I'm Not Lying; I'm Only Joking

I'm Not Lying; I'm Only Joking
by Muhammad Alshareef

After the conquest of Mecca, after the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam had taken over Mecca and the people had become Muslim, Caesar, or Qaisar, realized the power of the Muslims and he decided that he would have to bring an end to these Muslims. And so he prepared a large army, Byzantine and some Arab tribes from the north, and they prepared an army to extinguish the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and his companions.

When news of this great army that was preparing to attack them came to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and to some of the companions, fear started to come into the Muslim’s hearts. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam decided that they must go and fight these people in Tabuq.

Normally, whenever he would go out with an army, go out for a battle, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would tell the army to go in one direction and then during the journey they would change directions and so no one would know exactly where they were going. But because of the severity of this battle and because it was such a long distance and because they were leaving in the summertime, and in the summertime the heat can kill people, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam told all of them where they were going so that they could prepare the proper provisions.

And so the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam told them that they were going to Tabuq. All the companions, all the people that didn’t have an excuse such as sickness or being hypocrites, all of them accepted from the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and they prepared for this battle.

In sha' Allah ta'ala, we want to spend some time with one of those people who missed the battle, and that is Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu.

Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu in fact narrates the entire story in Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Ka’ab ibn Malik says that on that day, when people went out, that “by Allah I’ve never had more wealth than the day that the people went out for Tabuq.” And he said, “By Allah, I’ve never had more wealth, more strength, I’ve never been in a better position to go out for a battle than that day.”

But, and you will see the evil of procrastination, when the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and the companions would prepare for the battle, he would say, “I will go and prepare.” But the day would come to an end and he hadn’t prepared anything. And then the next day would come and he would say, “I will go and prepare,” and the day would pass and he hadn’t prepared anything. Until the people had gone out and he said I’ll catch up with them and they left and days passed and he said, “I’ll catch up, I’ll catch up.” Until finally news came that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was on his way back and the battle had happened and that he had come back.

Ka'ab ibn Malik would go out and he would see the hypocrites, the people that didn’t want to join the companions, the people that would say to the companions, “Why are you going out in this battle? It is so hot outside.” These were the people Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala refuted saying, “Say that the heat of hellfire is more severe,” than the heat of this summer. Ka'ab ibn Malik said he would become very distressed because he would only see hypocrites and everyone knew them as hypocrites and he realized that he was in their lawn.

When the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam came back, and he would come during the day, the first place the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would come to was the masjid. And so we learn here also the sunnah of Rasul Allaah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, that when a person returns from a journey he should start with a masjid and go to the masjid and pray two rak’ahs.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam went to the masjid and prayed his rak’ahs and then all the people started coming. All those people that hadn’t gone out for the battle, they came to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and they started explaining and giving excuses, and in fact lies, for the reason why they did not go out for battle. And they were known hypocrites.

So one after the other they would come to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and they would give an excuse to him saying, “I was doing this,” or “I was doing that,” “I wasn’t able.” The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would ask forgiveness for them and let them go.

Until Ka’ab ibn Malik came. Ka’ab ibn Malik says that he was very eloquent in speech and when he came to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam that day, he told him that he had prepared lies that he was going to say, excuses so he could avoid the Prophet’s anger. But he said as soon as he saw the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam he canceled all those lies that he was going to say and he said, “Today, nothing will save me but telling the truth.”

And so he went to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and he said, “Wallahi, I’ve been given eloquent speech and if I sat in front of anybody else I could have lied to them and I could’ve gotten away from their anger. But ya Rasul Allaah, I may please you today and you may not be angry with me today, but perhaps tomorrow, if I lie to you today, Allah may make you angry at me.” And he said, “But if I tell you the truth today, then perhaps tomorrow, hoping for the mercy of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala, perhaps tomorrow Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala will be pleased with me.”

And so he says that when he came to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam smiled at him and he said, “The smile of someone who is angry.” And when Ka’ab ibn Malik said this, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam replied, “As for this person, he has told the truth.”

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam knew that everyone who had come to him had lied to him. But he said, “As for this person, he has told the truth.” And he told Ka’ab ibn Malik to go back until Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala decides his affair.

When Ka’ab ibn Malik left the masjid some people from Bani Saleem came to him and started saying to him, “Why did you say that to him? You could’ve said this, or you could’ve said that. Didn’t you see that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam was asking forgiveness for them and forgiving them and letting them go?” hey said, “You put yourself in this position,” and because they kept insisting on him, Ka’ab ibn Malik said, “I wish I could’ve gone back and lied to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam. I wish that I could’ve contradicted myself and gone back and made up an excuse.

Then Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu asked them, “Is there anyone else in my situation?” They said yes. There were two companions that had done the same thing that Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu had done. And when Ka’ab ibn Malik found out that those two people had been from the people of Badr, he kept firm with the truth that he had said.

After that, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam commanded all the people not to talk to Ka’ab ibn Malik and his two companions, and not to deal with them, and for everyone to boycott them.

The two companions, they would remain at home and Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu would go to the masjid. He would say, “The earth that I knew so well, it was not like that anymore.” And the times had changed, the way people were treating him had changed. He said that he would go to the masjid and nobody would say as salaamu ‘alaikum to him. And he would try going to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and say, “As salaamu ‘alaikum ya Rasul Allaah,” and he would look and try to see if the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam’s lips would move in reply to his salaam, but he could not tell. And he would say that he would enter the masjid and he would look at the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam but the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would not look at him. But then when he would avert his gaze, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would turn to him and look, but when he would look back the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would turn away again.

During the battle, in the battle of Tabuq, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam in fact inquired about Ka’ab ibn Malik. One of the companions had said that nothing left Ka’ab ibn Malik except that he was so happy with his clothes and happy with his wealth. Mu’adh radi Allaahu ‘anhu replied back and said, “What an evil thing what you said,” and he turned to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and he said, “Ya Rasul Allaah, we only know good about Ka’ab.”

And so in fact, in the sharh of this hadith, Imam Nawawi rahi mahullaah says that we learn from this, from his example of a companion, that when a Muslim brother, when someone backbites on a Muslim brother in front of you, it is not enough to remain silent, but that you should hit back and tell the person that this is wrong and this is not what a Muslim should say. We should do as Mu’adh radi Allaahu ‘anhu did as he replied back to the companion.

Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu like we said, would go to the masjid and try to find out if the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would reply to him. And he kept entering into the sadness and Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala describes the sadness that they were in.

He says, subhaanahu wa ta'ala, “Until when the earth closed down and constricted upon them.” And notice that you’ll see people, they will have the biggest castles in the world, but no matter how expansive their property is, because they turned away from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala constricts their livelihood.

Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says, “Whoever turns their back from me,” they say that danka in one of its literal sense, it is like having a sinus, or having a stuffed nose. Because when a person turns his back it is as if he is constricting and stuffing himself, and he cannot enjoy the worldly materials that he has.

And so here, because of them not going to the battle, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala describes the situation that they were in - Even though they had the expansive earth in front of them, it constricted before their very eyes.

But someone may have the earth constricting in front of them, they may be poor and they may be living in a hut, but they have an expansive heart. They have an expansive heart because they believe in Allah and His Messenger. And so their heart expands out to where they are content with what they have and they are living as if they were in Jannah, content with what Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has given them.

Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says, “And their souls,” and their hearts, “constricted from inside.” And so in both senses, in the earth and everything around them and even in their hearts, they were constricted.

And so Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu was going around in this sadness and he went to the garden of Abu Qutada radi Allaahu ‘anhu, who was a cousin and one of the most beloved people to Ka’ab ibn Malik. He got up on the fence and he said, “As salaamu ‘alaikum Abu Qutada,” and Abu Qutada did not reply. He kept saying again and again, “As salaamu ‘alaikum, As salaamu ‘alaikum,” and Abu Qutada radi Allaahu ‘anhu would not reply to him.
And then he said, “Oh my cousin! Do you not know that I love Allah and His Messenger? Do you not know, and have you not learned, and have you not seen from my example that I do indeed love Allah and His Messenger?” Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu then remained silent and Abu Qutada radi Allahu ‘anhu said, “Allahu ‘alim.”

He said Allah knows best if you really love Allah and His Messenger. And Ka’ab ibn Malik, when he heard this, he went off the fence and he started crying. On the fortieth day, and in fact it lasted for fifty days, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam commanded that they separate from their wives.

Now notice, in fact before this, the king of Ghasaan from the Romans had sent a letter to Ka’ab ibn Malik. Ka’ab ibn Malik was in the marketplace when he saw a man come, a traveler, and then everyone was pointing at Ka’ab. That traveler came to Ka’ab with a letter from King Ghasaan. And now here is the king calling him and he says in the letter, “The news has reached us that your companion, Rasul Allaah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, has turned away from you. Come to us. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala did not make this earth as a constriction and a discomfort for you. Come to us and we will give you comfort. We will give you honor.”

When Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu read this letter he said, “By Allah, this is another test from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.” And then he made a circle, a pit of fire, and then he took that letter and he threw it in the fire.

So now on the fortieth day the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam had sent out the message that those three people should separate from their wives. And Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu immediately said, “Shall I divorce my wife, or should I just separate from her?” And they said, “No, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said separate from her.”

One of his other companions, he was old in age, and so his wife came to the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and she asked the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam for permission to remain with her husband and serve him because he was too poor to have his own maid or to have his own servant. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam granted her permission. He said, sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, “But do not allow him to come near you.” And then she said, “By Allah, he has not stopped crying since the day this began. By Allah, he has no desire for anything of which you are speaking of.”

And so that shows you that these people were yearning for the mercy of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala and yearning for the tawbah of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala, until the fiftieth day came.

And in fact, Ka’ab ibn Malik’s relatives told him to go to the Messenger of Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam and ask that his wife serve him like he granted permission for the other companion. And Ka’ab ibn Malik said, “By Allah, I am younger than that man and I am more capable and I am afraid of what the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam may say if I ask such a thing.” He said, “By Allah, I am not going to ask for that” - that his wife remain with him.

And so on the fiftieth day, Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu was praying fajr on one of the roofs and as he completed his fajr prayer a rider came running and he was calling out. He said, “Glad tidings Ka’ab ibn Malik! For verily Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has forgiven you. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has forgiven you.” And Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu immediately did sajdah for Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala and for the tawbah of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.

Very often I remember Shaykh Al-Uthaymeen hafidhullah. He would say that in the time of hajj when people commit mistakes in hajj, the easiest thing for a person is if he is told that he has to ask for forgiveness from Allah, but there is no material penalty. The person would say, “Oh! Only ask for forgiveness? OK, that is no problem.” But you will see the way the companions asked for forgiveness from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala and how they yearned and spent their time hoping for the reward and the mercy and the forgiveness of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.

When Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu heard that Allah had forgiven him, he did sajdah to Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala. And them immediately when he completed his sajdah, he took off his clothes and he gave it as sadaqa to that man that had come.

And as he walked in – and this is all from his happiness – when he walked into Medinah the people came to him and they congratulated him for the forgiveness of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala. And indeed it is something that a person should be congratulated for. Nothing from the material world is equal to Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala forgiving you.

And when he entered the masjid, from the muhajireen only one person, Talha radi Allaahu ‘anhu, stood up and shook the hand of Ka’ab ibn Malik. And he said, “By Allah, I will never forget that deed that Talha radi Allaahu ‘anhu had done” – that he had stood up and hugged him and gave him glad tidings.

And then the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Have the glad tidings of the best day of your life since the day your mother gave birth to you.”

And so, Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu smiled and said, “Ya Rasul Allaah! Is this forgiveness from you or is it from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala?” And he said, “Rather, it is from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.”

And then Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu, and remember he was poor, he said, “And from my tawbah, I will give all my wealth as sadaqa to Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala. Everything I have, because of my happiness that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has forgiven me, I am going to give everything to Allah, everything for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.”

And the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, “No, rather keep some of it with you.” And then Ka’ab ibn Malik radi Allaahu ‘anhu said, and in fact this is the point that we want to make here, he said, “From my tawbah and the fact that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has forgiven me, from this day forward I will never tell a lie. I will never say a lie from this day forward.”

And in fact, in the end of the narration Ka’b ibn Maalik radi Allahu ‘anhu explained that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has saved him because of the truth that he had told in the beginning. And Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has never tested somebody, with the truth and telling the truth, more than he tested Ka’b ibn Maalik radi Allahu ‘anhu.

As for those people that have lied to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala revealed verses about them. In Suratul Munafiqeen and in other Surahs Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says that, “Verily, they are impure, they are filthy, those people that have lied to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam and their end is hellfire – as a reward and a compensation for what they used to do.” Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says in these verses that they keep swearing to you and telling you, “to leave us alone.” Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says, “Leave them alone, for they are impure and that they are going to hellfire,” and that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala hates them.

And so, Ka’b ibn Maalik said, “Those were the people that had lied to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam.” As for those people who told the truth, Ka’b ibn Maalik and his two companions, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala revealed that He has forgiven the Prophet and the Ansar and the Muhaajireen. And He continues and in the next verse Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says, “And Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala has forgiven those three who didn’t make it to the battle [of Tabuk].”

And so Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala revealed in the Quran that He has forgiven Ka’b ibn Maalik radi Allahu ‘anhu and Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala commands Ka’b ibn Maalik and everyone else, “Oh you who believe, fear Allah, and be with those who are truthful.”

Dear brothers and sisters, this story of Ka’b ibn Maalik – and it’s a story from the Seerah – is a story that we should all frequently go over because you will see in every paragraph there’s lessons for the Muslims to learn. From the way Ka’b ibn Maalik radi Allahu ‘anhu acted to the things that he fell into, we as followers of these companions and followers of the person that they were following Rasul Allah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam, can learn much about what we should abstain from.

Lying, lying is a major sin. And in fact, it’s one of the biggest major sins that a person can do because of all the things that it leads to. And in certain cases scholars have said that lying when it deals with the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam (making halal haram and haram halal) may actually lead to kufr. Imam An-Nawawi Rahim Allah says in Kitaab al Adhkaar, the proofs from the Quran and Sunnah are clear and apparent that lying is one of the ugliest sins that a person can do. And he says sufficient is a deterrent from lying that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, “The sign of the hypocrite is three things –…if he speaks, he will lie…” And so the fact that lying is the sign of the Munafiq, should be sufficient as a deterrent for a believer, a Mu’min, someone who believes in Allah and His messenger. If one speaks and he is thinking that he is going to lie, he should remember that this is a sign of his hypocrisy in the deen.

In another hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud radi Allahu ‘anhu reports that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said that these things (Sidq, truthfulness) leads to piety. If you want to know about a good Muslim, and how to become a good Muslim, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, being truthful will lead you to be a good Muslim, will lead you to piety. And that piety leads to paradise, and we all want to go to paradise. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is showing us the road to that paradise and that is through truthfulness. To continue the hadith, [a truthful] person, or man, or woman, will continue to tell the truth and keep trying to avoid lying and keep trying to bring out the truth in all cases, until he is written with Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala as someone who always tells the truth. And this is the end that we all want, that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala will say that, “such and such, this person, is a truth-teller.”

And from these people that we know was Abu Bakr radi Allahu ‘anhu As-Sideeq. Because he always told the truth again and again and again, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said that he is the truthful one, the one who accepts the truth, the one who always knows truth, the one whose whole existence is surrounded around the truth.

And then the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, “And verily, lying, it takes a person to disobedience and transgression of Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.” Transgression and disobedience will lead the person to hellfire and a person, man or woman, will continue to try and lie, keep trying to lie, try to avoid situations by lying, until he will be written, or she will be written, as a liar to Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala.

And so, in conclusion, I wanted to give you some points (so we can all benefit from these points) on how a person can move forward, trying to seek out the truth and trying to be truthful in all walks of one’s life.

Firstly, whenever a person is about to lie – and this lying doesn’t just happen with words, the lying can happen with an action that a person says. If someone says, “Did you do so and so,” and you make a sign like this; with your actions you are lying. A person can write a letter, can pretend to be someone else, or maybe on the computer, or maybe in letters he’s writing and he’s pretending to be someone else, that’s a lie. And a person will speak to other people and he will lie and there are many forms if the person lies. When a person is going to do this, she should remember or he should remember the severity of the lying. And as Imam an-Nawawi Rahim Allah already said that this is a sign of a Munafiq, this is a sign of the person’s hypocrisy in Islam.

Secondly, we should strengthen our eman in the final day. We should strengthen because when a person lies, he has a weakness of eman – he doesn’t, or she doesn’t really believe in the Day of Judgment; for on that day, if they had told the truth, their truth will save them on that day. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says, “This is the day when their (the truth-tellers), truth will benefit them.” This is the day, on the Day of Judgment, when all those truths and all the good things that they used to say will benefit them.

An incident took place during the khalifah of Hishaam ibn Abdul Maalik that had to do with the verse in the Quran speaking about the accusation against Aisha. It was a known hypocrite who had started that accusation but Hishaam ibn Abdul Maalik was of the opinion that Ali radi Allahu ‘anhu was the one who started the accusation. So he would bring scholars to his court and ask them, “Who is this person who started this accusation?” and the person or that scholar would say, “Abdullah ibn ‘Ubaid.” And then the king would say, “Rather it’s Ali.” And then the person, that scholar, would succumb to the Khalifah and he would say that the Ameer al-Mu’mineen or Khalifah knows better of what he’s saying. That is until the Khalifa bought Imam Ad-Dhuhri Rahim Allah to his court. And here we will see the power of the scholars. He bought Imam Ad-Dhuhri and he asked him, “Who is this one who started these accusations?” and he said, “Abdullah ibn ‘Ubaid.” Then the Khalifah said, “You’ve lied, it was Ali.” The fact that Imam Ad-Dhuhri would be accused of lying, he became enraged and he said, “I lie! I would lie, you fatherless man!” And that would be similar, as you know in the English language to the swear. He said, I lie, how dare you call me a liar! He said, and this should be written in bold so that everybody should know that this is the way our scholars were, he said, “If a person calls out from the heavens and calls out to everybody that lying is halal, I would never lie.” He said even if it was halal, I would never lie in my life. And now imagine, he knows it’s haram and he knows the severity of lying, and he makes the statement that even if it was halal, he would never lie in his life. And so, brothers and sisters, we should pay attention to what Imam Ad-Dhuhri is saying.

When the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam saw a woman calling her son, telling him that I have something in my hand and he, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam asked her, “Do you have something in you hand? Were you going to give him something?” She said, “Yes, I was going to give him a date.” And then the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, “If you were to not give him anything, it would have been written as a lie.” It would have been written as a lie. So, even to that smallest point with your children, even to pretend with them and to joke with them, those things are written as lies. And the person, very often he’s telling jokes, and then he says, “I’m just joking, I’m not lying, I’m just joking.” No, you are lying and nothing makes lying halal. If you’re joking that doesn’t make it halal.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Woe to him, the person that lies to make people laugh.” This person, in fact, he’s right in the midst of the hadith and right in the midst of the prohibition; that he makes a joke to make people laugh. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we have to abstain from that and no lying should take place.

And one of the worst lies a person can do is against the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam; and very often you will see weak hadith and fabricated hadith against the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. And as one person said, “I’m not lying against the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, I’m lying for him,” and subhan Allah, anybody who rights wrong against the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, the Prophet doesn’t need us to complete the deen for him. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala says, “This day I’ve completed your religion.” The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam doesn’t need you and me to make up hadith for him; he completed the deen sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Whoever lies on me, (on purpose, he knows he’s lying; he’s making up these hadith against the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) let him enter hellfire and choose anywhere he wishes to be in it.” The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam is saying to that person, you’re going to hellfire and just pick where you want to be in the hellfire for lying against the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. And there’s no distinction between lying for or lying against; there’s no such thing. Any lie against the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam is a lie.

Thirdly, we should remember the blessed end of telling the truth. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala loves that person who tells the truth. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala writes that person as a Sideeq and that they’re in the highest level of Jannah. With the Prophets and those who used to tell the truth and accepted the truth. And all around their life it was just surrounded with truth. And the person who tells the truth, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala will bless them in their livelihood and it will lead them to Jannah. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said that the two people who’re making a transaction have the option of concluding or canceling the transaction so long as they don’t separate. And then the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said that if they both, on both sides, if they tell the truth and they show each other and they don’t hide little mistakes in the product or so on and they both are clear to one another and truthful to one another, Allah will bless them in their sale.

And so a person shouldn’t think, “I’m going to sell this and I’m going to hide these problems in the product.” No, show that there’s a problem in the product and you will see that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala will bless you in that sale. And never should a person try hiding things. For example, they’ll say, if they’re selling a new car, they’ll put a new paint job to cover the defects from the inside trying to sell the car. But no, the person should point out when he’s selling, that this is the car, these are the good things and these are the bad things and with that truthfulness, Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala will bless them in their sale.

We should make dua’, for verily this truthfulness is from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala and all good is from Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala. So you should ask Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala to bless you and to grant you this blessing and this mercy of always telling the truth. As the dua’ in Sunann ul-Baihaqi reads, “Oh Allah, clean my heart from hypocrisy and my actions from showing off to other people and purify my tongue from lying.”

And in conclusion, we should always be with those people who tell the truth and distance ourselves form those people who decide to spend their lives in lies and backbiting; we just want to distance ourselves from them and be with those people who’re telling the truth. Be with those people, like Ka’b ibn Maalik radi Allahu ‘anhu and the people who follow the example of Ka’b ibn Maalik radi Allahu ‘anhu till the final day. Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala commanded him and He commanded us and He commanded all the believers till the final day; Allah subhaanahu wa ta'ala revealed, “Oh you who believe, all you people who claim to be believers, fear Allah and be with those who are truth-tellers, and be with the truthful ones.”