Lying Distorts Reality

A few days back there were reports about a Muslim student held at gunpoint at a University in Illinois, USA. You can read the article here.

When I first read this, I was very impressed at the sisters courage and her response when asked "Who is going to protect you now?". To me, this incident highlighted the trials our dear brothers and sisters in the west have to face and helped me reflect on my relationship with my Lord and made me wonder whether I would give the same response if I was faced with such a situation.

But just as this was giving all of us an Emaan boost, we came to know that this was a hoax and the sister had made false claims.

"A week after the incident roiled the small college, Elmhurst Police Chief Steve Neubauer said officers had cited Safia Z. Jilani, 19, of Oak Brook, on a single count of filing a false police report. Filing a false police report is a Class 4 felony, punishable by one to three years in prison." Click here to read the full article.

It truly is sad to see our dear sister making this mistake. Wallahu 'Alam as to what her intention was, but it draws unnecessary attention towards Muslims, not that we haven't got enough already. We as muslims should be setting an example and portraying the best of character so others can learn from us and embrace our deen by watching us practice it in the best possible manner. These times are fragile, and we need to be cautious of our every action as we are being watched and the mischief makers are always pouncing at the first opportunity to defame us.

Lying is prohibited in Islam. It was narrated that 'Abd-Allah ibn Mas'ood said: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: "Truthfullness is righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A person will continue to tell the truth until he is written with Allah as one who tells the truth. Lying is evildoing, and evildoing leads to Hell. A person will keep on telling lies until he is written as a liar."(Al-Bukhari 5743; Muslim 2607)

Punishments for Lying:

1. Hypocrisy in the Heart

"So He punished them by putting hypocrisy into their hearts till the Day whereon they shall meet Him, because they broke that (covenant with Allah) which they had promised Him and because they used to tell lies." Surah At-Tawbah verse 77

2. Guidance to evildoing and to the Fire

3. His testimony will be rejected

4. Blackening of the face in this world and in the Hereafter

And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allah (i.e. attributed to Him sons, partners, etc.) their faces will be black. Is there not in Hell an abode for the arrogant ones? Surah Az-Zumar verse 60

5. The liar will have the flesh of his cheeks torn to the back of his head

Volume 2, Book 23, Number 468; Narrated Samura bin Jundab: Whenever the Prophet finished the (morning) prayer, he would face us and ask, "Who amongst you had a dream last night?" So if anyone had seen a dream he would narrate it. The Prophet would say: "Ma sha'a-llah" (An Arabic maxim meaning literally, 'What Allah wished,' and it indicates a good omen.) One day, he asked us whether anyone of us had seen a dream. We replied in the negative. The Prophet said, "But I had seen (a dream) last night that two men came to me, caught hold of my hands, and took me to the Sacred Land (Jerusalem). There, I saw a person sitting and another standing with an iron hook in his hand pushing it inside the mouth of the former till it reached the jaw-bone, and then tore off one side of his cheek, and then did the same with the other side; in the mean-time the first side of his cheek became normal again and then he repeated the same operation again...

.....'You have made me ramble all the night. Tell me all about that I have seen.' They said, 'Yes. As for the one whose cheek you saw being torn away, he was a liar and he used to tell lies, and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So, he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection.

May Allah protect us from the whispers of Shaytaan and all evil doings that anger Him, and may we be among those who are righteous and seek His pleasure, Ameen.