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.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

Stick to truthfulness, as it leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise; and a person will keep on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person.

From this hadith we can appreciate the importance given to this character trait. Our prophet, peace be upon him, is, in essence, giving us a path to Allah’s SWT mercy and paradise and it all begins with the elimination of lies.

A believer can never tell lies because he believes in the signs of Allah SWT and his Messenger, peace be upon him, and he believes in the Hadith of the prophet which says:

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.

So in this hadith we can see the opposite of the earlier Hadith in that the alternate path leads to Hellfire and this all begins with the telling of lies.

Even the disbelievers in the pre-Islamic era did not foster falsehood as a method of life, or as a means of attaining their goals.

When Abu Sufyaan, may Allah SWT be pleased with him, was still a disbeliever, he was asked a question about the Prophet peace be upon him, by Heraclius the Roman Emperor.

As head of the Quraish tribe from which the Prophet peace be upon him came, this was an ample opportunity for him to spread falsehood about the Prophet peace be upon him but he was later quoted as saying:

“I swear by Allah that if I did not fear becoming notorious for falsehood, I would have lied about him”

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.

And Allah SWT has stated that we will be held accountable for such through the verses of the Quran. In Sura Qaaf, ayat 18 Allah SWT says:

Man does not utter any word without there being an observer there to record.

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

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.

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.

Most importantly, be truthful and sincere when it comes to repentance to Allah SWT. This is surely where it matters the most.

Allah SWT says in Sura At-Tahrim, ayat 8:

Oh you who believe, Repent to Allah with a most sincere repentance

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.

Ameen wal hamdullilahi rabilalameen.