraining the tongue from telling any lies even for jokes. The Prophet, peace be upon him, used to joke but would only speak the truth.
There are of course, exceptions to each rule. It isn’t our place to establish those exceptions but rather to look at the actions of the Prophet SAWS and derive what they are. One hadith that applies to this topic is as follows in which the Prophet SAWS said:
Lying is not allowed expect in three, a man talks to his wife to please her, lying in war and lying to fix problems between others
Dear brothers and sisters, this does not give us a right to be outright deceitful and use the hadith above to justify. For example, the brothers can’t spend an evening with their friends and tell the wife that they are working overtime. No, this is more about the differences in gender and how much importance Islam places on the woman’s feelings in a relationship.
It is permission to be gentle and kind and caring. Something which is a challenge for most men at times. So for example, if the wife cooks something new then don’t put on the Gordon Ramsay hat and critique the cooking, instead use kind words to describe the meal, even if the tastebuds don’t agree with the words coming out.
Dear brothers and sisters, being truthful in deeds demands adherence to the obedience of Allah SWT, being conscious of Him privately and openly and to avoid any sign of hypocrisy that eats up the rewards and the good deeds.
By being aware of the presence of Allah SWT at all times, it will encourage us to remain truthful. This can be achieved through rememberance of Allah SWT. And that, dear brothers and sisters, comes by acts of worship on top of the mandatory acts we perform on a daily basis.
May Allah SWT clean our hearts and enable us to watch our tongues and our acts. May Allah SWT make us from those with the best manners, morals and ethics. And may Allah SWT recall us as from those of the truthful and not of those of falsehood.
