Importance of being Truthful

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.

Allah says: “O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah,
and be with those who are true (in word and deeds).”
(9:119)

Ibn Katheer said: “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.”

Allah says: “… if they had been true to Allah, it
would have been better for them.” (47:21)

‘Abd-Allah Ibn Mas’ood (radi allahu anhu - may Allah
be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allah
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam - may the peace &
blessings of Allah 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 Allah 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 Allah as a liar.”
(Muslim)

This Hadeeth indicates that truthfulness leads to
righteousness, 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 is
one who is inclined to turn away from the path of
guidance. Hence immorality and righteousness are
incompatible.


Al-Hasan Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Abi Taalib (radi allahu anhu)
said: “I memorized from the Messenger of Allah
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam): ‘Leave that which makes
you doubt for that which does not make you doubt, for
truthfulness is certainty and tranquility, whilst
lying is doubt and confusion.” (Tirmidhi)

In the lengthy Hadeeth of Abu Sufyaan (radi allahu
anhu) describing his meeting with Heraclius, Abu
Sufyaan (radi allahu anhu) said: “(Heraclius) said,
‘What does he (the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam) command you to do?’ I said, ‘He says:
worship Allah 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.’” (Bukhaari and Muslim)

Hakeem Ibn Hizaam reported that the Prophet
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) 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.”
(Bukhaari and Muslim)

Truthfulness includes being truthful towards Allah by
worshipping Him sincerely; being truthful towards
one’s own soul by making it adhere to the laws of
Allah; 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 Allah and His Messenger, because this involves
fabrication about the religion and is an act of
outrage against Allah. Hence one of the
characteristics of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam) is that he truthfully conveyed that which
Allah commanded him to convey. So Allah said:

“… who does more wrong than one who invents a lie
against Allah, to lead mankind astray without
knowledge. Certainly Allah guides not the people who
are Zaalimeen (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.)”
(6:144)

“And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie
against Allah? 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 Allah
is on the Zaalimeen (polytheists, wrong-doers,
oppressors, etc.).” (11:18)

Equally bad is lying about the Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam), as he is reported to have said:
“Whoever lies about me deliberately, let him take his
place in Hell.” (Bukhaari and Muslim)

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 Kasoom (radi allahu anha) reported
that the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“He is not a liar, who reconciles between people and
conveys something good or says something good.”
(Bukhaari)

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 (radi allahu anha) said: “The Messenger of
Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) 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.’”
(Muslim)

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 Allah. Allah says,
praising some of His slaves:

“Those who are faithfully true to their Amaanaat (all
the duties which Allah has ordained, honesty, moral
responsibility and trusts, etc.) and to their
covenants.” (23:8)

“… and who fulfill their covenant when they make it…”
(2:177)

“Among the believers are men who have been true to
their covenant with Allah (i.e., they have gone out
for jihad 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 Allah) in the least.”
(33:23)