Stance against liars on social media

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated: “There was no traite more hated to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, than lying. A man would speak based on lies in the presence of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and he would not be content until he knew that he had repented.” [Sahih Tirmidhi 1973]

The reality of lying is to give news of something in opposition to the true state of affairs. This transmission of news is not limited to speech, rather it can be through action, such as making an indication with one’s hand or nodding one’s head and it can be through silence.

It is said that the liar is  a thief, because the thief deceives you with regards to your wealth and the liar deceives you with regards to your intellect. [Adab Ad-Dunya Wad-Deen. page:262]

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

The fact that a statement is a lie or falsehood about something can sometimes be determined by looking at the statement itself, its contradictions, its complication, and the appearance of those clear signs that it is a lie. Lies may manifest based on what it is in reality, what is being disguised, and what is apparent. It can occasionally be determined based on the circumstances surrounding the utterer of the lie, for it is true that those who are notorious for lying, wickedness, and deception do not manifest anything else except assertions that are consistent with their behaviour. He does not utter a statement or perform an action similar to that of a pious and truthful person – the one innocent of all evil, deception, lie, and wicked behaviour; rather, the heart, intention, statements, and acts of the truthful one share same image, as do the liar’s heart, statements, deeds, and intents”. [An Excerpt from As-Sawaa’iq Al-Mursalah 2/469-470]

The Imam, may Allah have mercy upon him, also said:

Beware of kadhib, as it corrupts one’s ability to teach people as well as one ability to illustrate information based on how it should actually be. The liar presents what is present as something non-existent and what is non-existent as something present; misrepresents the truth as being something false and falsehood as being something true; misrepresents the good and the evil, so he corrupts his conception and knowledge, which subsequently results in his punishment. Then he portrays what is not true to the one who has been duped by him – the one who is drawn to him – and therefore corrupts his conception and knowledge.

The soul of the liar turns away from existing reality, preferring the non-existent, and falsehood. And when his conception and knowledge is corrupted, which is the basis of every wilfully chosen deed, his deeds become corrupt and marked by lies, so those deeds would emanate from him just as lies emanate from the tongue- neither benefits from his tongue nor his deeds (i.e. in relation to the specific affair). Because of this, lying serves as the foundation of immorality, as the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him] said, “Indeed, lies lead to immorality (or wickedness), and indeed, immorality (or wickedness) leads to the fire.” [Bukhaari 2606/2607]

Lies first emerge from the heart and then on the tongue, corrupting it; then they transfer to the limbs and corrupt their deeds, just as they corrupt statements of the tongue. As a result, lying prevails over his utterances, deeds, and state of affairs; corruption gets deeply ingrained in him, and its disease leads to destruction if Allah does not grant him recovery with the medication of truthfulness, which uproots the source (or basis) of the lies. This is why the basis of all deeds of the heart is truthfulness, and the basis of their opposites is lies, such as boasting, self-amazement, pride, being glad (with ungratefulness to Allah’s Favours), conceitedness, boastfulness, insolence, weakness, laziness, cowardice, disgrace, and others.

Every righteous deed, whether done privately or publicly, is founded on truthfulness. And the source of every corrupt deed, whether private or public, is lies. Allah punishes the liar by preventing him (i.e. due to his own chosen evil) from those things that will bring him well-being and benefit, while He rewards the truthful one by granting him the ability to attain the beneficial things of the worldly life and Afterlife. There is nothing comparable to truthfulness in terms of how it brings about the affairs of well-being in this life and the next, and there is nothing comparable to lying in terms of how it corrupts and harms one’s worldly and Afterlife affairs.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ

O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds) [9:119]

هَٰذَا يَوْمُ يَنْفَعُ الصَّادِقِينَ صِدْقُهُمْ ۚ

This is a Day on which the truthful will profit from their truth. [5:119]

فَإِذَا عَزَمَ الْأَمْرُ فَلَوْ صَدَقُوا اللَّهَ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ

And when the matter (preparation for Jihad) is resolved on, then if they had been true to Allah, it would have been better for them. [47:21] [Al-Fawaa’id’ pages 202-203]

We ask Allah:

اللهم كما حَسَّنْت خَلْقِي فَحَسِّنْ خُلُقِي

O Allah! Just as You made my external form beautiful, make my character beautiful as well.