Lie

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Ethics

Moral Verses
Ifk Verses • Al-Ukhuwwa Verse • Al-It'am Verse • Al-Naba' Verse • Najwa Verse • Verse of Trusts • Al-Sulh Verse

Moral Hadiths
Hadith of qurb al-nawafil • Hadith Makarim al-akhlaq • Hadith of Mi'raj • Hadith Junud al-'Aql wa l-Jahl

Moral Virtues
Humility • Contentment • Generosity • Controlling Anger • Truthfulness • Hilm (forbearance) • Asceticism • Bravery • Chastity • Insaf (Equity) • Silat al-Rahim • Wara' • Islah dhat al-bayn

Moral Vices
Hubris • Greed • Envy • Lie • Backbiting • Namima (Talebearing) • Miserliness • Disobedience to Parents • 'Ujb (self-conceit) • Sum'a • Cutting blood relation • Spreading grave sins • Ingratitude • Hypocrisy • Tabdhir

Moral Terminologies
Jihad with the self • Self-critical soul • Commanding Soul • Soul at peace • Self-reckoning • Muraqaba • Musharata • Sin • Morality lessons • Istidraj

Scholars of Ethics
Muhammad Mahdi Naraqi • Ahmad al-Naraqi • Sayyid 'Ali Qadi Tabataba'i • Sayyid Rida Baha' al-Dini • Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Dastghayb • Muhammad Taqi Bahjat

References of Ethics

Qur'an • Nahj al-balagha • Misbah al-shari'a wa miftah al-haqiqa • Makarim al-Akhlaq • Al-Mahajjat al-bayda' • Tanbih al-khawatir wa nuzhat al-nawazir • Jami' al-sa'adat • Mi'raj al-sa'ada • Al-Muraqabat

Lie (Arabic: الكذب) is a moral vice of saying what is not true. It is a major sin that is prohibited in the Quran and hadiths. It is characterized as the key to all evils and as destructive to one’s faith. In Islam, it is forbidden (haram) to tell lies.

Some hadiths enumerate worldly and afterlife repercussions for lying, such as disrepute and disgrace among people, poverty, divine punishment, destruction of faith, and being cursed by angels.

Jealousy, stinginess, weak faith, and the like are mentioned as grounds and motivations of lying. To stop lying, certain methods are recommended such as consideration of its consequences as well as Quranic verses and hadiths in its condemnation.

In some cases, lying is said to be permissible. A case in point is to settle disputes among people or save a person’s or one’s own life.

The Notion

Lie is the moral vice of saying what is not true[1] or to attribute a statement to someone, whereas he or she never uttered it.[2] Lie is contrasted to truthfulness. A person who tells lies is called a liar.[3]

Place and Significance

Lying is a major moral vice[4] and the most heinous sin.[5] In some hadiths, it is described as key to all evils.[6]

According to Ahmad al-Naraqi, there are many Quranic verses and hadiths in condemnation of lies and lying.[7] Moreover, books of hadiths[8] and ethics often contain sections devoted to lie. For instance, in the book al-Kafi, there is a section on lie, which contains twenty two hadiths in condemnation of lie.[9] In a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) about the armies of reason and ignorance, truthfulness is mentioned as a soldier of reason and lie as a soldier of ignorance.[10] The Quran asserts that liars deserve God’s curse and wrath.[11] In books of ethics, lie is discussed as a moral vice.[12]

In books of Islamic jurisprudence, lie is discussed in the sections on fasting, hajj, transactions, and oath.[13] For instance, lying is forbidden during ihram, as discussed in the rituals of hajj.[14] Moreover, attribution of falsehoods to God and the Prophet (s) invalidates one’s fast, as discussed in the problems of fasting.[15]

Is Lying a Major Sin?

In some hadiths, lying is characterized as a major sin.[16] Thus, al-Shahid al-Thani believes that it is a major sin, committing which results in loss of the state of being just or righteous.[17] Nevertheless, al-Shaykh al-Ansari adduces other hadiths[18] to speculate that lying is a major sin only if it has ruinous consequences.[19]

Moreover, in some hadiths, attribution of falsehoods to God and the Prophet (s) is mentioned as a major sin.[20] Some people have cited these hadiths as evidence that only this case of lying counts as a major sin. Others have speculated that these hadiths indicate the intensity of sins in these cases.[21]

Grounds and Motivations of Lying

A variety of causes and motivations have been attributed to lying. According to one hadith, lying arises from the meanness of one’s spirit.[22] Other factors such as weakness of faith, satanic temptations, stinginess, jealousy, and acquisitiveness are also mentioned as motivations of lying.[23]

Consequences and Repercussions

Here are some consequences of lying:

  1. Disrepute: Imam 'Ali (a) is quoted as warning against friendship with liars, because they lie so much that even their truths cannot be believed.[24]
  2. Loss of faith: according to a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a), lie ruins the house of faith.[25]
  3.  Divine punishment: The Prophet (s) is quoted as warning against lying, because it arises from viciousness and injustice, and the liar and the vicious are in the hell.[26]
  4.  The Curse of angels: the Prophet (s) is quoted as saying that whenever a believer lies without any excuses, he will be cursed by seventy-thousand angels, and a stinky smell comes out of his heart all the way to the Divine Throne. Moreover, for that lie, God writes for him the sins of seventy adulteries, the least of which is adultery with mother.[27]

Other consequences of lying include disgrace,[28] poverty[29], and forgetfulness[30], as noted in hadiths. According to Ahmad al-Naraqi in Mi'raj al-sa'ada, lying leads to one’s humility, disrepute, dishonor, and abasement in this world and in the hereafter.[31]

Treatments of Lying

Ahmad al-Naraqi believes that there are certain steps to internalize truthfulness as a habit, including:

  • Consideration of Quranic verses and hadiths in condemnation of lying.
  • Contemplation of the worldly and afterlife repercussions of lying, such as punishment in the hereafter and disgrace in this world
  • Reflection on the benefits of truthfulness
  • Thinking before talking
  • Avoiding the companionship of liars and vicious people.[32]

Moreover, according to Nasir Makarim Shirazi, a contemporary Shiite authority and an exegete of the Quran, in his book Akhlaq dar Qur'an (Ethics in the Quran), lying should be treated by treating its root-causes. For instance, if lying is motivated by the weakness of faith, then one should strengthen his faith, and if it is caused by stinginess and jealousy, then they should be treated. Furthermore, one should avoid the companionship of liars or the contexts in which lies are encouraged.[33]

Permissible Lies

It is forbidden (haram) to lie in Islamic jurisprudence.[34] Nevertheless, it is said to be permissible or even obligatory in cases where it has a great benefit:[35]

  • In cases of emergency: when there is an emergency or coercion, it is permissible to lie,[36] such as cases where one’s own life or other people’s lives are in danger.[37]
  • In war: according to hadiths, it is permissible to lie in order to deceive the enemy.[39]

Giving false promises to one’s wife and children

According to some hadiths, it is permissible to give false promises to one’s wife.[40] For this reason, books of hadiths enumerate this as a case in which it is permissible to lie.[41] Nevertheless, Shiite jurists believe that it is impermissible to lie to one’s wife.[42] Moreover, these hadiths are said to contradict the Quranic verses according to which it is impermissible to breach one’s promise,[43].[44] as well as hadiths that prohibit giving promise with no intention of keeping it.[45] Moreover, some people believe that acting upon such hadith would have unwelcome pedagogical consequences as it would encourage children to lie and to break their promises.[46][47]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Tahqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur'ān, vol. 10, p. 33.
  2. ↑ Shaʿrānī, Nathr-i ṭūba, vol. 2, p. 331.
  3. ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Tahqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur'ān, vol. 10, p. 33.
  4. ↑ Narāqī, Miʿrāj al-saʿādāt, p. 573.
  5. ↑ Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 332.
  6. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 69, p. 263.
  7. ↑ Narāqī, Miʿrāj al-saʿādāt, p. 573.
  8. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 338-343.
  9. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 338-343.
  10. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 21.
  11. ↑ Qur'an 24: 21.
  12. ↑ Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 332-338.
  13. ↑ Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 110-111.
  14. ↑ Khomeini, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 399.
  15. ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 3, p. 549.
  16. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 12.
  17. ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, vol. 3, p. 129.
  18. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 338, Hadith 2.
  19. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 13-14.
  20. ↑ Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, vol. 12, p. 248.
  21. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 13.
  22. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 69, p. 262.
  23. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Akhlāq dar Qurān, vol. 3, p. 234-236.
  24. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 341, Hadith 14.
  25. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 339, Hadith 4.
  26. ↑ Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, vol. 9, p. 88.
  27. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 69, p. 263.
  28. ↑ Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, vol. 9, p. 87.
  29. ↑ Qummī, Safīnat al-biḥār, vol. 7, p. 455.
  30. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 341, h. 15.
  31. ↑ Narāqī, Miʿrāj al-saʿādāt, p. 573.
  32. ↑ Narāqī, Miʿrāj al-saʿādāt, p. 578-580.
  33. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Akhlāq dar Qurān, vol. 3, p. 235-236.
  34. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 11.
  35. ↑ Narāqī, Miʿrāj al-saʿādāt, p. 575.
  36. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 21.
  37. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 21.
  38. ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib, vol. 2, p. 31.
  39. ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 4, p. 359.
  40. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 342, Hadith 18.
  41. ↑ Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 336-237.
  42. ↑ Khomeini, al-Makāsib al-muḥarrama, vol. 2, p. 140; Ṭabāṭabāʾī ḥakīm, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, vol. 2, p. 15.
  43. ↑ Qur'an 17: 34.
  44. ↑ Fulfill the covenants; indeed all covenants are accountable.
  45. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 101, p. 73.
  46. ↑ Īrwānī, "Aṣl-i ṣidāqat dar Qurʾān wa taḥlīl-i mawārid-i jawāz-i kidhb", p. 126.
  47. ↑ Some scholars believe that if we accept these hadiths, then a man may lie to his wife only if it improves and strengthens the foundation of the family. However, given certain problems in their chains of transmission as well as their denotations, jurists have dismissed the hadiths concerning the permissibility of lying to one’s wife.

References

  • Anṣārī, Murtaḍā. Al-Makāsib. [n.p]: Turāth al-Shaykh al-Aʿẓam, [n.d].
  • Īrwānī, Jawād. "Aṣl-i ṣidāqat dar Qurʾān wa taḥlīl-i mawārid-i jawāz-i kidhb". Āmūza-hā-yi Qurʾānī 13 (1390).
  • Khomeinī,, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Tehran: Muʾassisah-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeinī, 1379 Sh.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī & Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Wafāʾ, 1403 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Akhlāq dar Qurān. Qom: Madrasat al-Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1377 Sh.
  • Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Tahqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur'ān al-karīm. Tehran: Wizārat-i Farhang wa Irshād-i Islāmī, 1368 Sh
  • Narāqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Mahdī. Miʿrāj al-saʿādāt. Qom: Muʾassisat Intishārāt-i Hijrat, [n.d].
  • Narāqī, Mahdī b. Abī Dhar. Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt. Edited by Muḥammad Kalāntar. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1967.
  • Nūrī, Mīrzā Ḥusayn al-. Mustadrak al-wasāʾil wa musṭanbit al-wasā'il. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1408 AH.
  • Qummī, Shaykh ʿAbbās. Safīnat al-biḥār wa madīnat al-ḥikam wa l-āthār. Tehran: Farāhānī, 1363 SH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Tehran: Nashr-i Ṣadūq, 1367 Sh.
  • Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya fī sharḥ al-lumʿat al-Dimashqiyya. Edited by Muḥammad Kalāntar. 1398 AH.
  • Shaʿrānī, Abu l-Ḥassan. Nathr-i ṭūba. Tehran: Islāmīyya, [n.d].
  • Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1420 AH.
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