THE PROHIBITION OF LYING

1. Allah says:
“It is only those who believe not in the Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, who fabricate falsehood, and it is they who are liars.”
[Surah al-Nahl (16):105]
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)

The Most Evil of Lies
1. Lies told about Allah and His Messenger (PBUH)
Allah says:
“Say: „Verily, those who invent a lie against Allah will never be successful‟”
[Surah Yunus (10):69]
It was narrated by „Ali (R) that 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).

2. Lying in buying and selling.
It was narrated from Abu Dharr (R) that the Prophet (PBUH) said:
“There are three to whom Allah 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 Allah?” He said, “The one who lets his garment hang below his ankles, the one who reminds others of his favors, and the one who disposes of his goods by swearing a false oath.” (Narrated by Muslim, 106).

Prophet (PBUH) said in a hadeeth whose authenticity is agreed upon:
„The two parties involved in a transaction have the option [of canceling 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.‟ And Allah 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‟[Surah al-Maa`idah (5):8].”

3. The prohibition on lying about visions and dreams.
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).

4. The prohibition of speaking about everything that one hears.
It was narrated by Hafs ibn „Aasim, that the the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:
„It is sufficient lying for a man to speak of everything that he hears.‟ (Narrated by Muslim, 5).

5. Lying in jest.
„Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Laylaa said: “The companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) told us that they were traveling with the Messenger of Allah (). 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 () said, “What are you laughing at?” They said, “Nothing, except that we took the arrows and he got alarmed.” The Messenger of Allah () said: “It is not permissible for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim.” (Narrated by Abu Da-wood, 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-Allah ibn al-Saa‟ib ibn Yazeed from his father from his grandfather that he heard the Messenger of Allah () 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)

It was narrated by Ibn, Umar that 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).

7. Lying to make people laugh.
It was narrated by Mu„aawiyah ibn Haydah that he heard the Prophet () 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 Da-wood, 4990).
8.It was narrated by Abu Hurayrah (R) that the Messenger of Allah (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).


THE PUNISHMENT OF LYING
1. Hypocrisy in the heart
„Abd-Allah ibn Mas‟ood said:
“You may know the hypocrite by three things: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted with something he betrays that trust.”. He said: “Recite this aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
„And of them are some who made a covenant with Allah (saying): „If He bestowed on us of His Bounty, we will verily, give Sadaqah (Zakaah and voluntary charity in Allah‟s Cause) and will be certainly among those who are righteous.‟ * Then when He gave them of His Bounty, they became niggardly [refused to pay the Sadaqah (Zakaah or voluntary charity)], and turned away, averse. * So He punished them by putting hypocrisy into their hearts till the Day where-on they shall meet Him, because they broke that (covenant with Allah) which they had promised to Him and because they used to tell lies.”
[Surah at-Tawbah (9):75-77]

2. Guidance to evildoing and to the Fire.
It was narrated by „Abd-Allah ibn Masood that the Messenger of Allah () said:
“Truthfulness is righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A person will continue to tell the truth until he is written with Allah as one who tells the truth. Lying is evildoing, and evildoing leads to Hell. A person will keep on telling lies until he is written as a liar.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5743; Muslim, 2607)

3. Blackening of the face in this world and in the Hereafter .
Allah says:
“And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allah (i.e. attributed to Him sons, partners) their faces will be black”
[al-Zumar 39:60]

4. The liar will have the flesh of his cheeks torn to the back of his head.
It was narrated that Samurah ibn Jundub (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The Messenger of Allah () often used to say to his companions, „Has anyone among you seen a dream?‟ Then whoever Allah willed would tell of his dream. One day he said to us, „Two (angels) came to me last night and woke me up, then they said to me, „Let‟s go!‟… so we set out and came to a man who was lying flat on his back and another man standing over his head with an iron hook, and behold, he would put the hook in one side of the man's mouth and tear off that side of his face to the back (of the neck) and similarly tear his nose from front to back and his eye from front to back. Then he turned to the other side of the man's face and did just as he had done with the other side. Hardly had he completed this side when the first side was restored to its normal state. Then he went back and did that all over again. I said to my two companions, Subhaan Allah! Who are these two persons?‟ They said to me, „Move on, move on!‟ (Then he said, describing how the two angels explained the things that he had seen): „As for the man you came across, the sides of whose mouth, nostrils and eyes were being torn off from front to back, he is the symbol of the man who goes out of his house in the morning and tells so many lies that it spreads all over the world.‟ ” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5745)


PERMISSIBLE KINDS OF LIES
It was narrated by Asmaa´ bint Yazeed that the Messenger of Allah () said:
“It is not permissible to tell lies except in three (cases): when a man speaks to his wife in a way to please her; lying in war; and lying in order to reconcile between people.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1939)