Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Lying and Deception: Difference between revisions

Arabic: ومكروا ومكر الله والله خير الماكرين

Transliteration: Wamakaroo wamakara Allahu waAllahu khayru almakireena

Arabic: افامنوا مكر الله فلايامن مكر الله الا القوم الخاسرون

Transliteration: Afaaminoo makra Allahi fala ya/manu makra Allahi illa alqawmu alkhasiroona

Arabic: واذ يمكر بك الذين كفروا ليثبتوك او يقتلوك او يخرجوك ويمكرون ويمكر الله والله خير الماكرين

Transliteration: Wa-ith yamkuru bika allatheena kafaroo liyuthbitooka aw yaqtulooka aw yukhrijooka wayamkuroona wayamkuru Allahu waAllahu khayru almakireena

Arabic: واذا اذقنا الناس رحمة من بعد ضراء مستهم اذا لهم مكر في اياتنا قل الله اسرع مكرا ان رسلنا يكتبون ماتمكرون

Transliteration: Wa-itha athaqna alnnasa rahmatan min baAAdi darraa massat-hum itha lahum makrun fee ayatina quli Allahu asraAAu makran inna rusulana yaktuboona ma tamkuroona

Arabic: وقد مكر الذين من قبلهم فلله المكر جميعا يعلم ماتكسب كل نفس وسيعلم الكفار لمن عقبى الدار

Transliteration: Waqad makara allatheena min qablihim falillahi almakru jameeAAan yaAAlamu ma taksibu kullu nafsin wasayaAAlamu alkuffaru liman AAuqba alddari

Narrated `Abdullah:

'Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

Asma bint Yazid narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:

"it is not lawful to lie except in three cases: Something the man tells his wife to please her, to lie during war, and to lie in order to bring peace between the people."

Grade: Sahih (Darussalam)

Umm Kulthum, daughter of ‘Uqbah, said:

I did not hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) making a concession for anything people say falsely except in three matters. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would say: I do not count as a liar a man who puts things right between people, saying a word by which he intends only putting things right, and a man who says something in war, and a man who says something to his wife, or a wife who says something to her husband.

Grade: Sahih (Al-Albani)

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you.

My father has an illicit relationship with a woman other than my mother and he refuses to marry her and he spends on her abundantly, and at the same time, he is tightfisted on his house. My mother knew what he spends on her, without his knowledge, through reading a list he keeps in his pocket. She used tricks to make sedition between them by claiming that someone called us and said that he spent that sum and that sum on that woman. My father asked my testimony and I supported my mother’s claim. Are my mother and I sinful by lying on my father, or is it considered “permissible” lying? How do you counsel us to solve this problem? Jazakum Allahu Khairan.

Answer:

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful

Praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon His kind Messenger, his family members, companions and followers.

Lying is a grave sin and a bad conduct that should not be resorted to by anyone who believes in Allah and in the Day of Judgment, except under the compelling strokes of necessity, because, as the prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: “That lying leads to dissolution, and that dissolution leads to hellfire, and a person is always lying and seeks lying until he is registered unto Allah that he is a liar”. If someone is compelled to lying, he can indirectly say something that his listener can understand something else. However, your father should be reached out by a sincere advice that he should fear Allah and that his relationship with that woman is against his reputation, his old age, and his religion, that would expose him to Allah’s wrath and contempt. I would say to him what the Arab poet has said: “Suffice it to you old age and Islam to restrain you”.

In this verse [al-Maa’idah 5:51] Allaah tells us that whoever takes the Jews and Christians as friends is one of them because of his taking them as friends... [Aal ‘Imraan 3:28]

This verse explains all the verses quoted above which forbid taking the kaafirs as friends in general terms. What that refers to is in cases where one has a choice, but in cases of fear and taqiyah it is permissible to make friends with them, as much as is essential to protect oneself against their evil. That is subject to the condition that one’s faith should not be affected by that friendship and the one who is behaves in that manner out of necessity is not one who behaves in that manner out of choice.

It may be understood from the apparent meaning of these verses that the one who deliberately takes the kuffaar as friends by choice and because he likes them, is one of them.

Adwa’ al-Bayaan, 2/98,99
. . .

Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the ruling on mixing with the kuffaar and treating them kindly hoping that they will become Muslim. He replied:

Undoubtedly the Muslim is obliged to hate the enemies of Allaah and to disavow them, because this is the way of the Messengers and their followers. [Quotes al-Mumtahanah 60:4 & al-Mujaadilah 58:22]

Based on this, it is not permissible for a Muslim to feel any love in his heart towards the enemies of Allaah who are in fact his enemies too. [Quotes al-Mumtahanah 60:1]

But if a Muslim treats them with kindness and gentleness in the hope that they will become Muslim and will believe, there is nothing wrong with that, because it comes under the heading of opening their hearts to Islam. But if he despairs of them becoming Muslim, then he should treat them accordingly. This is something that is discussed in detail by the scholars, especially in the book Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah by Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him).

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): [Quotes al-Ma'idah 5:31 & al-A’raaf 7:26]

With regard to the meaning in sharee’ah (religious) terminology, it refers to someone who says something that may appear to have one meaning to the listener but the speaker intends something different that may be understood from these words. For example, he says, “I do not have a dirham in my pocket,” and that is understood to mean that he does not have any money at all, when what he means is that he does not have a dirham but he may have a dinar, for example. This is called ambiguity or dissembling.

Deliberate ambiguity is regarded as a legitimate solution for avoiding difficult situations that a person may find himself in when someone asks him about something, and he does not want to tell the truth on the one hand, and does not want to lie, on the other.

Deliberate ambiguity is permissible if it is necessary or if it serves a shar’i (religious) interest, but it is not appropriate to do it a great deal so that it becomes a habit, or to use it to gain something wrongfully or to deprive someone of his rights.

Al-Nawawi said:

The scholars said: If that is needed to serve some legitimate shar’i interest that outweighs the concern about misleading the person to whom you are speaking, or it is needed for a reason that cannot be achieved without lying, then there is nothing wrong with using deliberate ambiguity as an acceptable alternative. But if there is no interest to be served and no pressing need, then it is makrooh (disliked), but is not haram (impermissible). If it is a means of taking something wrongfully or depriving someone of their rights, then it is haram in that case. This is the guideline in this matter. Al-Adhkaar.

Some scholars were of the view that it is haram to resort to deliberate ambiguity if there is no reason or need to do so. This was the view favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him). See al-Ikhtiyaaraat.

There are situations in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught that we may use deliberate ambiguity, for example:

If a man loses his wudoo (ablution) whilst praying in congregation, what should he do in this embarrassing situation?

The answer is that he should place his hand over his nose and leave.

The evidence for that is the report narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If anyone of you breaks his wudoo whilst praying, let him hold his nose and leave.” Sunan Abi Dawood.

Al-Teebi said: The command to hold his nose is so that it will look as if he has a nosebleed. This is not a lie, rather it is a kind of ambiguity. This concession is granted so that the Shaytan will not trick him into staying put because of feeling embarrassed in front of people.

Mirqaah al-Mafaateeh Sharh Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh.

This is a kind of ambiguity that is permitted, so as to avoid any embarrassment and so that whoever sees him leaving will think that he has a nosebleed.

Similarly If a Muslim faces a difficult situation where he needs to say what is against the truth in order to protect himself or someone who is innocent, or to save himself from serious trouble, is there a way for him to escape the situation without lying or falling into sin?

Yes, there is a legal way and a permissible escape that one can make use of if necessary. It is equivocation or indirectness in speech. Imam al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) entitled a chapter of his Saheeh: “Indirect speech is a safe way to avoid a lie”. (Saheeh al-Bukhari, Kitaab al-Adab (Book of Manners)).

Equivocation means saying something which has a closer meaning that the hearer will understand, but it also has a remote meaning which what is actually meant and is linguistically correct. The condition for this is that whatever is said should not present a truth as falsity and vice versa. The following are examples of such statements used by the salaf (pious predecessors) and early imams (religious leaders), and collected by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in his book Ighaathat al-Lahfaan:

It was reported about Hammad (may Allah have mercy on him), if someone came that he did not want to sit with, he would say as if in pain: “My tooth, my tooth!” Then the boring person whom he did not like would leave him alone.

Imam Sufyan Al-Thawri was brought to the khaleefah al-Mahdi, who liked him, but when he wanted to leave, the khaleefah told him he had to stay. Al-Thawri swore that he would come back. He then went out, leaving his shoes at the door. After some time he came back, took his shoes and went away. The khaleefah asked about him, and was told that he had sworn to come back, so he had come back and taken his shoes.

Imam Ahmad was in his house, and some of his students, including al-Mirwadhi, were with him. Someone came along, asking for al-Mirwadhi from outside the house, but Imam Ahmad did not want him to go out, so he said: “Al-Mirwadhi is not here, what would he be doing here?” whilst putting his finger in the palm of his other hand, and the person outside could not see what he was doing.

Other examples of equivocation or indirectness in speech include the following:

If someone asks you whether you have seen so-and-so, and you are afraid that if you tell the questioner about him this would lead to harm, you can say “ma ra aytuhu”, meaning that you have not cut his lung, because this is a correct meaning in Arabic [“ma ra aytuhu” usually means “I have not seen him,” but can also mean “I have not cut his lung”]; or you could deny having seen him, referring in your heart to a specific time and place where you have not seen him. If someone asks you to swear an oath that you will never speak to so-and-so, you could say, “Wallaahi lan ukallumahu”, meaning that you will not wound him, because “kalam” can also mean “wound” in Arabic [as well as “speech”]. Similarly, if a person is forced to utter words of kufr (disbelief) and is told to deny Allah, it is permissible for him to say “Kafartu bi’l-laahi”, meaning “I denounce the playboy” [which sounds the same as the phrase meaning “I deny Allah.”]

(Ighaathat al-Lahfaan by Ibn al-Qayyim. See also the section on equivocation (ma’aareed) in Al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah by Ibn Muflih).

However, one should be cautious that the use of such statements is restricted only to situations of great difficulty, otherwise:

Excessive use of it may lead to lying.

One may lose good friends, because they would always be in doubt as to what is meant.

If the person to whom such a statement is given comes to know that the reality was different from what he was told, and he was not aware that the person was engaging in deliberate ambiguity or equivocation, he would consider that person to be a liar. This goes against the principle of protecting one’s honour by not giving people cause to doubt one’s integrity.

The person who uses such a technique frequently may become proud of his ability to take advantage of people.

1 - there is a legitimate reason for doing so If there is no legitimate (under the shari`ah) reason, then it is not permissible. [Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar 9/613.]

2 - the 'hidden' true meaning is not too far fetched

3 - the statement does not lead to someone else suffering injustice or losing one of their rights.

Assalaamu alaykum. I have been married for 15 years and have three kids. My husband has remarried without informing me and has been lying to me for the past year, creating mistrust between us. He has finally admitted his second marriage to me after extensive arguments. I have asked for a divorce as we are not compatible. He does not want to tell his family about his second marriage. His second wife has four kids, and he also has not told her kids and family about their marriage. They are both living a secret marriage. I feel that I cannot trust him because he has been lying to me for a whole year. Prior to him admitting his second marriage, I had called a meeting with our parents and told them that we constantly argue about his whereabouts and that he denied that he married again. I then went to a mufti and he also denied his marriage, so the mufti advised us to reconcile our marriage. I only stayed in this marriage because of my kids; I am a housewife who fears Allaah. I have tried my best to overlook his lies. Yes, I have been unhappy in this marriage for a long time as he is a very difficult person to please and I have tried, but I cannot do it anymore. We argue a lot, which led to disrespect, and my religion is the only reason that I am still in this marriage. I want to request a Khul’. Please advise what steps should be taken, Allaah willing.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we ask Allaah to make things easy for you and to relieve your distress and reconcile between you and your husband.

We, as well, recommend you to do what the mufti advised you to do, which is to reconcile. The family will break up by separation, and the children could be badly affected as a result.

Allaah says (what means): {And if a woman fears from her husband contempt or evasion, there is no sin upon them if they make terms of settlement between them - and settlement is best. And present in [human] souls is stinginess. But if you do good and fear Allaah - then indeed Allaah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.} [Quran 4:128]

Indeed, you did well as you were patient for the sake of your children; we perceive that this is due to you having a sound mind and reasoning.

Asking for a Khul’ is disliked in Islam unless there is a sound reason for it. The mere marriage of your husband with a second wife is not a sound reason for you to ask for Khul’. Nevertheless, if you hate your husband and you fear that you cannot fulfill his rights upon you, then it becomes permissible for you to ask for Khul’. Please, refer to fatwa 131953.

In any case, you should not ask for a Khul’ unless you consider that its benefit outweighs the harm of separation. It is only in this case that you may take the matter to the authorities concerned with the issues of the Muslims, such as Islamic Centers. For the rulings on Khul’, please refer to fatwa 89039.

Finally, we would like to point out the two following matters:

Firstly: the husband is allowed to marry a second wife provided that he is just between his two wives. Allaah says (what means): {…then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hand possesses. That is more suitable that you may not incline [to injustice].} [Quran 4:3] Please, refer to fataawa 81469 and84411.

Secondly: Lying is a contemptible and outrageous behavior, and it is forbidden except in some cases permitted by the Sharee'ah, such as the husband and wife lying to each other for a good cause without violating each other's rights. Umm Kulthoom Bint ‘Uqbah may Allaah be pleased with her said, “I did not hear the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) permitting lies for people except in three cases. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) used to say, 'I do not consider the following as lying: a man reconciles between people, he lies just in order to reconcile; and a man who lies in war; and when a man speaks to his wife or when a wife speaks to her husband (in certain situations).'” [Muslim]

An-Nawawi said, “With regard to a husband lying to his wife and a wife lying to her husband: it means showing compassion and kindness and promising what is not obligatory and so forth. As regards cheating or deception in not giving what he is obliged to give or what she is obliged to give, or taking what he is not allowed to take or her taking what she is not allowed to take, then this is forbidden according to the consensus of the Muslims.”

Allaah knows best.

This means that it is lawful for a believer, helpless in the grip of the enemies of Islam and in imminent danger of severe wrong and persecution, to keep his faith concealed and to behave in such a manner as to create the impression that he is on the same side as his enemies. A person whose Muslim identity is discovered is permitted to adopt a friendly attitude owards the unbelievers in order to save his life. If he considers himself incapable of enduring the excesses to which he may be subjected, he may even state that he is not a believer.

"...Allah warns you to beware of Him for it is to Allah that you will return."

“He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.”