Lying is one of the Greater Sins. There are many verses in the Holy Qur’an denouncing lying. Some of them are reproduced below:

1.  “Consider how they create lies about Allah? This alone is a grave sin.” (4:50)

2.  “Those who do not believe in the miracles of Allah invent lies and they are liars.” (16:105)

3.  “Allah does not guide the liars and the unbelievers.” (39:3)

4.  “If any one disputes (your prophesy) after knowledge has come to you, say, “Let each of us bring our children, women, nafs and ourselves to one place and pray to Allah to condemn the liars among us.” (3:61)

5.  “….Allah is my witness that he is a liar” (24:8)

6.  “Stay away from wickedness, idols and false words.” (22:30)

7.  “Believers, have fear of Allah and always be friends with the truthful ones” (9:119)

8.  “And there are some people who say: We believe in Allah and the last day; and they are not at all believers.” (2:8)

9.  “And when they meet those who believe, they say: We believe; and when they are alone with their Shaitaans, they say: Surely we are with you, we were only mocking.” (2:14)

10.  (False accuser of adultery) “Never accept their testimony thereafter, they are sinful.” (24:4)

Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s) said, “Beware, I am informing you about the greatest mortal sins; associating anything with Allah, disobeying parents and lying”, “Beware of falsehood! Because falsehood blackens the face.”, “Avoid speaking falsehood, because it is a kind of evil and transgression. And both of them belong to Hell.”, “The three signs of hypocrite are: Lying, betraying trust and going back on his words.” “The advice of a liar has no value.” “The worst of the profit is from the trade called ‘lying’.” “When a believer speaks a lie, he is prone to committing every other sin, and when this happens, he commits kufr which then makes him enter Hell.” “Falsehood is inversely proportional to belief.” “The greatest of the sins is talkativeness and falsehood.” The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) was describing his visit of Mairaaj to Bibi Fatima Zahra (s.a.) saying, “On the night of Mairaaj, I saw a woman whose head resembled a pig and her body was like that of a donkey. It was because she spread discord and told lies.” “One who attributes something to me, which I have not said, shall sit in the Fire.” When Abu Zar (r.a.) inquired from the Holy Prophet about repentance by a person who intentionally spoken a lie, he (s.a.w.s.) replied, “The sin shall be erased by Istighfar (seeking forgiveness) and by the five- times prayers.”

Asma Binte Umais asked the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.), “O Messenger of Allah, if we desire something but verbally refuse it, is it a lie?” He (s.a.w.s.) replied, “Yes! Certainly every kind of falsehood is recorded (in the scroll of deeds) even the smallest of the small lies is written.” “One only tells lies because of his feeling of being lowly”

Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “Every believer is deprived from the taste of faith till he gives up lying seriously and also in jest.” “The disease of lying is the most dreadful of the (psychological) diseases.” “Every Muslim is supposed to avoid friendship and brotherhood with a compulsive liar. Because one who befriends a liar is considered a liar. Even if he speaks truth, he is not trusted.” “If a person merely claims that he hopes for the Divine rewards and fears Divine punishment, but does not perform good deeds nor refrains from sins, he is a liar.” “No man shall taste faith unless he abandons lying, be it serious or as a joke.” “If entities were materialized, surely truthfulness will stand with courage and cowardice would stand with lying.” “The truth teller achieves three things: (others) trust, love and respect.” “Lying is the most abominable trait”

Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) said, “All the evils have been locked in a room and its key is lying”

Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said, “Certainly Allah has created the lock for every evil and the key to all these locks is drinking wine. But lying is worse than drinking.”

“Lying destroys faith”

Imam Jaffer al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “One of the Divine punishments for too much lying is that Allah makes the liar afflicted with forgetfulness.” “To attribute falsehood to Allah and His Prophet is the greatest sin.”

One day Imam Jaffer al-Sadiq (a.s.) was seated with his son Ismail when one of his followers arrived, saluted him and sat down. When the Imam stood up and walked towards ladies portion, the man also followed up to the door. Imam bid farewell to him from there. Later, Ismail asked his father, “Why didn’t you invite him inside just for politeness sake?” The Imam (a.s.) replied, “It was not proper to invite him inside. I did not wish him to come inside. Neither did I wish that Allah should include me among those who say one thing and wish another.” “When ever you say ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest) you must consider every thing between the earth and the sky to be lesser than Allah. Because when Allah sees that a person says Allahu Akbar only superficially, He says, “O Liar! You try to be smart with Me? By My Might and Honor I shall deprive you of My remembrance.” “Prophet Isa said that who lies repeatedly will not be respected.”

Show of Submission: A person who says to Allah ‘Thee only do we worship and Thee only we ask for help’, but his actions are such that day and night he is involved in the acquisition of wealth and is preoccupied in the satisfaction of his carnal desires. Can we consider this man to be truthful? Does this man really worship Allah?

A man prays, “O Allah, when I look at my sins, I weep and when I see your Mercy and forgiveness, I become hopeful and happy in anticipation that you will forgive me,” but when faced with temptations, he makes no serious effort to refrain himself and commits sinful acts without any misgiving.” The falsehood of such a person is clear.

We recite Ziarat for our Imams and say, “O Imam, I accept your sayings and act upon your commands and obey you.” In fact we obey our own desires. To fix this problem, we should make sincere efforts to improve ourselves.

Exceptions: Whenever there is a danger to life, honor and property, and if the danger can be avoided by lying, one is allowed to lie. Similarly, in order to make reconciliation between husband and wife one can tell a lie, because the intention is good without any ill will. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.), at the time of recording his will and testament, told Imam Ali (a.s.), “O Ali, Allah even likes a falsehood for the sake of peace and dislikes truth that spreads corruption.”

How to get rid of the habit of lying:

1.            Repent and ask forgiveness from Allah.

2.            Ponder over the causes that led to this habit, try to remove the cause.

3.            Compare the advantages of truthfulness and harms of lying at individual and social levels.

4.            Try to do good deeds, read religious books, be dutiful to parents, help needy.

5.            Remember the tradition, “A believer does not feel the pleasure of faith in his heart until he gives up lying.”

6.            Think of the embarrassment when people will discover your lies.

7.            Know well that a liar has no dignity.