Lying is Another Evil of the Tongue

Allah, the Sublime, said:

“Indeed those who fabricate Lies upon Allah, are only those who disbelieve in His signs, and it is they who are truly liars.” [Surah An-Nahl : 105]

Allah, the Almighty said:

“A painful torment is theirs because they used to be liars.” [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:10]

Ibn Mas‘oud, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

“Truth guides to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Jannah and indeed a person would involve in truth until he is written with Allah as truthful. And lying guides to immorality which guide to Jahannam, and a person would lie until he is written with Allah as a liar.” [Reported by Bukhari & Muslim].

From among the characteristic of a hypocrite, described to us by the Prophet (peace be upon him), is that:

“When he speaks he lies”: [Reported by Bukhari & Muslim].

Hypocrites are the worst of people, because of their evil deeds which involve deception. Consequently, their punishment would be the most severe on the Day of Judgment.

So, brothers and sisters, avoid lying at all cost, so as to save yourself from being even considered to be associated with the worst of mankind.

‘Aaishah, informing us about the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

“If he (peace be upon him) finds anyone from his family lying, he would turn away from that person until he/she repents.” [Reported by Ahmad and Al-Haakim]

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 no 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 ‘Abdullah said: ‘I left to go and play. My mother said ‘Come ‘Abdullah 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 (Abdullah) 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 & 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 every-thing he hears.” [Reported by Abu Dawood & 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 speaks and lies so that he can makes people laugh - woe to him, woe to him.” [Reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawood & 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-Qalam 68:10-12]

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

 “The tale-carrier (scandal mongerer) would not enter Al-Jannah.” [Reported by Bukhari & Muslim]

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

 “Do you know what scandaling (carrying tales) is? It is transfer-ring 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 scandaling if a man informs his brother what was said about him, if there would be some benefit from this. Ibn Mas’ud said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) divided some-thing, so a man from the Ansar 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 Musa, 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 ig-norance, sad afterwards you become regretful of what you did.” [Surah Al-Hujuraat, 43:6]

The tale carrier should be advised, admonished, and even pre-vented 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.