Telling lies to conceal the truth is one of the biggest ills of the society. People tell lies to please their bosses by hiding things the boss doesn't like, witnesses tell lies even under oath to save friends or someone influential to save their committed sins and hence get the innocent punished. Mothers conceal failings of their children from the father to save them from retribution, but in fact paving a way of continued life of wrong doings. In fact we often find that telling a lie or concealing the truth is an easier alternative than voicing the truth.
But should we lie? Well if we must follow the path of truth, we must not for Allah likes those believers who always speak the truth irrespective of the consequences, for speaking the truth saves many related ills that follow. Allah cautions believers in the 70th verse of Surah 33, Al Ahzab:
يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَقُوۡلُوۡا قَوۡلًا سَدِيۡدًا ۙ
Believers, fear Allah and speak the truth:
This is a Divine Commandment and without going into its clear and plain language, we must speak the truth, no matter what. In our lives, we are generally not emotionally honest, We conceal our true feeling to please others and in a bid not to annoy them. We do not like to be blunt in calling a spade a spade. Some people suggest that one should use sugar coated words to reduce the harm that truth may lead to. That is an attempt to lessen the impact of truth.
In plain words, one must speak in a straightforward manner, with no crookedness or distortion. For such people, Allah promises them that if they do that, He will reward them by making their deeds righteous, i.e., enabling them to do righteous deeds, and He will forgive them their past sins. With regard to whatever sins they may commit in the future, He will inspire them to repent from them.
Even if the effort is noble in concealing the truth, we should not lie. But if it is a deliberate effort to conceal one's failings, it is not at all liked, even by Allah. We generally tend to lie to conceal own failings and follies. In office, we deliberately lie to cover up our blunders due to which someone else gets punished. Likewise most witnesses in the court rooms ever minute of the day. Whether this is done to save someone close or own kin or done under duress of fear or lust of money, this is the least liked act. Politicians lie to the nations, usurp their money and fill in their coffers and yet appear innocent and befool the people.
There can be limit to dwell on the merits of truth for it nurtures a clean and progressive society and builds the moral character of a nation. It is sad to see Muslims not acting on the Divine Commandments and indulge in concealing truth. The above quoted verse is for such believers who pollute their faith by not acting on Divine Commandments.
And those who uphold the truth, Allah promises rewards for them. It is stated right in the next verse of Surah Al Ahzab:
يُّصۡلِحۡ لَـكُمۡ اَعۡمَالَـكُمۡ وَيَغۡفِرۡ لَـكُمۡ ذُنُوۡبَكُمۡؕ وَمَنۡ يُّطِعِ اللّٰهَ وَرَسُوۡلَهٗ فَقَدۡ فَازَ فَوۡزًا عَظِيۡمًا
(33:71) Allah will set your deeds right for you and will forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has achieved a great triumph.
So let us not suppress the truth for worldly gains, for it may invoke the Divine Wrath not only in this world but in the hereafter to, for suppression of truth usurps rights of those who fall victim to our lies. Mostly these are innocent people who bear the consequences of our truth suppression for a long time, while we may achieve some short term gains. But ultimately the truth suppressors will be exposed and punished. But this may not be undo the harm already done to others.
May Allah help us understand Qur'an and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an
You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an
You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
- The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
- The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [2]
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Towards Understanding the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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