Truthfulness (sidq)

In Ka'b's account he was saved by truthfulness when he knew nothing else would save him, and counted his truthfulness with the Prophet the greatest blessing after Islam. ¹

His truthfulness and what followed it; then his vow. ¹

• The page relays what Ka'b said of himself; the general ethical treatment needs other sources (needs_source).

In the second episode the Sheikh says that the Prophet disliked lying and loved truthful speech. He faults people who lie even in worship, and gives as an example the opening takbir of prayer, said without attention to its meaning. ³

He tells of a man who hid under a heap of palm fibre to escape people who wanted to kill him. When the pursuers asked him, he answered truthfully, so they took him for a madman and left him. He uses the story to show the merit of truthful speech. ⁴ (needs_source: anecdote-unsourced)

He holds that a person who keeps to truth is recorded before God as truthful (siddiq), and one who lies until lying becomes a habit is recorded as a liar. He describes the truthful person as balanced within himself, and in the same passage refers to a hadith without naming its narrator. ⁵

He gives the example of a habitual liar who, asked the price of a watch, lies about it and changes the lie in every gathering. Repeated lying, he concludes, records its owner as a liar. ⁶

He criticises managers who promise staff promotions and do not keep their word, and holds that this is the promise of Satan. He closes by saying that the Muslim is truthful in speech; most of this passage is garbled in the transcript. ² (needs_source: garbled-passage)

He holds that clear speech is preferable to the affected language of meetings, with its reports, strategies and frameworks, which the listener cannot follow. ⁷

He tells of a security firm that interviewed young Muslim and non-Muslim candidates and asked them about drinking alcohol. One candidate answered truthfully and was hired, because security needs truthfulness. ⁸ (needs_source: anecdote-unnamed)

The Sheikh says that lying leaves a person confused and tense in this world. He claims that the liar uses seven areas of his brain to back up his lie and must then remember it and match it against the next lie, while the truthful person engages only three (needs_source) ⁹.

The Sheikh relates a hadith to the effect that lying leads to wickedness and wickedness to the Fire, and that a man keeps on lying until he is recorded with God as a liar; he prays that we be truthful in word, deed and work ¹⁰. He explains idle talk (laghw) as whatever a sensible person strikes out of his reckoning and does not waste his time on ¹⁰.

The Sheikh says that truth has degrees: truth in speech, then in intention, then in resolve, then in fulfilment, and then in the whole of religion: prayer, zakat, fasting, kin ties, and avoiding backbiting, envy and hatred. ¹¹ He says that truthfulness begins with speech and then moves on to intention, resolve and fulfilment, and that God is the one who makes the truthful truthful. ¹² He holds that truth in intention is no less important than truth in speech, and that visiting a sick man in order to win favour with someone is not truthful. ¹³ He says that truth must be free of any flaw in belief, of any doubt about provision, and of any defect in deeds, and that a person must not doubt the Provider. ¹⁴

The Sheikh defines true truthfulness as telling the truth at the moment when a lie seems the only way out. ¹⁵ He says that truth in moments of hardship is speaking the truth when a lie seems the only way out, and that God rewards the truthful. ¹⁶ He cites a saying that truthfulness leads to righteousness and that a truthful person is recorded as truthful, and he names Mary and Abu Bakr as examples. ¹⁷ He cites a saying that truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise, and that one who keeps on lying is recorded as a liar. ¹⁸ He tells of a man held in confinement whom the ruler wanted to release. The man insisted on the truth and did not deny his fault, and he was released because he had spoken the truth. ¹⁹

The Sheikh says that the tongue records every word. He criticises those who divide lies into white, red and green, and insists that a lie is a lie. ²⁰ The speaker's view is that a liar robs a person of his mind as a thief robs him of his money, and he mocks exaggerated claims about the weather and prices. ²¹ He cites a saying that lying will spread among people until a trustworthy person in a clan becomes rare. ²² He cites a saying that lying leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to the Fire. ²³ He criticises lying without need, such as lying about the price of an item. ²⁴ He says that when lying becomes common in dealings between spouses, neighbours, employers and workers, the whole community is harmed. ²⁵ He advises someone who took money by a lie to return it if possible, and if it is not possible, to leave the matter to God. ²⁶

The Sheikh takes up lying in two cases: a spouse praising the other to keep affection, and lying to keep life going as an exception. ^{27 28}

The Sheikh says that the community should be truthful in work and worship, in small matters and in great. ²⁹ He criticises employees and managers who work without sincerity, and says that the condition of the nation would change if people were sincere. ³⁰ He sums up the qualities as a framework of truthful speech, honest work, sincere intention, trustworthiness, and eating only what is lawful. He notes that the prophets were told to eat good things, and asks whether these qualities become a method of conduct. ³¹