A Believer (Mu’min) Cannot Be a Liar

A Believer (Mu’min) Cannot Be a Liar

Hazrat Safwaan bin Sulaim radiallaho ta’ala anhu narrates that Rasool Allah sallalaho alaihe wasallam was asked,

 ”Can a believer be a coward? He said, “Yes, he can be coward. Then it was asked whether a believer could be a miser? He replied, “Yes, he can be a miser”, it was then asked whether a believer could be a liar? He replied, “No, a believer cannot be a liar.” (Imam Malik, Mishkaat)


It is mentioned in this Hadith that a believer can be a coward, he can be a miser but he cannot be a liar. Lying is a great risk to our faith, it is a must for us to save our faith and in order to save our faith, it is very important to save ourselves from lying. We need to present ourselves as slogans of truth, the followers of the true religion, the undoubtable Qur’an and Ummah of a Prophet sallalaho alaihe wasallam, who was declared Saadiq even by the infidels of Makkah. (Saadiq means one who always speaks the truth). May Allah Ta’ala enable us to speak the truth and always stay away from lies. Ameen

EVIL OF SPEAKING LIES

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaahu Anhu) narrates, in a hadith, that the Prophet (PBUH) said, “The signs of a hypocrite are three; whenever he speaks, he tells a lie; whenever he promises, he breaks his promise; if you have trust in him, he proves to be dishonest.”

The above hadith of Prophet(PBUH) is of such importance to us, his Ummah, because it demonstrates to us that how evil it is to speak lies, that Prophet(S.A.W) associated the telling of lies with a hypocrite.

In another hadith narrated by Hazrat Abu Hurairah(Radhiyallaahu Anhu), Prophet (PBUH) said, “Whoever does not give up false statements (i.e. telling lies), and evil deeds, and uttering bad words to others, Allah is not in need of his (fasting) leaving his food and drink.” This is a clear indication to us how evil speaking lies is in the sight of Allah Taala that Allah Taala will not accept our Ibadat becase of us telling lies.

Unfortunately, our problem is that we think that by fulfilling the five fundamental principles of Islam we have become perfect Muslims. Islam has many diferent aspects to it and, by only fulfilling the one aspect of Ibadat, does not make us true Muslims. Turning a blind eye to such aspects of Deen, like restraining our tongues when it comes to our utterances, will only be to our detriment.

It is such a detestable act to speak lies that even non-Muslims, when asked, will admit to the evilness of telling lies. To such an extent that, during the days of jahiliyah (ignorance), before Prophet(PBUH) propagated the message of Haq of the Deen of Islam, the Arabs were the worst of people on the surface of the Earth. No government or king was prepared to rule over them because they had the worst of qualities in them. But, with all the evil qualities and bad habits the Arabs had at that time, the telling of lies was regarded as a detestable act.
The following Ahaadith of Prophet(PBUH) explains further to us the evil of speaking lies: Hazrat Abdullah ibn Umar narrates that Allah’s Messenger(PBUH) said, “When a man lies, the angel moves a mile from him because of the bad odour of what he has produced.” Samura bin Jundub relates that the Prophet(PBUH) said, “I saw (in a deream), two men came to me.” Then the Prophet(PBUH) narrated the story (saying), “They said, `The person, the one whose cheek you saw being torn away (from the mouth to the ear) was a liar and used to tell lies and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So he will be punished like that till the day of Ressurrection.`”

Abdullah narrates that the Prophet(PBUH) said, “Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur(i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur(wickedness) leads to the (Hell) fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar.” Narrated by Wathila bin Al-Asqa, Allah’s Apostle(PBUH) said, “Verily one of the worst of lies is to claim falsely to be the son of someone other than one’s real father, or to claim to have had a dream one has not had, or to attribute to me what I have not said.”

Hazrat Aisha (Radhiyallaahu Anhu)(Ummul Mu’mimin) said, “The Apostle of Allah (PBUH) used to make supplication during the prayer saying: `Oh Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from the punishment of the grave; I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of the Antichrist; I seek refuge in Thee from the trial of life and the trial of death; Oh Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from sin and debt.` Someone said to him: `How often you seek refuge from debt!` He replied: `When a man is in debt, he talks and tells lies, makes promises and breaks them.`”

Abu Bakra(Radhiyallaahu Anhu) narrates that Allah’s Apostle said thrice, “Shall I not inform you of the biggest of the great sins?” We said, “Yes, O Allah’s Apostle.” He said, “To join partners in worship with Allah; to be undutiful to one’s parents.” The Prophet(PBUH) sat up after He had been reclining and added, “And I warn you against giving a false statement and a false witness; I warn you against giving a forged statement and a false witness.” The Prophet(PBUH) kept on saying that warning till we thought that he would never stop.

The above Hadith illustrates the evil of speaking lies because Prophet(PBUH) associated the telling of lies with joining partners with Allah, which is such a great sin that Allah, never forgives.

In conclusion, Allah Taala mentions in the Quran, “And they even assign to things they do not know a portion out of that which we have bestowed for their sustenance! By Allah ye shall certainly be called to account for your false inventions.”(Sura 16, Verse 56). Telling lies is a great and grevious sin and it removes all the Barakat from our lives. We must therefore, at all costs, abstain from uttering such things that will be to our detriment in this world and hereafter.

May Allah grant us Taufeeq to abstain from speaking lies. Aameen