EVIL OF SPEAKING LIES

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaahu Anhu) narrates, in a hadith, that the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, "The signs of a hypocrite are three; whenever he speaks, he tells a lie; whenever he promises, he breaks his promise; if you have trust in him, he proves to be dishonest."

The above hadith of Nabi-e-Kareem(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) is of such importance to us, his Ummah, because it demonstrates to us that how evil it is to speak lies, that Nabi-e-Kareem(S.A.W) associated the telling of lies with a hypocrite.

In another hadith narrated by Hazrat Abu Hurairah(Radhiyallaahu Anhu), Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, "Whoever does not give up false statements (i.e. telling lies), and evil deeds, and uttering bad words to others, Allah is not in need of his (fasting) leaving his food and drink." This is a clear indication to us how evil speaking lies is in the sight of Allah Taala that Allah Taala will not accept our Ibadat becase of us telling lies.

Unfortunately, our problem is that we think that by fulfilling the five fundamental principles of Islam we have become perfect Muslims. Islam has many diferent aspects to it and, by only fulfilling the one aspect of Ibadat, does not make us true Muslims. Turning a blind eye to such aspects of Deen, like restraining our tongues when it comes to our utterances, will only be to our detriment.

It is such a detestable act to speak lies that even non-Muslims, when asked, will admit to the evilness of telling lies. To such an extent that, during the days of jahiliyah (ignorance), before Nabi-e-Kareem(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) propagated the message of Haq of the Deen of Islam, the Arabs were the worst of people on the surface of the Earth. No government or king was prepared to rule over them because they had the worst of qualities in them. But, with all the evil qualities and bad habits the Arabs had at that time, the telling of lies was regarded as a detestable act.

Abdullah bin 'Abbas narrates in one hadith, "Abu Sufyan bin Harb informed me that Heraclius had sent a messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan from Quraish. They were merchants doing business in Sham, at the time when Allah's Apostle(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) had truce with Abu Sufyan and Quraish infidels. So Abu Sufyan and his companions went to Heraclius at Ilya (Jerusalem). Heraclius called them in the court and he had all the senior dignataries around him. He called for his translator who, translating Heraclius's question said to them, "Who amongst you is closely related to that man who claims to be a Prophet?" Abu Sufyan replied, "I am the nearest relative to him (amongst the group)." Heraclius said, "Bring him (Abu Sufyan) close to me and make his companions stand behind him." Abu Sufyan added, Heraclius told his translator to tell my companions that he wanted to put some questions to me regarding that man (The Prophet) and that if I told a lie they should contradict me." Abu Sufyan added, "By Allah! Had I not been afraid of my companions labelling me a liar, I would not have spoken the truth about the Prophet(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam). The first question he asked me about him was 'What is his family status amongst you?' I replied, "He belongs to a good (noble) family amongst us." Heraclius further asked, "Has anybody amongst you ever claimed the same (i.e. to be a Prophet) before him?" I replied, "No." He said, "Was anybody amongst his ancestors a king?" I replied, "No." Heraclius asked, "Do the nobles or the poor follow him?" I replied, "It is the poor who follow him." He said, "Are his followers increasing or decreasing (day by day)?" I replied, "They are increasing." He then asked, "Does anybody amongst those who embrace his religion become displeased and renounce the religion afterwards?" I replied, "No." Heraclius said, "Have you ever accused him of telling lies before his claim (to be a Prophet)?" I replied, "No." Heraclius said, "Does he break his promises?" I replied, "No. We are at truce with him but we do not know what he will do in it." I could not find opportunity to say anything against him except that. Heraclius asked, "Have you ever had a war with him?" I replied, "Yes." Then he said, "What was the outcome of the battles?" I replied, "Sometimes he was victorious and sometimes we." Heraclius said, "What does he order you to do?" I said, "He tells us to worship Allah and Allah alone and not to worship anything along with Him, and to renounce all that our ancestors had said. He orders us to pray, to speak the truth, to be chaste and to keep good relations with our kith and kin." This hadith illustrates to us that Abu Sufyan, was so afraid of being called a liar, that every word he spoke about Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) was true. As much as he hated the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) and as much as he hated Islam, he could not tell a lie. When a kaafir, during the days of ignorance, detests the speaking of lies, then what should be position of a Muslim when it comes to telling lies.

The following Ahaadith of Nabi-e-Kareem(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) explains further to us the evil of speaking lies: Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar narrates that Allah's Messenger(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, "When a man lies, the angel moves a mile from him because of the bad odour of what he has produced." Samura bin Jundub relates that the Prophet(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, "I saw (in a deream), two men came to me." Then the Prophet(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) narrated the story (saying), "They said, `The person, the one whose cheek you saw being torn away (from the mouth to the ear) was a liar and used to tell lies and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So he will be punished like that till the day of Ressurrection.`"

Abdullah narrates that the Prophet(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, "Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur(i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur(wickedness) leads to the (Hell) fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar." Narrated by Wathila bin Al-Asqa, Allah's Apostle(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, "Verily one of the worst of lies is to claim falsely to be the son of someone other than one's real father, or to claim to have had a dream one has not had, or to attribute to me what I have not said."

Hazrat Aisha (Radhiyallaahu Anhu)(Ummul Mu'mimin) said, "The Apostle of Allah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) used to make supplication during the prayer saying: `Oh Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from the punishment of the grave; I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of the Antichrist; I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of life and the trial of death; Oh Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from sin and debt.` Someone said to him: `How often you seek refuge from debt!` He replied: `When a man is in debt, he talks and tells lies, makes promises and breaks them.`"

Abu Bakra(Radhiyallaahu Anhu) narrates that Allah's Apostle said thrice, "Shall I not inform you of the biggest of the great sins?" We said, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle." He said, "To join partners in worship with Allah; to be undutiful to one's parents." The Prophet(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) sat up after He had been reclining and added, "And I warn you against giving a false statement and a false witness; I warn you against giving a forged statement and a false witness." The Prophet(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) kept on saying that warning till we thought that he would never stop.

The above Hadith illustrates the evil of speaking lies because Nabi-e-Kareem(Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) associated the telling of lies with joining partners with Allah, which is such a great sin that Allah, never forgives.

In conclusion, Allah Taala mentions in the Quran, "And they even assign to things they do not know a portion out of that which we have bestowed for their sustenance! By Allah ye shall certainly be called to account for your false inventions."(Sura 16, Verse 56). Telling lies is a great and grevious sin and it removes all the Barakat from our lives. We must therefore, at all costs, abstain from uttering such things that will be to our detriment in this world and hereafter.

May Allah grant us Taufeeq to abstain from speaking lies. Aameen

Br. Reeaz Paruk

Islamic Information

Source:  Jamiatul Ulama (Kwazulu-Natal)