HOW SOME ISLAMIC SCHOLARS VIEW LYING

Al- Ghazali: "Lying is the mother of all great sins. If a person is known as a liar, no trust in his words remains, he loses prestige, and his opinions become worthless. If you want to understand the ugliness of lying, look at the ugliness of the lies of others and see the extent to which your soul feels hatred. Note how much the liar is held in contempt and how ugly you will find the lie that is told..."41 Al-Munawi: "The ugliness of lying is the cause of bringing about all other forms of ugliness. With the abandonment of lying, ugliness is abandoned too."42 Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: "... Honesty is the real, solid foundation of the Islamic religion, the tie that binds people of superior morality together and the most exalted state of mind. This is so true that we have to encourage truth and honesty, the basis of community life, inside ourselves and use it to treat our spiritual ills. Yes, truth and honesty are the vital forces of Islamic communal life. Hypocrisy is actually a form of lying. Sycophancy and pretence are abject lying. Causing discord and hypocrisy are damaging forms of lying. Lying means to slander the omnipotence of Allah, the Creator. Disbelief is deception about everything; it is lying. Faith is truth and honesty. Because of this secret, there is a boundless difference between deceit and honesty. They are as far apart as east and west. It is necessary to avoid confusing the fire and the light. Honesty and deceit are as far apart from one another as faith and unbelief. In his time, Muhammad (saas) stated that the level of humanity could be achieved only by impartial honesty, and that with the key of honesty, the secret of opening the truths of faith and the treasury of the signs of Allah in the universe, humanity will obtain truth, the most sought-after item in the marketplace and the most valuable merchandise."43 "The absolute majority of the Companions of the Prophet were lovers of the truth, truthfulness, and justice. For in that age, the ugliness of lies and falsehood was shown in all its ugliness and the beauty of light and truthfulness was shown in all its beauty in such a way that the distance between them stretched from the ground to the Divine Throne. There was a clear separation between them, from the depths of Musaylima the Liar at the lowest of the low to the degree of truthfulness of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) at the highest of the high... Thus, the Companions, who held elevated sentiments and worshipped good morals and were illuminated with the light of the conversation of the Sun of Prophethood, did not stretch out their hands to the buffoonery and filth of the lying in Musaylima's shop, which was so ugly and the cause of descent, and they shrank from unbelief. So too they shrank from lying, the companion of unbelief..."44 Falsehoods are Blasphemies One grain of truth wipes out a million lies. One grain of reality razes a castle of dreams. Honesty is a grand principle, a lustruous jewel. If for the truth to be uttered it is damaging, it resigns its place to silence; lies have no place, even if they have some use. Everything you say should be true, all your pronouncements right, but you have no right to say all that is true. . . . See the good side of things;you will have good thoughts. Know things to be good and think of them as good; you will find the pleasure in life. In life, hope and thinking favorably of things are life itself. While to think the worst is despair, the destroyer of happiness and slayer of life."45 Mehmed Zahid Kotku: "There are three signs of a hypocrite: When he speaks, he lies, does not keep his word, and is treacherous with what is entrusted to him." If these three easily recognizable ugly forms of behavior are to be found in the same person, we do not hesitate to brand him a hypocrite right away. There are two aspects of hypocrisy. One relates to one's acts, the other to one's belief, which is the most serious one. The sign of both is the three types of behavior mentioned above. Lying is strongly condemned by every society, every people, and every individual. In Turkish, we say: 'The liar's candle burns until evening prayers.' Light is a night-time need for people. If you lie, this means you are deprived of the light that you need at night and remain all night in darkness, and that when you need a light, you will be unable to find one. Lying is shameful. Everywhere, people do not listen to the words or the conversation of anybody who is known to be a liar. Later on, your children will learn lying from you and become liars themselves. Later on, too, nobody will trust you, and there is no way of imagining a situation as dangerous as not being trusted by others. A person's word is his essence. What his essence is, so are his words. The words of a person whose essence is corrupt are full of lies. The words of a person whose essence is really pure are as valuable as gold. He knows that honesty suits a person. The One Who helps the honest person is Allah. Never doubt this. The Qur'an always directs us towards what is right. 'Guide us on the Straight Path.' (Surat al-Fatiha, 1:5) Never forget! All salvation, prosperity, success, and benefit is in honesty. Paradise is the place of the honest. The good pleasure of Allah is in honesty. A lie slithers like a snake. It cannot go straight. Because of this, it is feared by all and loved by nobody. Amongst the people of the world today there are atheists and people of other religions. None of these like lies. Even though they are atheists or do not believe in the Hereafter, remember that there are also unbelievers who do not tell lies."46 "The companions of Paradise tell the truth at all times; the companions of Hell lie. May Allah protect us from lies and lying. A lie makes a small black mark, a trace in the heart; later on, this invades the whole heart and turns it completely black. After that, no good can come from that person. He will not be a man of good, but may be a man of wickedness. Of course, those whose beliefs are good are in Heaven, while, in contrast, those whose beliefs are wicked are in Hell."47 `Abd al Qadir Jilani: "What has Satan not done to you? ... He made you love lies. He wreathed you evil deeds."48 "Shame on you. You speak to the people of honesty, but your business is lying... "49 "Honesty is the earthly sword of Allah. It cuts whatever it touches."50 "Allah requires honesty in His servants. Those wishing to attain it require the light of skill. The sun of skill rises in the hearts of the men of understanding. That sun sinks neither by day nor by night. Those who possess that sun are honest."51 `Abdullah ibn `Abbas: "The one who profits who bears the four moral qualities: Honesty, modesty, superior morality, and gratitude."52 `Ali ibn Abi Talib: "The greatest error in the sight of Allah is a lying tongue. The most heart-felt regret is the regret felt on the Day of Judgment."53 `Umar ibn al-Khattab: "The best loved ones in our sight are not those of you with [fine] reputations or the finest appearances, but rather those who please us the most in what we see inside of them, the ones with the finest characters. When we test you, the ones we like the most are those who are the most truthful and show the maximum care for what has been entrusted to them."54 "I have not lied since realizing that doing so demeans a person."55 `A'isha: "The immorality that most offended the Companions of the Prophet (saas) was lying."56 Maymun ibn Abi Shabib: "One day I sat down to write a letter. At that time, I came face to face with the possibility of adding another word. If I had added that word, the letter would have been more beautiful but I would have been lying. Finally, I decided not to write it. The words of Surah Ibrahim 14:27 came to my mind: "Allah makes those who believe firm with the Firm Word in the life of this world and the Hereafter. But Allah leads the wrongdoers astray. Allah does whatever He wills."57 Malik ibn Dinar: "I read this in a book: The words of every clerk are compared with what he does. If his words conform to his actions, he is regarded as an honest man. If they do not conform, he is considered to be a liar... "58 "Truth and lies are at war within the heart. This war continues until one drives out the other."59 Abu Hurayra: "It is not possible for a hypocrite to be a trusted person in the sight of Allah."60

41. Al-Shaybani, Taysir al-'usul ilaJami al-'usul, 10:6. 42. Ibid., 10:6. 43. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Risale-i Nur Collection, Hutbe-i Samiye (The Damascus Sermon), 1967, Internet edition; http://www.bediuzzaman.net/kulliyat/1967.html 44. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Risale-i Nur Collection, The Words, The Twenty-Seventh Word, Internet edition; http://www.risale-inur.com.tr/rnk/eng/words/words.htm 45. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Risale-i Nur Collection, The Words, Gleams, Internet edition; http://www.bediuzzaman.org 46. Kotku, Hadislerle Nasihatlar (Advice through the Sayings of the Prophet), 1:14-16. 47. Ibid., 1:280. 48. Al-Jilani, Ilahi Armagan (Divine Gift), 2:16 49. Ibid., 2:17. 50. Ibid., 2:23. 51. Ibid., 2:53. 52. Imam al-Ghazzali, Ihya'u Ulum'id-din, (Istanbul: Huzur Publishing House, 1998), 4:778. 53. Ibid., 3:304. 54. Ibid. 55. Ibid. 56. Ibid., 3:303. 57. Ibid., 3:304. 58. Ibid. 59. Ibid. 60. Ibid., 3:355.