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April Fool - Part 1
Lying is an evil
characteristic, which all religions and systems of ethics warn against and which
man's innate common sense (fitrah) agrees that it is wrong. Those who possess
chivalry and sound reason also say this.
Truthfulness is one of the pillars on which the moral survival of the world
depends. It is the foundation of praiseworthy characteristics, the cornerstone
of Prophethood, the result of taqwaa. Were it not for truthfulness, the rulings
of all divinely-revealed laws would collapse. Acquiring the characteristic of
lying is akin to shedding one's humanity, because speaking is an exclusively
human trait.
Our purely monotheistic sharee’ah warns against lying in the Qur’aan and Sunnah,
and there is consensus that it is haraam. The liar will have bad consequences in
this world and in the next.
According to sharee’ah, lying is not permitted except in specific cases which do
not lead to loss of rights, bloodshed or slander of people’s honour, etc., but
which concern saving lives, reconciling between people, or creating love between
husband and wife.
There is never a day or a moment when sharee’ah permits a person to tell lies or
to say whatever he wants based on lies. One of the things that have become
widespread among the common people is the so called “April Fool’s Day”, where
they claim that the first day of the fourth solar month is a day when lying is
permitted without being subject to any shar’i guidelines. Many bad things may
result from this, some of which we will mention below.
The prohibition of lying in Islam:
1. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "It is only
those who believe not in the Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs,
revelations, etc.) of Allaah, who fabricate falsehood, and it is they who are
liars." [al-Nahl 16:105]
Ibn Katheer said: 'Then Allaah tells us that His Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him -PBUH) is not a fabricator or a liar, because only the
most evil of people who do not believe in the signs of Allaah, the kaafirs and
heretics who are known amongst the people for telling lies, tell lies about
Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
The Messenger Muhammad (PBUH) was the most truthful of people, the most
righteous, the most perfect in knowledge, action, faith and certain belief. He
was known amongst his people for his truthfulness; none of them doubted that, to
such an extent that he was known amongst them as ‘al-Ameen (the trustworthy)
Muhammad.
Hence when Heraclius, the ruler of Rome, asked Abu Sufyaan about the
characteristics of the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH), one of the things he asked
was, ‘Did you ever accuse him of lying before he said what he said?’ He said,
‘No.’ Heraclius said: ‘If he refrained from telling lies about people he would
not go and tell lies about Allaah.' (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 2/588)
2. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The signs of
the hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he
breaks it; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 33; Muslim, 59). Al-Nawawi said: “What the
commentators and most of the scholars said – which is correct – is that this
means that these characteristics are the characteristics of hypocrisy, and the
one who has these characteristics resembles the hypocrites in this sense.'
The words of the Prophet (PBUH), ‘he is a pure hypocrite’ mean that he strongly
resembles the hypocrites because of these characteristics. Some of the scholars
said: this is concerning one in whom these characteristics predominate; one in
whom these characteristics rarely appear is not included in this.
This is the favoured view concerning the meaning of this hadeeth. Imaam Abu
‘Eesa al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated this meaning from
the scholars and said: ‘The meaning of this according to the scholars is
hypocrisy in one's actions.’” (Sharh Muslim, 2/46-47)
The most evil kinds of lies are:
1. Lies told about Allaah and His Messenger:
This is the most serious kind of lie, and the one who does this is subject to a
severe warning. Some of the scholars said that the one who does this is to be
denounced as a kaafir. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say: ‘Verily, those who invent a lie against Allaah will
never be successful’” [Yoonus 10:69]
It was narrated by ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him): “The Prophet (PBUH)
said: ‘Do not tell lies about me. Whoever tells lies about me, let him enter the
Fire.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 106). It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that
the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever tells lies about me, let him take his place in
Hell.” (narrated by al-Bukhaari, 110; Muslim, 3).
Ibn al-Qayyim said: ‘Whoever tells lies about me, let him take his place in
Hell’, i.e., let him take his place in Hell where he will abide and settle; it
is not like a manzil or camp where he stays for a while and then moves on.” (Tareeq
al-Hijratayn, p. 169)
2. Lying in buying and selling:
It was narrated from Abu Dharr that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “There are three to
whom Allaah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection and He will not look at
them or praise them, and they will have a painful torment.” The Messenger of
Allaah (PBUH) repeated this three times. Abu Dharr said: “May they be doomed and
lost, who are they, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said, “The one who lets his
garment hang below his ankles, the one who reminds others of his favours, and
the one who disposes of his goods by swearing a false oath.” (Narrated by
Muslim, 106)
It was narrated that Hakeem ibn Hizaam said: “The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH)
said: ‘The two parties involved in a transaction have the option [of cancelling
it] until they part. If they are honest and truthful, their transaction will be
blessed for them and if they conceal something and tell lies, the blessing of
their transaction will be wiped out.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1973; Muslim,
532)
Ibn Taymiyah said: 'Allaah has enjoined truthfulness and honesty, and He has
forbidden lies and concealment with regard to matters which should be known and
revealed to people, as the Prophet (PBUH) said in a hadeeth whose authenticity
is agreed upon: ‘The two parties involved ...’ And Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning): "O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allaah as just
witnesses; and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice.
Be just: that is nearer to piety." [al-Maa’idah 5:8].' (Minhaaj al-Sunnah, 1/16)
3. Lying about visions and dreams:
This refers to when a man claims to have seen such and such in a dream, but he
is not telling the truth, then in the morning he starts to tell the people
something that he did not see.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever tells of
a dream that he did not see will be commanded [on the Day of Resurrection] to
tie two grains of barley together, but he will never be able to do it. Whoever
eavesdrops on people’s conversation when they dislike that – or they try to get
away from him - will have molten copper poured in his ears in the Day of
Resurrection. And whoever makes an image will be punished and will be told to
breathe life into it, and he will not be able to do so.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari,
6635)
Al-Munaawi said: '‘to tie two grains of barley together, but he will never be
able to do it’ – because tying one to the other is not possible ordinarily. He
will be punished until he does that, and he will never be able to do it. It is
as if he is saying that he will be enjoined to do something that he can never
do, and is being punished for it. This is a metaphor for continuous punishment…
The reason why barley (sha’eer) is mentioned specifically is because dreams are
connected to feelings (shu’oor); the words sha’eer (barley) and shu’oor
(feelings) come from the same root in Arabic.
The punishment for that is so severe – even though lies when awake may cause
more damage, because they may involve testimony that may lead to execution or a
hadd punishment – because lying about a dream is a lie about Allaah, may He be
exalted, for dreams are a part of Prophethood, so they come from Him, and lying
about the Creator is worse than lying about created beings.' (Fayd al-Qadeer,
6/99)
4. Speaking about everything that one hears:
It was narrated that Hafs ibn ‘Aasim said: “The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) said:
‘It is sufficient lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears.’”
(Narrated by Muslim, 5)
Al Nawawi said: 'With regard to the meanings of the hadeeth and reports on this
topic, they discourage speaking about everything that one hears. For usually a
person will hear both true things and lies, so if he were to speak of everything
that he hears, he would be lying, by telling of something that did not happen.
We have stated above the view of the people of truth: that lying means telling
of something in a manner other than the way it happened. It is not conditional
upon it being done deliberately, but its being done deliberately is a condition
of it being a sin. And Allaah knows best.' (Sharh Muslim, 1/75)
5. Lying in jest:
Some people think that it is permissible to tell lies if it is in jest. This is
the excuse that they use for telling lies on April 1st or on other days. This is
wrong. There is no basis for this in the pure sharee’ah. Lying is haraam whether
the one who does it is joking or is serious. Lying in jest is haraam just like
other kinds of lies.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘I joke, but I
speak nothing but the truth.’” (narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer,
12/391). This hadeeth was classed as hasan by al-Haythami in Majma’ al-Zawaa’id,
8/89, and classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him)
in Saheeh al-Jaami, 2494)
‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Laylaa said: the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH)
told us that they were travelling with the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH). A man
among them fell asleep and some of them went and took his arrows. When the man
woke up, he got alarmed (because his arrows were missing) and the people
laughed.
The Prophet (PBUH) said, “What are you laughing at?” They said, “Nothing, except
that we took the arrows and he got alarmed.” The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH)
said: “It is not permissible for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim.” (Narrated
by Abu Dawood, 5004; Ahmad, 22555 – this version narrated by Ahmad). This
hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 7658)
It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Saa’ib ibn Yazeed from his father from
his grandfather that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) say: “None of you
should take the belongings of his brother, whether in jest or otherwise. Whoever
has taken the stick of his brother, let him return it.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood,
5003; al-Tirmidhi, 2160 in brief. The hadeeth was classed as hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani
in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 7578)
6. Lying when playing with children:
We must beware of lying when playing with children, because that will be written
down (in the record of deeds of) the one who does that. The Messenger of Allaah
(PBUH) warned against doing that. It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Aamir
(may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “My mother called me one day when the
Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) was sitting in our house. She said, ‘Come here, and I
will give you (something).’ The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) said,
‘What do you want to give him?’ She said, ‘I will give him a date.’ The
Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) said: ‘If you had not given him something, you would
have been lying.’”
And it was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH)
said: ‘Whoever says to a child, ‘Come here and take this,’ then does not give
him something, this is counted as a lie.’” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4991. This
hadeeth was classed as hasan by Shaykh al-‘Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1319.)
7. Lying to make people laugh:
It was narrated that Mu’aawiyah ibn Haydah said: “I heard the Prophet (PBUH)
say: ‘Woe to the one who talks to make the people laugh and tells lies, woe to
him, woe to him.’” (narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 235. He said: this is a hasan
hadeeth. Also narrated by Abu Dawood, 4990.)
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April Fool (Part 2)
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