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LYING
Lying is one of the Greater
Sins. There are many verses in
the Holy Qur’an denouncing
lying. Some of them are
reproduced below:
1. “Consider
how they create lies about
Allah? This alone is a grave
sin.” (4:50)
2. “Those
who do not believe in the
miracles of Allah invent lies
and they are liars.” (16:105)
3. “Allah
does not guide the liars and the
unbelievers.” (39:3)
4. “If
any one disputes (your prophesy)
after knowledge has come to you,
say, “Let each of us bring our
children, women, nafs and
ourselves to one place and pray
to Allah to condemn the liars
among us.” (3:61)
5. “….Allah
is my witness that he is a liar”
(24:8)
6. “Stay
away from wickedness, idols and
false words.” (22:30)
7. “Believers,
have fear of Allah and always be
friends with the truthful ones”
(9:119)
8. “And
there are some people who say:
We believe in Allah and the last
day; and they are not at all
believers.” (2:8)
9. “And
when they meet those who
believe, they say: We believe;
and when they are alone with
their Shaitaans, they say:
Surely we are with you, we were
only mocking.” (2:14)
10. (False
accuser of adultery) “Never
accept their testimony
thereafter, they are sinful.”
(24:4)
Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s) said,
“Beware, I am informing you
about the greatest mortal sins;
associating anything with Allah,
disobeying parents and lying”,
“Beware of falsehood! Because
falsehood blackens the face.”,
“Avoid speaking falsehood,
because it is a kind of evil and
transgression. And both of them
belong to Hell.”, “The three
signs of hypocrite are: Lying,
betraying trust and going back
on his words.” “The advice of a
liar has no value.” “The worst
of the profit is from the trade
called ‘lying’.” “When a
believer speaks a lie, he is
prone to committing every other
sin, and when this happens, he
commits kufr which then makes
him enter Hell.” “Falsehood is
inversely proportional to
belief.” “The greatest of the
sins is talkativeness and
falsehood.” The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
was describing his visit of
Mairaaj to Bibi Fatima Zahra
(s.a.) saying, “On the night of
Mairaaj, I saw a woman whose
head resembled a pig and her
body was like that of a donkey.
It was because she spread
discord and told lies.” “One who
attributes something to me,
which I have not said, shall sit
in the Fire.” When Abu Zar (r.a.)
inquired from the Holy Prophet
about repentance by a person who
intentionally spoken a lie, he (s.a.w.s.)
replied, “The sin shall be
erased by Istighfar (seeking
forgiveness) and by the five-
times prayers.”
Asma Binte Umais asked the Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.s.), “O Messenger
of Allah, if we desire something
but verbally refuse it, is it a
lie?” He (s.a.w.s.) replied,
“Yes! Certainly every kind of
falsehood is recorded (in the
scroll of deeds) even the
smallest of the small lies is
written.” “One only tells lies
because of his feeling of being
lowly”
Commander of the Faithful, Imam
Ali (a.s.) said,
“Every believer is deprived from
the taste of faith till he gives
up lying seriously and also in
jest.” “The disease of lying is
the most dreadful of the
(psychological) diseases.”
“Every Muslim is supposed to
avoid friendship and brotherhood
with a compulsive liar. Because
one who befriends a liar is
considered a liar. Even if he
speaks truth, he is not
trusted.” “If a person merely
claims that he hopes for the
Divine rewards and fears Divine
punishment, but does not perform
good deeds nor refrains from
sins, he is a liar.” “No man
shall taste faith unless he
abandons lying, be it serious or
as a joke.” “If entities were
materialized, surely
truthfulness will stand with
courage and cowardice would
stand with lying.” “The truth
teller achieves three things:
(others) trust, love and
respect.” “Lying is the most
abominable trait”
Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) said,
“All the evils have been locked
in a room and its key is lying”
Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said,
“Certainly Allah has created
the lock for every evil and the
key to all these locks is
drinking wine. But lying is
worse than drinking.”
“Lying destroys faith”
Imam Jaffer al-Sadiq (a.s.) said,
“One of the Divine punishments
for too much lying is that Allah
makes the liar afflicted with
forgetfulness.” “To attribute
falsehood to Allah and His
Prophet is the greatest sin.”
One day Imam Jaffer al-Sadiq
(a.s.) was seated with his son
Ismail when one of his followers
arrived, saluted him and sat
down. When the Imam stood up and
walked towards ladies portion,
the man also followed up to the
door. Imam bid farewell to him
from there. Later, Ismail asked
his father, “Why didn’t you
invite him inside just for
politeness sake?” The Imam
(a.s.) replied, “It was not
proper to invite him inside. I
did not wish him to come inside.
Neither did I wish that Allah
should include me among those
who say one thing and wish
another.” “When ever you say ‘Allahu
Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest)
you must consider every thing
between the earth and the sky to
be lesser than Allah. Because
when Allah sees that a person
says Allahu Akbar only
superficially, He says, “O Liar!
You try to be smart with Me? By
My Might and Honor I shall
deprive you of My remembrance.”
“Prophet Isa said that who lies
repeatedly will not be
respected.”
Show of Submission:
A person who says to Allah ‘Thee
only do we worship and Thee only
we ask for help’, but his
actions are such that day and
night he is involved in the
acquisition of wealth and is
preoccupied in the satisfaction
of his carnal desires. Can we
consider this man to be
truthful? Does this man really
worship Allah?
A man prays, “O Allah, when I
look at my sins, I weep and when
I see your Mercy and
forgiveness, I become hopeful
and happy in anticipation that
you will forgive me,” but when
faced with temptations, he makes
no serious effort to refrain
himself and commits sinful acts
without any misgiving.” The
falsehood of such a person is
clear.
We recite Ziarat for our Imams
and say, “O Imam, I accept your
sayings and act upon your
commands and obey you.” In fact
we obey our own desires. To fix
this problem, we should make
sincere efforts to improve
ourselves.
Exceptions: Whenever
there is a danger to life, honor
and property, and if the danger
can be avoided by lying, one is
allowed to lie. Similarly, in
order to make reconciliation
between husband and wife one can
tell a lie, because the
intention is good without any
ill will. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.),
at the time of recording his
will and testament, told Imam
Ali (a.s.), “O Ali, Allah even
likes a falsehood for the sake
of peace and dislikes truth that
spreads corruption.”
How to get rid of the habit of
lying:
1.
Repent and ask forgiveness from
Allah.
2.
Ponder over the causes that led
to this habit, try to remove the
cause.
3.
Compare the advantages of
truthfulness and harms of lying
at individual and social levels.
4.
Try to do good deeds, read
religious books, be dutiful to
parents, help needy.
5.
Remember the tradition, “A
believer does not feel the
pleasure of faith in his heart
until he gives up lying.”
6.
Think of the embarrassment when
people will discover your lies.
7.
Know well that a liar has no
dignity. |
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