How To Stop Lying As A Muslim
I, of course, knew that lying was bad, but I only recently found out that lying in Islam is considered a major sin.
Yes, yes, you might have already known this. You might be shocked that I didn’t know it.
But, that’s why I love having this blog. It’s an opportunity for me to learn more about Islam, because whilst researching for these posts, I learn so much too!
Ever since this realisation, I have pondered upon all the lies, big or small, I might have intentionally and unintentionally engaged in.
And it makes sense. Lying is deceitful and causes problems. Little white lies eventually become rabbit holes that are too deep to fill. Overall, lying takes you away from Allah.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ even said that it is possible for a coward or stingy person (both bad traits) to be a Muslim, but it isn’t possible for a liar to be a Muslim. (1) It is also a well known quality of the hypocrites in Islam.
This highlights just how important it is to get over this extremely bad habit and learn how to stop lying.
And this doesn’t just include lying outright about something. There are many ‘harmless’ things that we think we do that are actually considered lying. It’s important to stamp these out too as these mindless, seemingly harmless actions may just be what causes your downfall.
Truthfulness opens the doors to all good deeds so make it an active effort to learn how to stop lying.
How to Stop Lying In Your Daily Life
Misrepresenting your actions
Exaggerating or saying small lies about your interactions will lead to greater acts of lying.
This might include you talking to someone about your interactions with someone else, and changing some of the things you might have said to them, slightly changing the other person’s words, or misrepresenting someone’s tone or the mood of the conversation.
Don’t try to impress other people with your words. Focus on impressing Allah with your actions instead.
Being mistrustful with children
Did you know there was a situation in which a woman was calling her son to come to her with the promise of giving him something in return?
The Prophet ﷺ asked her if she was actually going to give him something, and she replied that she would give him a date.
In that case, Prophet ﷺ said that if she wasn’t planning to give him anything despite giving him the impression she was, it would be considered a lie.
It’s important to teach truthfulness to children to build trust in them but to also create a foundation of truthfulness from the beginning so that they aren’t prone to lying.
After all, being a person of truth is the loftiest position to have after being a Prophet and opens doors to all good deeds.
Misguiding the ‘blind’ person
This includes the literal sense (of misguiding a visually impaired person by taking them to the wrong place etc.) but also in the metaphorical sense too.
Acting like you’re going to help someone when you don’t have the intention to, or ‘advising’ them to do things that you know will put them in a worse position is also considered lying.
As well as this, accepting an invite with the intention that you won’t go, even if done in a polite way, falls under lying.
Spreading information without verification
Playing Chinese whispers is exactly what it is – information gets skewed and changed over time. Simply passing on what you hear about someone without knowing for sure it is the truth would count as lying as you are not sure if you are being truthful about this person.
It is always important to go through your own verification process and make sure the information is legitimate.
Anyways, it’s un-Islamic to pass on negative information about others as this could fall under backbiting.
Another simple thing we do without thinking too much about is sharing Islamic quotes online. Sharing a quote that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ supposedly said could be extremely bad if that quote was changed or altered in some way.
The worst lie would be lying about Allah and then after that, lying about the Prophet ﷺ . Before sharing an Islamic post, do some quick research to ensure that it is correct.
The three times lying is allowed in Islam
Surprisingly for me at least, there are three instances when lying in Islam is allowed. They are:
- When resolving an issue between two disputing people
- In times of war
- In the conversations between a husband and wife
However, these instances aren’t to be used and abused, and you can’t be lying extensively.
Examples of how lying in Islam would be allowed in these situations could be when you are trying to bring two people together, and you tell one person the good things that the other person said about them in the past (but not in the present moment), and exaggerate it slightly.
Similarly between husband and wife, it doesn’t mean you can outright lie about your actions. But you could exaggerate something to make the other person happy and to encourage love and good relations in the marriage.
Key Points – How To Stop Lying As A Muslim
- Exaggerating or saying small lies about your interactions will lead to greater acts of lying.
- It’s important to teach truthfulness to children to build trust in them but to also create a foundation of truthfulness from the beginning so that they aren’t prone to lying.
- Acting like you’re going to help someone when you don’t have the intention to, or ‘advising’ them to do things that you know will put them in a worse position is also considered lying.
- Playing Chinese whispers is exactly what it is – information gets skewed and changed over time. Simply passing on what you hear about someone without knowing for sure it is the truth would count as lying as you are not sure if you are being truthful about this person.
- There are three times lying is allowed in Islam
SOURCES:
(1) A Believer Cannot Be A Liar | Khutbah By Dr. Omar Suleiman
Why lie? | My Dear Heart Ep. 10 | Ramadan Series with Dr. Haifaa Younis | Jannah Institute |
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