Afflicting a Muslim with the Tongue (4/5)

Situations in which lying is allowed:

A person is only allowed to lie if it involves the following:

- Making peace between two Muslims.

- Lying to the enemy in battle to protect other Muslims.

- The lying of a man to his wife and she to her husband (to keep their relationship harmonious). However, this should not be understood to mean cases of clear lies. Rather, it is the extolling of the virtues of each other, by using pleasant words, although it contains exaggeration. And Allah knows best.

All of the above are established in the following Hadeeth of the Prophet of Allah (Peace be upon him): "I do not consider it lying: A man who makes peace between other men, a man who speaks in battle, a man speaking to his wife, or a wife speaking to her husband " (Reported by Abu Dawood]

Incidents of lying that are not considered by people as lies:

There are many blatant cases of lying, although people do not consider them to be such:

1. Calling a child for something and there is nothing to give him.

'Abdullah ibn 'Aamir said: "The Messenger of Allah came to our house while I was a boy, so he 'Abdullaah said: 'I left to go and play. My mother said 'Come 'Abdullaah for me to give you (something).' The Messenger (Peace be upon him) said: 'What will you give to him?' She said 'I will give him a date.’ He (Abdullaah) said, that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: "If you did not have anything to give to him, a lie would have been written against you. [Reported by Abu Dawood and Ahmad]

Parents, take heed! Since we want to raise our children upon Islam, and to train them to be truthful, we must beware of lying to them, because that will teach them to lie.

It should be noted that this incident was related by someone who was young when it happened to him. So, children take note of incidents much more than we realize. Therefore, we must not assume that we are playing around and trying to make fun with them, by fooling them.

2. Speaking about everything we hear.

The Messenger (Peace be upon him) said: "It is enough (to make) a man a liar if he speak! Everything he hears". [Reported by Abu Dawood and Al-Haakim]

A person might transfer something that was not verified saying: 'This is what I heard, and I did not add anything to it'. So what would be his end, if what he heard was slander or vilifying of a pious person?

3. Lying to make others laugh. The Messenger said: "Woe to him who speak? and lie so that he can makes people laugh - woe to him, woe to him ". [Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawood and others]

Tale carrying (scandal) or strife-making:

Allah, the Most High said:

"And obey not everyone who swear much and is considered worthless, a slanderer going about scandal-mongering, hinderer of good, transgressor, sinful…" [Surah Al-Qalm 68:10-12]

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "The tale-carrier (scandal mongerer) would not enter Al-Jannah" [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]

The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: "Do you know what is scandaling (carrying tales)? It is transferring of the speech of someone to another person to cause trouble between them.” [Reported by Al-Bukhari in Adab Al- Mufrad]

However, it should be noted that it is not scandalling if a man informs his brother what was said about him, if there would be some benefit from this. Ibn Mas'oud said: The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) divided something, so a man from the Ansaar said: 'By Allah! He (i.e. the Prophet) did not do that seeking the pleasure of Allah (implying that it was unfairly done)'; so I came to the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) and informed him, immediately his face reddened and he said: "Allah's Mercy be with Moosaa, he was tested with more than this and was patient." [Reported by Al-Bukhari]

How to treat the carrier of tales:

One must verify the tales or stories brought by the carrier of tales, lest he act upon his words, thus harming someone who is innocent. Allah, the Most High, said:

"O you who believe. If a rebellious evil person come to you with a news, verify it - lest you harm a people to ignorance, sad afterwards you become regretful of what you did" [Surah Al-Hujuraat 43:6]

The tale carrier should be advised, admonished, and even prevented from doing such an evil action. One should also express his hate for tale carrying, by desisting from listening to such a person. In addition to the above, one should not perpetrate the evil of the tale carrier, by entertaining bad thoughts about his brother, or disclosing what was said by the tale carrier.

It is prohibited to deceive a Muslim who is seeking sincere advice:

The Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said: "...and whoever directs his brother in an affair; but knows that the right guidance is other than that, has deceived him.” [Reported by Abu Dawood and Haakim]

Generally, all persons who are directly or indirectly responsible for leading and educating the Muslims, individually (i.e. like one's wife, children, relatives, etc.) or collectively (their Jama'ah i.e. like Masjids, communities, organizations, etc.) should pay careful attention to this Hadeeth and its implications. This is because they are the ones who are most likely to find themselves involved in this serious sin of injustice and misguidance of their brothers and sisters. This often occurs when such educators/leaders knowing the truth in a given issue or affair, as established from the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah, deliberately gives a fatwaa, or promote directly or indirectly, the wrong opinion or version of that particular issue. The motivating factors for such deliberate deception of his fellow Muslim/s, who vested their trust in him to lead and guide them correctly, is one or more of the following:

(a) Ititbaa'ul-Hawaa (i.e. following their personal prejudices/ preferences/ tastes/ desires, etc.)

(b) Seeking to acquire or maintain a position of office (either because of fame or money)

(c) Political motives (partisanship i.e. to support the operative view of a particular organization because it appeals to its adherents or because it appeals to the masses).

This type of deception can also result because of material benefits. For example, someone seeks the advice of his brother in relation to a particular business venture, but his brother likes the idea himself, and then Shaitaan influences him to reserve the business for himself, thus he responds to the seeker of the advice against getting into the business, explaining that there is little or no benefit in it. It can also be that he deceives him because he is envious of his brother, and so he withholds what he knows from him.

(Continued)