THE PRESENT DAY FORMS OF LYING

Lying is Hara'am (forbidden) and it is such a great sin that there hasn't been a single nation, single Sharia in which lying was not forbidden. Even in the days of ignorance before Islam lying was considered wrong. Unfortunately in our society these days lying has become quite common, to the extent that people who are otherwise of a religious predisposition and do differentiate between Hara'am and Halal, do not consider that there is anything wrong with lying to get what they want. There are many forms of lying in the present day which it seems people have excluded from the definition of lying, and do not even consider that there is anything wrong with telling those lies. This kind of thinking incurs two sins, one of lying, and the other of not considering a sin as sinful.

FALSE MEDICAL CERTIFICATES
A person who appeared to be quite religious, who regularly prayed Namaz (Salah) and fasted, who recited Zikr and Tasbeeh, and who remained in contact with religious persons for his own betterment, who lived outside Pakistan, came to see me. I asked him when was he going back. He said that he would stay for about 8-10 more days, and then made a comment that even though his leave period had ended he had sent a medical certificate. I asked him, "What sort of certificate?" He said a certificate stating that he was too sick to travel. I asked him, "Does Islam comprise of only Namaz (Salah) and Roza (fasting)? You keep contact with Buzurg (spiritual teachers). Then why are you submitting a false certificate?" He said that it was the first time he had heard that there was anything religiously wrong with submitting a false medical certificate. I asked, "Are you not making a false submission? (saying that you are too sick to travel when you are not)." He asked, "Then how do I take more leave?" I said, "Take only as much leave as you are entitled to. If you want to take more leave then take leave without pay. But it is absolutely Hara'am to submit a false certificate for that purpose."

UNTRUTHFUL RECOMMENDATION
Another overtly religious person sent me a recommendation letter. At the time I was in Jaddah. It said that Mr So and So is coming to see you. He is from India and wants to visit Pakistan. Can you please recommend to the Pakistani Embassy that he is a Pakistani and can they please issue him a new Pakistani passport as he has lost his Pakistani passport in Saudi Arabia.

Now imagine, a person is doing Hajj, doing Umrah, doing Tawaf (going round the Ka'aba), and at the same time he is quite happy to lie and cheat to get his wishes fulfilled. People have started thinking that lying and cheating has nothing to do with Islam. May be people think that it is a lie only if you tell it with a deliberate intention of lying, otherwise getting  false medical certificate from the doctor, getting an untruthful recommendation, or filing cases on others knowing that it is based on a lie, these are not lies. Allah SWT says:

ما یلفظ قول الا لدیہ رقیب عتید: سورة ق ۱۸

Every word that comes out of your mouth is being recorded.

FALSE CHARACTER CERTIFICATE

These days getting a false character certificate to fulfil some requirement has become a norm in our society. For example someone needs a character certificate for a job or some other purpose. They would just go to someone they hardly know and they would issue a false character certificate saying that I know Mr So and So for five years, he has a very good moral character, he is very honest, etc. It doesn't even occur to either of them that if what is being written is not true then they are committing a major sin. In fact the person issuing the certificate believes that he is doing something good for which he would be getting thawab (eternal reward) because he is fulfilling someone's needs, while in fact if he didn't fully know about the character of the person he is writing the certificate about then it is Hara'am (unlawful under Sharia) for them to issue such a certificate. In these circumstances both the person who asked the other to issue such a certificate, and the person issuing it, would be committing a sin.

Remember that issuing such certificates is like giving evidence (گواہی) and according to this verse of the Holy Quran 

"الا من شھد بالحق و ھم یعلمون" ( سورة الزخرف۔۸۶)

it is only permissible to give evidence when a person is fully knowledgable about something and firmly believes it to be true. Giving false evidence is such a major sin that Rasool Allah SAW has mentioned it next to Shirk (believing that someone else shares Allah's characteristics or powers) in a hadith. 

An epidemic of lying has spread in our society and it has become so acceptable that even people who are otherwise religious, who pray Namaz, give alms, and do Zikr, have started believing that there is nothing wrong with obtaining or giving a false certificate, and that it is not a sin. Rasool Allah SAW has said, "اذ احدث کذب"  and all forms of lying are included in it. All of this is an essential part of Islam and to think of these as something which has nothing to do with Islam is the gravest form of ignorance.

Adapted from the talk "The present day forms of lying" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB