Truthfulness

18 Rabea’ El-Thani 1440H

Honesty, linguistically speaking, is the agreement of speech with belief, that is, to convey the truth which is regarded as one of the attributes of the righteous and which Allah, (Glory be to Him) commands us to follow. Let us adduce to you this holy verse in which Allah, the Almighty declares: "O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true, (in word and deed.)" (At-Tawbah:199).
Allah, the Almighty, has praised His prophets for their possessing the merit of honesty and this merit is confirmed in the following verse: " And mention in the Book (the Quran) Ibrahim (Abraham). Verily, he was a man of truth, a Prophet." (Mariam (Mary) 41)
In describing Ishmael, (P.B.U.H.) came the following verse: "And mention in the Book (the Quran) Ismael (Ishmael). Verily, he was true to what he promised and he was a Messenger, (and) a Prophet. (Mariam: 54)
About Idris came in Allah's verse the following: " And mention in the Book (the Quran) Idris (Enoch). Verily, he was a man of truth (and) a Prophet."(Mariam: 56). In mentioning honesty Imam Ali (P.B.U.H.) said: "Faith is to favor honesty which doesn't flow into your interest over lying which can benefit him."
Lying goes antonymous with honesty which, in other words, means: opposing speech in belief or telling news opposite to truth and unanimously acknowledged that lying is a vicious quality in man's behavior practiced by some without recognizing the extent of its abomination and the dimension of its negative impact on the individual and the society.
Lying is legally and morally forbidden because it leads to committing evil deeds and corruptive acts and could possibly be a cause of seditions and killings as well as seizing man's faith away from him. From Allah's Messenger (P.B.U.H.) was narrated that he was asked whether a believer could be a coward?" The Messenger answered; " Yes."
Then he was asked: " Can a Muslim be liar? He answered: " No" which denotes that lying can spoil man's faith." And here indeed lies man's biggest abyss because there is nothing beyond faith save disbelief and misguidance and after disbelief and misguidance there is nothing but Hell and immortality in it for ever and this is the fate of the liars.
In lying, there are grades and ranks and the hardest one is assuming lies on Allah, the Almighty, and His Messenger, (P.B.U.H.) by telling lies and are even considered as one of the things that breaks the fast during Ramadhan owing to its negative disadvantages. The Almighty said: " And who does more aggression and wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons or revelations)? Verily, the Zalimin (polytheists and wrongdoers) shall never be successful. (Al-An'am 21) and he also said about those who fabricate lies against Allah's rules.
Listen to what Allah says: "And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth (Muhammad and his doctrine of Islamic Monotheism and this Quran), when it comes to him? Is there not a dwelling in Hell for disbelievers (in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger Muhammad." (Al-Ankabut 68) as narrated from the Prophet in confirmation of the negativity that he said: " He who purposefully fabricates a lie against me, will surely have his seat in fire."
Honesty involves three kinds:
1. Honsety to Allah: that is to say: Showing good faith to Allah in word and deed to win His sight without aiming at hypocrisy or reputation and this means that any worshipping deed performed by man must be enjoined with purity of faith and honesty and absolute orientation towards Allah, the Almighty without an y blemish which may nullify the purity of the work; otherwise, he will be afflicted with a concealed polytheism if it not be the clear-cut polytheism; therefore the approval or the acceptance of deeds should be based on the purity of the acts and the extent of one's good faith.
2. Honesty to people:
It means the believer should avoid telling lies when talking with people at all whether the lie is light or heavy, serious or trivial. In any case, lying is legally forbidden and is regarded as a sign of hypocrisy. It is narrated that he Prophet once said: "The signs of a hypocrite are three- fold: If he talked, he would tell lies; and if he promised, he would break it and if he received something in trust, he would betray. Hypocrites, of course, are in the lowest abode of Hell as confirmed in the holy Quran.
3. Honesty to one's own self:
Islam has stressed the importance of honesty as one of the items of the general ethics of Islam with which the individual's as well as the society's behavior can be amended and with which both can be elevated to the real perfection; otherwise the society will get to the verge of total collapse; therefore, it is inevitable for the believer to be true to himself – not deceptive or pervasive, but to be admitting defects, confessing his mistakes, seeking self- reform , regretful of committing sins and misdeeds, punishing and criticizing himself for the slips he committed by enhancing it with praise and encouragement if he found himself proceeding on the proper track.
Honesty involves all the joints of the living Muslim's behavior, such as: honesty in narrating a story or a problem without conceit or exaggeration, i.e. not to tell lies to people or convey to people all that he hears from others without strict investigation, check-up and fact -finding searches in addition to honest and fair dealings with the people in society and with Allah. There are, in addition to what we mentioned a little ago, other aspects of honesty which now we have no time to cover its dimensions in full.
From the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) on the theme of honesty came the following: " Inquire about honesty; if you find it implying danger of death, it will meanwhile imply rescue of life and avoid lying: If you find it implying rescue, it will verily imply danger of your destruction." And from him was also narrated that he said: " Verily, honesty leads to kindness and kindness, in turn, leads to Paradise and man who always seeks honesty, will surely be written as: honest; and that lying will lead to debauchery and debauchery will surely lead to Hell and he who always seeks lying, will be written in Allah's record as a liar.
Imam Al- Sadiq (P.B.U.H.) was said to have declared that Allah (Glory be to Him) had not sent a prophet unless with a true hadith and return of a kept trust to its owner.
Besides, honesty brings prestige, good reputation and elevation to the owner in society because honesty is the active and positive guide or proof which indicates of one's good manners; therefore, he who is endowed with this sublime virtue, his position simultaneously raises among people as being possessing a pure heart, a perfect mind and being a lover of good.
In addition to all that, honesty is regarded as one of the praiseworthy traits which has been unanimously acknowledged by nations along the ages and generations, legislatures and religions through paying tribute to it, praising it, enticing people to enjoin it and forbid that which opposes it namely, lying…
It is true to say that honesty is one of the attributes of the prophets, messengers and all of God's righteous people. The Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) was known as the honest and the trusty one. He was renowned for these two noble merits in the Meccan society as well as the other commendable attributes which have stood as causes of his elevation to the rank of Prophet-hood afterwards and this is the main aim of all prophets and messengers wo preceded.
The Advantages of Honesty V.S. the Disadvantages of Lying
Some scholars and researchers have remarked that honesty owns great and practical benefits as well as psychological. It is, in addition to constituting a sound reforming state in the field of commercial transactions and marketing dealings in the world we are living through and due to its maintaining the principle of justice and fairness and in addition to its being of the redeemers in the hereafter …Allah, the Almighty, said: "This is a day on which the honest peope can benefit from their honesty." (Al-Maedah: 119) and that it can ensure complete peace of mind and comfort and inhibit in the human self a feeling of consent for he beforehand bears in mind that Allah, the Almighty, loves honesty and the honest and hates lying and liars and that in both worlds: this temporal world and the hereafter world redemption lies in honesty thinking that he by abiding by honesty that he is practicing a worshipping affair which is not less in regard than the other worshipping and this affair creates a positive affair within the Muslim that he is still on the right track In the honorable verse came from the Messenger (P.B.U.H.) that he said: "Rescue lies in honesty."
We have already defined to you through describing the concept of the word "honesty" the extent of ugliness and harm "lying" can cause as a vicious quality which incurs so many repugnant marks and worldly and hereafter corruptions and the remnants which affect negatively on the individual and the society where, in this respect, the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H.) said:" Lying is unfit to be used in jest nor in earnest nor promise his children anything lest he could be unable to fulfill his promise," and thus be looked upon as a liar.
Permissibility of Telling Lies:
From the Prophet came that he said: "Lying is not allowed to be used except in three locations: a husband talking to his wife; telling lies during the war and telling lies in matters of reforming people although lying is originally forbidden in Islamic legislature but there are some points through which the individual can find lying is possible with regard to public interest only and not absolute lying among which are the following cases.
1. Telling lies during the war as it is one of its fundamental prerequisites to grant the safety of the Islamic army and the secrecy of its plans during the war and to make the enemy lose the chance of preparing himself and benefiting from the opportunity he has to start his offensive; that is from some information which can be of use to it and prove harmful to the Islamic army.
2. Telling lies to settle disputes and undo discords between two conflicting parties and making them reconcile by bringing their viewpoints closer to one another and that will be implemented through spreading false news about the good faith of each party towards the other to ease the tension between them and to normalize their relationship by facilitating the process of reconciliation.
3. Telling lies to the wife for the sake of pleasing her for granting the continuation of their marital relationship or to avoid stirring problems inside the family and that will be the requirements of a happy married life.

It is quite natural to say that telling all kinds of lies to a wife is not legal but only in cases when relations between man and woman are not good and demand adjustment and normalization to coexist in peace as before. The role of the third party lies in easing the tension, to settle the discord or to avoid further problems in the family and that can be settled by softening the heart of the wife with tender words by saying to her:" You are beautiful. I can't do without you or giving a promise to her that he would never marry another one at all and things like that.