O Muslims: Do not be deceived by lies, false claims, plots, deceptions of People of Bid'ah and Desires!

[Maher.ibn.Ahmad.Attiyeh]

The Connection of Lying and Deceit to Hypocrisy, Kufr, and Bid'ah, and ultimately the Hellfire, via Proofs from the Salaf:

'Aa`ishah (radiallaahu 'anha) said: There was no trait more hated to the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) than lying. (Ahmad; authenticated by Al-Albanee: no. 2052 in As-Silsilah)

On the authority of 'Abdullah bin Kab (radiallaahu 'anhu): ...Since I have mentioned that truth to Allaah's Messenger till today, I have never intended to tell a lie. I hope that Allaah will also save me (from telling lies) the rest of my life. So Allaah revealed to His Messenger the Verse: Allaah has forgiven the Prophet, the Muhajiroon (up to His Saying) And be with those who are true (in words and deeds). (At-Tawbah, ayat 117-119)

By Allaah, Allaah has never bestowed upon me, apart from His guiding me to Islaam, a Greater blessing than the fact that I did not tell a lie to Allaah's Messenger which would have caused me to perish as those who have told a lie perished, for Allaah described those who told lies with the worst description He ever attributed to anybody else. Allaah said: They (i.e. the hypocrites) will swear by Allaah to you when you return to them (up to His Saying) Certainly Allaah is not pleased with the rebellious people. (At-Tawbah, ayat 95-96)... [Bukharee]

Why did Allaah reveal the hypocrites' characteristics, many of which can be found in Surat al-Baqara, Surat at-Tawbah and Surat al-Munaafiqqoon? So that the believers would not be deceived by the hypocrites' outer appearance.

It is reported from Al-Hasan Al-Basree (rahimahullaah) that he said: ...The root of al-nifaaq (hypocrisy) is lying. [Abu Bakr Al-Kharaa`itee, Masaawee Al-Akhlaaq wa Madhmoomihaa, p.62]

Imaam Al-Awzee'ee (d. 157H) wrote: For verily, the followers of Bid'ah are all falsifiers and liars, neither are they careful nor do they fear and protect [against wrongdoing], and nor are they to be trusted to not distort what you hear. They say what they know not when criticizing and decrying or when affirming their lies. [Ibn 'Asaakir, Taareekh Dimishq 6:361, 362.]

It is related by Aboo Nu'aym in Al-Hilyah (4/36-37) that Wahb Ibn Munabbih Ibn Kaamil al-Yamaanee as-San'aanee (rahimahullah) said, advising with regards to beautiful characteristics:

...And he (the one with beautiful characteristics) does not seek assistance against anything through lies, for indeed lies in speech is like rotting piece of wood, which looks good on the outside, but is rotting inside. And so being deceived by it, someone may think it can be used to carry things , until it is broken by what it is carrying, and the one who was fooled by it, is killed. And such is the case of deceitful speech – its companion continues to be deceived by it and thinks it will help him in obtaining his need, so he likes using it more and more until that becomes known from him, and his deception becomes clear to anyone who has intelligence, and the scholars discover that which used to be hidden from them. So when they become aware of this from him, and it becomes clear to them, they deny his reports and extripate his testification, and they doubt his truthfulness and they despise his kind and hate sitting with him and they withheld their secret thoughts from him and they conceal their speech from him and they turn away from him with their trusts. They remove their affair from him and they assess him accordingly to their religion and their way of life and they do not allow him to attend any of their gatherings and they do not trust him with any of their secrets and they do not appoint him as a judge concerning anything that happends between them. {Refer to Min Wasaaya us Salaf , page 79, Printed by SalafiPublications}

Regarding Allaah's statement (which means): The likeness [of the munaafiq] is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; then, when it lighted all around him, Allâh took away their light and left them in darkness. So they could not see. They are deaf, dumb and blind, so they return not [to the Right Path].(al-Baqarah, ayah 17)

Qataadah (rahimahullaah) said: This is the likeness that Allaah has given of the Hypocrite (munaafiq); he says laa ilaaha illallaah and with it marries into the Muslims, inherits from the Muslims, fights alongside the Muslims, and protects his blood and wealth. But when death comes, [the testimony of faith] has no basis in his heart, and no reality in his actions, so the munaafiq is stripped of it at death and left in darkness and blindness wondering therein, just as he was blind about the right of Allaah and obedience to Him in his worldly life and deaf to the truth. [Al-Tabaree, Al-Tafseer.]

It is reported that Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyyaad (rahimahullaah) said: How will you be if you reach a time when you will see people who do not distinguish truth from falsehood, believer from unbeliever, trustworthy from treacherous, nor ignorant from knowledgeable, and neither recognize what is right nor censure what is wrong? [Ibn Battah, Al-Ibaanah Al-Kubraa 1:188.]

After reporting this narration, Imam Ibn Battah (d. 387H) said: To Allaah we belong and to Him we will return! We have reached that time, we have heard this and have come to know most of it and witnessed it. If a man to whom Allaah has bestowed sound reasoning looks and thinks carefully and ponders the matter of Islaam and its people and treads the rightly guided path as regards to them, it will become clear to him that most people have turned back on their heels, deviated from the correct path, and turned away from correct proof. Many people have started to like what they used to hate, allow what they used to forbid and recognize what they used to reject. And for sure – May Allaah have mercy on you – this is not the [right] character of the Muslims, nor the behaviour of those who have insight into this religion, and neither of those who believe in it and are certain about it.

Maalik ibn Deenaar (rahimahulalah) once said: Verily you are in greatly troubled times. Only one with true insight knows the times you live in. Verily you are in a time of [people] boasting and being proud. [1] Their tongues are swollen in their mouths, and they seek worldly gain through the deeds of the hereafter. So be warned against them for yourselves, lest they catch you in their nets. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you devour [wealth] with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you boast with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you seek to amass [wealth] with your knowledge. O scholar, you are a scholar yet you transgress [against others] with your knowledge. If you had truly sought this knowledge for Allaah, it would have been seen on you and in your deeds. [Abu Bakr Al-Aajurree, Kitaab Al-’Aalim Al-Jahil, article 73 et al.]

'Abdullaah ibn 'Abbaas (radiallaahu 'anhumma) said: O Muslims, how can you ask the People of the Book [about their scripture] when the Book of Allaah that was revealed to your Prophet – salallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam – is the most recent news of Allaah; you recite it complete and unaltered? Allaah has informed you that they replaced what Allaah wrote and changed the Book with their hands and said 'This is from Allaah,' to purchase with it a measly price (al-Baqarah, ayah 79). Does not the knowledge that has come to you forbid you from asking them? By Allaah, we have not seen a single man among them asking you about what was revealed to you. [Al-Bukheeree, Al-Saheeh hadith 2685, Chapter on not asking the Polytheists for testimonies or anything else. He also records it in other chapters.]

Aboo Ishaaq [Al-Fazaaree] stated: The enemy was never able to stand up to the companions of Allaah's Messenger (salallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), so when the news of the defeat of the Romans came to Heraclius at Antioch, he asked [his people], "Woe to you, tell me about these people who fight you, are they not humans like you?" They replied, "Indeed, they are." He asked, "So are you more in number or them?" They replied, "We outnumber them greatly in all places." He said, "So how is it that you are defeated whenever you meet them [in battle]?" A senior and esteemed elder amongst them replied, "Because they stand in prayer at night, fast during the day, fulfill their agreements and promises, enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil, they are fair and just amongst themselves; and because we drink wine, fornicate, commit sin, break our agreements, steal, oppress and do injustice, enjoin the committing of what angers Allaah, and forbid what pleases Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, and we cause evil and corruption in the land." Heraclius said, "You are the one who has told me the truth." Aboo Bakr Al-Daynooree, Al-Mujaalasah wa Jawaahir Al-'Ilm 4:91.

Ibn Jurayj said of the hypocrite: His actual deeds are different from what he publicizes, what he conceals is different from what he utters, his entrance and presence are not the same as his exit and absence.

Ibn Jarir narrated that Qatadah commented on the Ayah: ...So their commerce was profitless. And they were not guided (al-Baqarah, ayah 16): "By Allaah! I have seen them leaving guidance for deviation, leaving the Jama'ah (the community of the believers) for the sects, leaving safety for fear, and the Sunnah for innovation." [At-Tabaree 1:316]

Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn 'Abbaas (radiallaahu 'anhumma) mentioned the Ayah: And mix not truth with falsehood... (al-Baqarah, ayah 42) and said this means; "Do not mix the truth with falsehood, and the facts with lies."

Sources: Some of the above athaar were taken from the Abridgeed Version of Tafseer of Ibn Katheer, and SayingsoftheSalaf.net.