There was a greeting voice, saying, "O birds, may I share?" The birds look for who was talking, but could'nt find it. "Down here?" The voice came again. The birds followed the direction of the sound and look! There was a chameleon who was sitting on a tree trunk while waving his hands. Shama' said, "Of course my brother, please come forward!"
After saying the salaam, Chameleon said, "O my brothers and sisters, lying is the complete opposite of truth. So, anything that is untrue and deliberately intended to mislead another person is a lie. A lie, therefore, can be anything spoken or written that is totally or partially baseless, unreal, made-up, distorted or exaggerated; for example, if someone were to deliberately state that a five foot pole was a ten foot pole, then this would be a lie. Similarly praising someone out of proportion is a form of a lie.
Lying is a despicable vice, rampant in our societies. Deceiving others with the canny use of words is seen as clever. Public figures lie. Governments lie. One of the distinctions of our age is that lying no longer carries the stigma it once did. Today lying has become institutionalized. It is the way many of us live now, right from the top, because we figured out that if we are persuasive enough, lying works. Countries are invaded and wars are started based on lies. "We" never lie, we just bend the truth a little, put a spin, having no intention to mislead, but the "others" are liars. Ours is a society that has perfected the "art" of lying. Gone are the days when a lie destroyed the liar’s dignity and deprived him of our trust.
Islam views lying as a serious vice. Allah says,
Alsoوَٱلْخَٰمِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِن كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْكَٰذِبِينَ"And the fifth [oath will be] that the curse of Allah be upon him if he should be among the liars." - (QS.24:7)
The worst kind of lying is telling lies about Allah and His Messenger, then spreading lies among people in order to cause trouble between them. Habitually telling lies when speaking is one of the characteristics of the hypocrites, as the Prophet (ﷺ) said,إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ"...Indeed, Allah does not guide he who is a liar and [confirmed] disbeliever." - (QS.39-3)
Lying falls under the umbrella of falsehood and evil. It’s like a disease which manifests into various harmful symptoms which causes damage to the individual telling the lies and the people around him. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, radhiyallahu 'anhu, narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا، أَوْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنْ أَرْبَعَةٍ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَصْلَةٌ مِنَ النِّفَاقِ، حَتَّى يَدَعَهَا إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا عَاهَدَ غَدَرَ، وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَرَ“There are four characteristics, whoever has them all is a pure hypocrite, and whoever has one of them has one of the characteristics of hypocrisy, until he gives it up: when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust, when he speaks he lies, when he makes a covenant he betrays it, and when he disputes he resorts to obscene speech.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, 2459]
عَلَيْكُمْ بِالصِّدْقِ فَإِنَّ الصِّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْبِرِّ وَإِنَّ الْبِرَّ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَمَا يَزَالُ الرَّجُلُ يَصْدُقُ وَيَتَحَرَّى الصِّدْقَ حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ صِدِّيقًا وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْكَذِبَ فَإِنَّ الْكَذِبَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْفُجُورِ وَإِنَّ الْفُجُورَ يَهْدِي إِلَى النَّارِ وَمَا يَزَالُ الْعَبْدُ يَكْذِبُ وَيَتَحَرَّى الْكَذِبَ حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَذَّابًا"Abide by truthfulness. For indeed truthfulness leads to righteousness. And indeed righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues telling the truth and trying hard to tell the truth until he is recorded with Allah as a truthful person. Refrain from falsehood. For indeed falsehood leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to the Fire. A slave (of Allah) continues lying and trying hard to lie, until he is recorded with Allah as a liar." [HR Jami' at-Tirmidhi, 1971; Sahih]There is a story about a man tells a lie. Imam Bukhari and Muslim have transmitted in their own Sahih, the Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,
The Prophets, alayhimussalam, have an exclusive and unique character and their lives are distinct among human beings. They are not like other men and are not daunted by emotions. They are also given to respect humanity and are willing to take over blame in order to save a man from sin. Prophet 'Isa, alayhissalam, was one of the glorious and high-ranking Prophets of Allah. He saw a man stealing. His own eyes had seen him steal and it is the greatness of the Prophets that when they see someone do a wrong, they do not keep quiet about it. Hence, Prophet 'Isai lived up to that standard and asked the man, "Do you steal?" That fellow replied, "No! I was not stealing by Him besides Whom no one is worth worshipping."رَأَى عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَجُلاً يَسْرِقُ فَقَالَ لَهُ عِيسَى سَرَقْتَ قَالَ كَلاَّ وَالَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ . فَقَالَ عِيسَى آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ وَكَذَّبْتُ نَفْسِي"'Isa son of Maryam saw a person committing theft; thereupon 'Isa said to him, 'You committed theft.' He said, 'Nay. By Him besides Whom there is no god (I have not committed theft).' Thereupon 'Isa said, 'I affirm my faith in Allah It is my ownself that deceived me.'"
So, when the man swore that he had not stolen, Prophet 'Isa, although he had seen him stealing with his own eyes, he confessed to the man, "I believe in Allah and contradict my eyes." In other words, he held a good opinion about another Muslim that he would not take a false vow. He protected the man from disgrace. We know thus that Prophets try to save a fellow-man from disgrace and shame. It is not that Prophet 'Isa could not distinguish between a liar and a truthful man, but he held the greatness of Allah's name very high in his eyes. It was wrong for him, therefore, to disagree with an oath on Allah, so he differed with the observance of his eyes.
This tells us that the Prophets are not supervisors over men and they do not punish them for their faults. The One Who sees them and is Watcher over them Who punishes them is Allah alone. One may swear a false oath and save his skin in this world but there is no escape from the punishment of Allah.
Of course, we must, as far as possible, conceal the faults of a Muslim from other people. If he apologises for his sins, or denies them, then we must accept his word provided it does not violate someone else's right and no one is put to hardship. If rights of other people are liable to be encroached upon by concealing a man's faults and sins then there is no harm in disclosing them. The disclosure must be made only to relevant people. We must refrain from revealing his secrets to people who are not concerned with the matter.
We know that the greatness of the Name of Allah is much and man must respect His Name. A Muslim must hold it higher than everything else. If anyone takes the Name of Allah or says something by it then he must not be repudiatgd or called to question. We must suppose that one who takes the Name of Allah and assures us by it then he cannot be lying , by that Name. And if he is a liar and lies by the Name of Allah then he will pay for it surely and be punished. Also, if anyone takes a false oath before a judge on the Name of Allah while there are true witnesses against him then the judge has authority to reject his oath particularly if he tries to usurp the rights of other people through the false oath.
Then Chameleon concluded, "O my brothers and sisters, fear Allah and be among those who are truthful. Lying can never lead to any good. None. Even though lying seems like an easy way out our problems, sometimes, and we tend to justify our white lies, thinking we wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences in our daily lives, be it at home or at our workplace or anywhere for that matter. However, what we tend to overlook is the consequences of lying may not be dire in this world but they will be in the Hereafter.
Telling the truth is one of the core foundations of what Islam stands on. Allah Ta'ala prohibits lying and implores us to choose righteousness and truthfulness above all else. And the truthful are most beloved by Allah Ta'ala. Truthfulness is commanded by Allah as a part of faith and is an indispensable quality of the believers. And Allah knows best."
- Mohammad Zakariya Iqbal, Stories from the Hadith, Darul Uloom
- Imam Shamsu ed-Deen Dhahabi,Major Sins, Islambasics.com
