Page 75 - What the Qur'an Says about Liars and Their Methods
P. 75
The Qur'an Describes Liars
They said: "If a wolf comes and eats him up when to-
gether we make up a powerful group, in that case we
would truly be in loss!" (Surah Yusuf, 12:14)
As we can see, they took great pains to present themselves
as very well-meaning and innocent brothers who only wished
to serve their brother's well-being. They even guaranteed his
safety. Despite all of their claims to the contrary, they took
Yusuf (as) with them and threw him down a well. In order to
present themselves as innocent, they resorted to more lies and
false scenarios designed to hide the truth from their father. As
the Qur'an relates:
That night they came back to their father in tears, say-
ing: "Father, we went out to run a race and left Yusuf
together with our things. A wolf appeared and ate
him up. But you are never going to believe us now,
even though we really tell the truth." They then pro-
duced his shirt with false blood on it. He said: "It is
merely that your lower selves have suggested some-
thing to you which you did. But beauty lies in show-
ing steadfastness. It is Allah alone Who is my Help in
face of the event that you describe." (Surah Yusuf,
12:16-18)
Yusuf's (as) brothers wept in order to make their lies more
persuasive. Weeping, making a show of emotion, blaming
themselves, and presenting an innocent appearance are some
of the liars' most common tactics, because they believe that
such methods will make it easy for them to convince others. In
addition, by saying that "you are never going to believe us
now, even though we really tell the truth,'' they strengthen
their show of emotion and try to suggest that their father is
treating them unjustly. This is another common tactic.
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