The Almighty Allah says:
نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ
"A lying, sinful forelock!” (Al-‘Alaq 96:16)
A lot of people, newspapers and magazines used to lie and spread rumors in the first of April under the name of April fool, they mean nothing but laughter and kidding, and anyone who believes these lies becomes the victim of April fool.
What is the story of April fool?
There are a lot of stories the most famous of which is that this habit began in France on 1564 AD when they changed the beginning of the new year from the first of April to the first of January, so anyone who was refusing the new calendar and went on the old calendar, they were lying on him in the first of April and after he had believed them, they were mocking at him. After that it became an annual tradition for them. Unfortunately, this ugly tradition was transmitted to some Muslims.
This bad habit caused a lot of calamities to one’s neighbors, brothers, families, etc. It also caused a lot of material and moral loses. The following are some examples for its probable bad results:
1- A person may be told that he was dismissed of his job, his house was burnt or his family made an accident, and anyone of these bad news is enough to cause paralysis, clot or the like diseases for that person.
2- A man may divorce or kill his wife if someone falsely told that his wife has unlawful relation with another man.
3- If a man was told that his father, son, wife or one of his beloved persons died, he might die because of that shock.
What is the jurisprudential ruling for lying in Islam?
Lying is one of the biggest vices, a door for all evils and leads to destructions in this life and in the Aakhirah (Hereafter), so it is prohibited in Islam although some people try to improve its malicious reality by changing its name to kidding, courtesy, diplomacy, cleverness or other names.
The religion of Islam came to perfect the noble morality, so it ordered with the virtues and prohibited all vices. Islam didn’t fight and warn against anything like it did with lying and showed its bad consequences in this life and in the hereafter. The Almighty Allah says:
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ مُسْرِفٌ كَذَّابٌ
“Indeed, Allah does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar.” (Ghaafir 40:28)
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
وإن الكذب يهدي إلى الفجور ، وإن الفجور يهدي إلى النار ، وإن الرجل ليكذب ، حتى يكتب عند الله كذابا (متفق عليه)
“Falsehood leads to Al-Fujoor (i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fujoor (wickedness) leads to the Jahannum (Hell-Fire), and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar.” (Agreed upon)
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) also said:
آية المنافق ثلاث: إذا حدث كذب ، وإذا وعد أخلف ، وإذا اؤتمن خان.(متفق عليه)
“The signs of a hypocrite are three: Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie; and whenever he promises, he breaks his promise; and whenever he is entrusted, he betrays (proves to be dishonest).” (Agreed upon)
The truthful, the honest
Our Prophet Hadhrat Mohammad (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) was the most truthful man, whereas his people were calling him “the truthful”, “the honest” When Hercules, the king of Romans asked Abu-Sufyaan (before his submission to Islam) about the Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam): “Did you accuse him with lying before he began to call to Islam?”
Abu-Sufyaan said: "No. We never.”
Then Hercules said: "He wouldn’t leave lying on people and then came to lie on Allah.”
Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Salaam, while he was narrating the story of his submission to Islam, he said:
فلما تبينت وجهه عرفت أن وجهه ليس بوجه کذاب
“When I saw him i.e. the Prophet Muhammad (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam), I knew that his face isn’t of a liar.” (Ibne Maajah & Ahmad)
One of the prophetic signs
If the prophet was found to be a liar even once in his life, the people wouldn’t believe him even after 50 years of this lie.
I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
Types of lying:
First:
Lying against Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa): This is the ugliest lying sorts and it means to worship any other than Allah, innovating in the religion or Fatwa without having knowledge, the Almighty Allah says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّـهِ الْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ
"Indeed, those who invent falsehood about Allah will not succeed.”(An-Nahl 16:116)
Second:
Lying on the Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam):
من كذب علي متعمدا فليتبوأ مقعده من النار (رواه مسلم)
This means to attribute falsehood to the prophet. The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said: “And he who attributed any falsehood to me deliberately, he should in fact find his abode in the Hell-Fire.” (Muslim)
Third:
Lying on the people, it has many kinds among which are the following:
1. Lying on the judge (in testimony)
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said: “Should I not inform you about the most grievous of the grave sins?
The Holy Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) repeated it three times, and then said: Associating anyone with Allah, disobedience to parents, false testimony or false utterance.
The Holy Prophet was reclining, then he sat up, and he repeated it so many times that we wished that he should become silent.” (Agreed upon)
»ألا أنبئكم بأكبر الكبائر. ثلاثا ، قالوا : بلى يا رسول الله ، قال : الإشراك بالله ، وعقوق الوالدين – وجلس وكان متكئا ، فقال – ألا وقول الزور . قال : فما زال يكررها حتى قلنا : ليته يسكت« (متفق عليه)
2. Lying while kidding
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
أنا زعيم … وببيت في وسط الجنة لمن ترك الكذب وإن كان مازحا
"I’m a guarantor……of a house in the middle of Jannah (Paradise) for the one who avoided telling lies even in his kidding.” (Abu Daawood)
2.1 Joking is permissible only when lying is avoided
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
إني لأمزح ، و لا أقول إلا حقا
“Sometimes) I’m joking and I don’t tell but truth.” (At-Tabaraani)
Once the Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said to an old woman:
إن الجنة لا يدخلها عجوز
“Old women will not enter Jannah.”
The woman started crying as she thought that she will not enter Jannah. When the Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) saw her crying, he explained the matter for her and said:
لن تدخل الجنة عجوزا بل ينشئها الله خلقا آخر فتدخلها شابة بكرا
“Old woman will enter Jannah after she regains her youth, as Almighty Allah will bring her forth as another creation to enter Jannah while she is a young virgin woman.” (Al-Mu’jam ul Ausat)
3. Lying for making people laugh
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
ويل للذي يحدث فيضحك به قومه فيكذب ويل له ويل له
"Woe to the person who lies in his talking to make people laugh, woe to him …woe to him…” (At-Tabaraani)
4. Lying while buy and sell
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
من غشنا فليس منا(رواه مسلم)
"Whosoever deceives us, is not one of us.” (Muslim)
5. False oath while selling goods
The Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة ، ولا ينظر إليهم ، ولا يزكيهم ، ولهم عذاب أليم ، قال فقرأها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثلاث مرار
Hadhrat Abu Zarr remarked: “They failed and they lost; who are these persons, Messenger of Allah?”
خابوا وخسروا . من هم يا رسول الله ؟
Upon this he observed:
المسبل والمنان والمنفق سلعته بالحلف الكاذب (رواه مسلم)
“They are: (man) who drags his lower garment, one who keeps reminding his kindness to someone, one who sells goods by false oath.” (Muslim)
6-Lying by the presidents and kings
Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa)’s Messenger (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam) observed:
ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة ولا يزكيهم (قال أبو معاوية: ولا ينظر إليهم) ولهم عذاب أليم: شيخ زان. وملك كذاب . وعائل مستكبر (رواه مسلم)
“Three (are the persons) with whom Allah would neither speak, nor would He absolve them on the Day of Resurrection, (Abu Mu’aawiyah added: He would not look at them.) and there is grievous torment for them: the aged adulterer, the liar king and the proud destitute.” (Muslim)
7. Lying on children
A lot of people don’t pay attention to this kind of lies.
Hadhrat ‘Abdullah Bin ‘Amr said that one day his mother called him, while the Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) was sitting in our house, and said:
ها تعال أعطيك
"Come here, I will give you something.”
The Prophet asked her:
وما أردت أن تعطيه ؟
“What do you want to give him?”
She answered:
أعطيه تمرا
“Some dates.”
The Prophet said to her:
أما إنك لو لم تعطيه شيئا كتبت عليك كذبة
“If you didn’t give him something, it would be written down a lie upon you.” (Abu Daawood)
Warning:
One day, a man knocked at one of his friends’ door. A young boy opened the door. The man asked the boy: “Where is your father?
The boy said: “Wait a minute.”
The boy went to his father and said: “Someone is asking about you.”
The father said: "Tell him that I’m not here.”
The boy came back to the man and with his sound nature said: “My father is saying he is not at home.”
The father was angry because of what his son said and he taught the boy how to lie rightly in the next time. This story is happening in a lot of houses. So the fathers and mothers should be aware and teach truthfulness to their children instead of teaching them lying.
Our Prophet Hadhrat Mohammad (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) said:
كل مولود يولد على الفطرة ، فأبواه يهودانه ، أو ينصرانه ، أو يمجسانه (بخاری)
“There is none born but is created to his true nature (Islam). It is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian.” (Bukhari)
Lying is only permissible in the three cases mentioned in the following: Ibn Shihaab said he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what the people speak as lie but in three cases:
كذب الرجل على امرأته ليرضيها
The narration of the words of the husband to his wife, (and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband) in order to bring reconciliation between them
الكذب في الحرب
In the battle
الكذب ليصلح بين الناس
for bringing reconciliation amongst persons. (At-Tirmizi)
The effects of lying:
Lying has a destructive effect on the individual’s life and society among which are the following:
Firstly, the social effects:
The truthfulness is essential for the social life as it the basis of the blessed happy life. Without it a man can’t live a happy comfort life with his wife, children, relatives, neighbors, employees or others.
Secondly, the economic effects:
Truthfulness is also essential for the economic life and without it a man can’t safely practice trade, giving loans or any other economic activities. The current financial crises exposed all these lies practiced by some of the managers, economical analysts, and chairmen of the boards and others who deceived people with the unreal profits or contracts. Moreover, it was discovered that more than 35% of the companies that are listed in the local stock market are delusive companies Also, some governmental tenders or companies’ auctions are nothing but conspiracies based on lying to steal peoples’ money.
Thirdly, the health effects:
The modern science proved that when the man lies, his head consumes more energy than it does in a state of truthfulness, because lying is a complicated operation includes imagination, inventing, composition, etc. All this have negative effects on memory, heart, blood pressure and others.
Finally:
The following are some signs about lying mentioned in the Glorious Quraan and lately discovered by the modern science:
1. Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says:
وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لَأَرَيْنَاكَهُمْ فَلَعَرَفْتَهُم بِسِيمَاهُمْ…
“And if We willed, We could show them to you, and you would know them by their mark ….” (Muhammad 47:30)
In this Aayah (Verse), Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) tells that if He wills, He will make His Prophet (SallAllaho ‘Alaihe WaSallam) is able to distinguish those liar hypocrites through special marks appear on their faces, that means we can reveal lying through the liar’s face details and this is identical with what the scientists reached through their researches in our present era. Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) is the Greatest.
2. Also, Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says in the completion of the previous Quraanic Aayah:
وَلَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ فِي لَحْنِ الْقَوْلِ…
“but you will surely know them by the tone of [their] speech…” (Muhammad 47:30)
In this part of the Aayah, there is a signal refers to that it is possible to reveal lying through liar’s voice, as the tone of voice is changed during lying, also the modern science discovered that lately.
Using the developed equipment, the modern science recently proved that the forelock (the front part of the head) is responsible for lying. Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) might be referring this in the following Quraanic Aayah says:
نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ
"A lying, sinful forelock!” (Al-‘Alaq 96:16)
After your reading for the foregoing, you should avoid lying for the benefit of your health, family, fame, money, life and your Aakhirah. The Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) says: “O you who have believed! Fear Allah and be with those who are true.” (At-Taubah 9:119)
We invoke Almighty Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aalaa) to support us and all Muslims to be among the truthful people.