Page 33 - What the Qur'an Says about Liars and Their Methods

Why People Lie
but say that it is not sinful if the thief steals out of necessity.
Some people who know that gambling is forbidden go ahead
and gamble anyway, but believe that it is acceptable because
they give their winnings to the poor. However, those who heed
Allah and guard against evil do nothing that displeases Him or
that He has forbidden. The same is true of lying. Those who try
to call lying by another name to soften its meaning may con-
vince other people, but Allah has forbidden people to lie, and
that includes white lies.
The Qur'an does not accept any of the above rationales for
white lies. In addition, those who tell them shape them accord-
ing to their own opinions about what does and does not consti-
tute a white lie. Of course, their definitions are designed to suit
their own advantage. One result of this is that society begins to
accept lying as normal, because it gradually begins to count all
lies as white lies.
For example, a merchant who tries to sell something to a
female customer plies her with false courtesy, tells her that she
is beautiful when she is not, that she is well dressed when she
is not, and that she is talented and intelligent when she really
has no talent or intelligence at all. A man who comes home late
uses a variety of excuses to avoid annoying his wife. He says
that telling his wife the truth would only make her angry, but
that when he tells these white lies, he does not make her un-
comfortable and creates no trouble between them. People who
tell such lies have no love, respect, or devotion for the person
to whom they are told. Furthermore, it is obvious that such
people are not honest or trustworthy.
In conclusion, all lying, no matter what it may be called,
has been forbidden by Allah, for it destroys trust and loyalty
between people and causes people to live insincere lives.

31