In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Falsehood (In the Light of Hadith)

“Hazrat Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Indeed truth leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues to speak the truth until he is recorded with Allah as truthful. And indeed falsehood leads to disobedience, and disobedience leads to Hell. A man continues to speak falsehood until he is recorded with Allah as a liar.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

“Hazrat Abdullah bin Amr bin al-‘As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: There are four traits; whoever possesses them is a pure hypocrite, and whoever possesses one of them has a trait of hypocrisy until he abandons it: when he is entrusted, he betrays; when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a covenant, he breaks it; and when he disputes, he uses abusive language.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

“Hazrat Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: The greatest lie is that a person makes his eyes see what they did not see.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Its meaning is that he claims to have seen something which he did not see; narrating a false dream is also included in this.

Some permissible situations of falsehood:

“Hazrat Umm Kulthum (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: The one who reconciles between people is not a liar; he conveys good or speaks good.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

In a narration of Muslim it is further stated: Hazrat Umm Kulthum (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I did not hear the Prophet ﷺ permitting anything from people’s speech except in three situations: in war, in reconciling between people, and in the conversation of a man with his wife and a wife with her husband.

Clarification:
Permission here refers to the allowance of speaking contrary to fact in order to reconcile two disputing persons and remove mutual hatred and enmity from their hearts; if a person says something from his side that melts the hostility and brings them closer, then in the sight of Allah he will not be regarded as a liar. Likewise, at the time of war, speaking contrary to fact when necessary is permissible; otherwise severe harm may come upon the Muslims. The third situation is the mutual conversation between husband and wife. In social life, certain situations arise in which, to maintain marital relations, a husband may have to conceal certain matters from his wife and a wife from her husband. In such specific situations, speaking contrary to fact for concealment of circumstances is permissible. However, this does not mean an absolute permission for lying such that husband and wife continue to lie frequently. Falsehood remains falsehood and is a major sin. Social life should be based upon truthfulness; the character of both should be clear and transparent like a mirror for one another. Falsehood and concealment can create aversion and distance; therefore it may only be used in extreme necessity. Its use without necessity brings nothing but harm—both in religion and in worldly life.

Remember: falsehood spoken even in jest is counted as falsehood, even if it is said to please someone. God willing, this will be discussed in detail with authentic hadith in a separate slide.