The Importance Of Being Truthful
Praise be to Allaah.
Being truthful means speaking the truth and also saying things
that reflect reality.
Being truthful is one of the necessities of a human society,
one of the virtues of human behaviour, and brings great
benefits, whilst lying is one of the major elements of
corruption in human society, and the cause of the destruction
of social structure and ties, one of the most evil features of
bad conduct, and causes widespread harm. Hence Islam commanded
truthfulness and forbade lying.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Be afraid of Allaah, and be with those who
are true (in word and deeds).” [al-Tawbah 9:119]
Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said (2/414): “It
means: be truthful and adhere to truthfulness, and you will be
among its people and will be saved from calamity, and this will
make a way out for you from your problems.”
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“… if they had been true to Allaah, it would have been better
for them.” [Muhammad 47:21]
‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said:
“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: ‘You must be truthful, for truthfulness leads
to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man
will keep speaking the truth and striving to speak the truth
until he will be recorded with Allaah as a siddeeq (speaker of
the truth). Beware of telling lies, for lying leads to
immorality and immorality leads to Hellfire. A man will keep
telling lies and striving to tell lies until he is recorded
with Allaah as a liar.” (Reported by Muslim, 4721)
This hadeeth indicates that truthfulness leads to righteousness
(al-birr), an all-embracing concept that includes all kinds of
goodness and different kinds of righteous deeds. Immorality is
basically an inclination towards deviation from the truth, and
the immoral person (faajir) is one who is inclined to turn away
from the path of guidance. Hence immorality and righteousness
are diametrically opposed.
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with
them both) said: “I memorized from the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): ‘Leave that which
makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt, for
truthfulness is certainty and tranquillity, whilst lying is
doubt and confusion.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 2520; al-Nisaa'i,
8/327; and Ahmad, 1/200)
In the lengthy hadeeth of Abu Sufyaan describing his meeting
with Heraclius, Abu Sufyaan (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: “[Heraclius] said, ‘What does he [meaning the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] command you to do?’
I said, ‘He says: worship Allaah alone and do not associate
anything in worship with Him, and abandon that which your
forefathers did. He commands us to pray, to be truthful, to be
chaste and to uphold the ties of kinship.’” (Reported by al-Bukhaari,
1/30 and Muslim, 1773).
Hakeem ibn Hizaam (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Two parties to a deal have the option of changing their
minds until they part; if they are open and honest, their deal
will be blessed, and if they conceal and tell lies, the
blessing of their deal will be diminished.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari,
4/275 and Muslim, 1532.)
Truthfulness includes being truthful towards Allaah by
worshipping Him sincerely; being truthful towards one’s own
soul by making it adhere to the laws of Allaah; and being
truthful with people in one's words and by keeping one's
promises, and in dealings such as buying, selling and marriage,
so there should be no deceiving, cheating, falsifying or
withholding of information. Thus a person should be the same on
the inside and the outside.
As regards lying, it is highly forbidden, and is of varying
degrees of abhorrence and sin. The most obnoxious form of lying
is falsely attributing things to Allaah and His Messenger,
because this involves fabrication about the religion and is an
act of outrage against Allaah. Hence one of the characteristics
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is
that he truthfully conveyed that which Allaah commanded him to
convey. So Allaah said (interpretation of the meanings):
“… who does more wrong than one who invents a lie against
Allaah, to lead mankind astray without knowledge. Certainly
Allaah guides not the people whi are zaalimoon (polytheists and
wrong-doers, etc.)” [al-An’am 6:144]
“And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against
Allaah? Such will be brought before their Lord, and the
witnesses will say, ‘These are the ones who lied against their
Lord!’ No doubt! The curse of Allaah is on the zaalimoon
(polytheists, wrong-doers, oppressors, etc.).” [Hood 11:18]
Equally bad is lying about the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), as he is reported to have said in the
mutawaatir hadeeth: “Whoever lies about me deliberately, let
him take his place in Hell.” (Agreed upon).
The basic rule with regard to lying is that it is not
permitted, but there are certain
circumstances in which Islam permits lying to serve a
greater purpose or to prevent harm.
One of these situations is when a person mediates between
two disputing parties in order to reconcile between them, if
reconciliation cannot be achieved in any other way. Um Kalthoom
(may Allaah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “He is not a
liar who reconciles between people and conveys something good
or says something good.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 2495).
Another example is a man’s speaking to his wife, or a woman
speaking to her husband, with regard to matters that will
strengthen the ties of love between them, even if that is
accompanied by exaggeration. Asma’ bint Yazeed said: “The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: ‘Lying is not permitted except in three cases: a
man’s speaking to his wife to make her happy; lying at times of
war; and lying in order to reconcile between people.’”
(Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 1862; he said: it is a hasan hadeeth.
See also Saheeh Muslim, 4717).
One of the most important forms of both being truthful and
lying is in the area of promises and covenants. Being truthful
in promises and covenants is one of the characteristics by
which the believers are known. Both promises and covenants
involve saying something about an issue to confirm that you
will do it, especially with regard to one's duties towards
Allaah. Allaah says, praising some of His slaves
(interpretation of the meanings):
“Those who are faithfully true to their amaanaat (all the
duties which Allaah has ordained, honesty, moral responsibility
and trusts, etc.) and to their covenants.” [al-Mu’minoon 23:8]
“… and who fulfil their covenant when they make it…” [al-Baqarah
2:177]
“Among the believers are men who have been true to their
covenant with Allaah [i.e., they have gone out for jihad (holy
fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers], of
them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e., have been
martyred), and some of them are still waiting, but they have
never changed [i.e., they never proved treacherous to their
covenant which they concluded with Allaah] in the least.” [al-Ahzaab
33:23]
We ask Allaah to make us sincere and truthful in word and deed.
And Allaah knows best.