The Malice of Lying
Lying is a common part of human relationships. People lie for a
variety of reasons. They may lie as part of self-presentation, in
order to present a more favorable image to others. People may also
lie in order to minimize conflict, because lying may make
disagreements less obvious. Although lying may serve useful
functions in these respects, it can also be damaging to
relationships. An exposed lie undermines trust and sows suspicion,
because a person who has been lied to is likely to mistrust the
person who lied in the future.[1] Some people even lie due to habit
at first impulse. 'Everyday lies are really part of the fabric of
social life,' says Bella DePaulo, a psychologist and lying expert
at the University of Virginia. Her research shows both men and
women lie in approximately a fifth of their social exchanges
lasting 10 or more minutes; over the course of a week they deceive
about 30 percent of those with whom they interact one-on-one.
Furthermore, some types of relationships, such as those between
parents and teens, are virtual magnets for deception. Lying is
considered integral to many occupations: we see lawyers
constructing far-fetched theories on behalf of their clients or
reporters misrepresenting themselves in order to gain access to
good stories.[2]
Lying is a despicable vice, rampant in our societies. Deceiving
others with the canny use of words is seen as clever. Public
figures lie. Governments lie. One of the distinctions of our age is
that lying no longer carries the stigma it once did. Today lying
has become institutionalized. It is the way many of us live now,
right from the top, because we figured out that if we are
persuasive enough, lying works. Countries are invaded and wars are
started based on lies. "We" never lie, we just bend the truth a
little, put a spin, having no intention to mislead, but the
"others" are liars. Ours is a society that has perfected the "art"
of lying. Gone are the days when a lie destroyed the liar's dignity
and deprived him of our trust.
Islam views lying as a serious vice. God says in the Quran:
{And do not say that of which you have
no knowledge.} [Quran 17:36]
{وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ
عِلْمٌ} [الإسراء:٣٦]
Transliteration: Wa Lā Taqfu Mā Laysa Laka Bihi
`Ilmun
The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him,
stressed the importance of always being truthful and the
seriousness of habitual lying, «Truthfulness leads to piety and piety leads
to the Paradise. A man should be truthful until he is written down
as truthful with God. Lying leads to deviance and deviance leads to
the Fire. A man will lie until he is written down as a liar with
God.» [3] Truth is to
state what corresponds with reality, how things are, and is the
opposite of lying. The malice of lying is tied to hypocrisy as
described by the Prophet Muhammad, «If
anyone has four characteristics, he is a pure hypocrite, and if
anyone has one of them, he has an aspect of hypocrisy until he
gives it up: whenever he is trusted, he betrays his trust; whenever
he speaks, he lies; when he makes an agreement, he breaks it; and
when he quarrels, he deviates from the truth by speaking
falsely.» [4] The
Prophet's teaching is that we try our best to free ourselves of
hypocrisy by keeping our trusts, telling the truth, keeping our
promises, and not speaking falsely.
Islamicly, the most heinous lie is against God, His prophets, His
revelation, and bearing false witness. We should be careful not to
make false excuses like 'I was too busy or I
forgot,' or say words that can be taken as promises by others
like 'I'll call back tomorrow,' with no such intention. At
the same time, not lying should not be confused with impoliteness,
'saying at it is,' but we should be careful not to lie about little
things when no one apparently gets hurt. This can be done by
carefully choosing our words.
Is "Never lie!" an absolute principle of Islam or are there
exceptions? Suppose that a would-be murderer comes knocking on your
door, looking for his victim. Is the morally correct answer, "She's
hiding upstairs, hoping you will go away"? Philosophers like Kant
wrote as if this was in fact the morally correct thing to do, but
Islamicly, lying is justified in such cases.
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Footnotes:
[1] 'The Right to Do Wrong: Lying to
Parents among Adolescents and Emerging Adults,' by Jeffrey Jensen
Arnett, Elizabeth Cauffman, S. Shirley Feldman, Lene Arnett Jensen;
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Vol. 33, 2004.
[2] 'The truth about lying,'
by: Allison Kornet. Psychology Today, Publication Date: May/Jun
97
[3] Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh
Muslim
[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh
Muslim
By IslamReligion.com
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