How Can Truthfulness Enhance a Muslim’s Character and Relationships?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti
Question
How can truthfulness improve a Muslim’s character and interactions with others?
Answer
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the Master of the Messengers, his Family, and all his Companions.
Truthfulness
Truthfulness has a clear impact on enhancing a Muslim’s character and their dealings with others. It fosters trust, reassurance, and stability in all religious, ethical, and worldly interactions with people. This is the essence of righteousness (birr), as the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) mentioned in the authentic hadith:
“Indeed, truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues to tell the truth until he is recorded with Allah as a truthful person…” [Bukhari; Muslim]
Righteousness
This meaning is reinforced by a great verse in Surat al-Baqara, which emphasizes and commands this trait. Allah (Most High) says:
“Righteousness is not in turning your faces towards the east or the west. Rather, the righteous are those who believe in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Books, and the Prophets; who give charity out of their cherished wealth to relatives, orphans, the poor, (needy) travelers, beggars, and for freeing captives; who establish prayer, pay alms-tax, and keep the pledges they make; and who are patient in times of suffering, adversity, and in (the heat of) battle. It is they who are true (in faith), and it is they who are mindful (of Allah).” [Quran, 2:177]
In financial transactions, for example, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made truthfulness a cause for blessings, saying:
“The buyer and the seller have the option (to cancel the contract) as long as they have not separated. If they are truthful and transparent, they will be blessed in their transaction. But if they lie and conceal, the blessing of their transaction will be erased” [Bukhari; Muslim]
This hadith emphasizes the effect of truthfulness on a Muslim’s dealings with others.
Many other verses and hadith indicate this meaning. Imam Nawawi mentioned some of them in a dedicated chapter called “The Chapter of Truthfulness” in his blessed book “Riyad al-Salihin”. One can refer to it for further reading.
Summary
We must strive to embody this great virtue in all our affairs, states, and dealings so that we are recorded by Allah (Most High) among the truthful. Additionally, by embodying truthfulness with people, our lives will be upright, our relationships will endure, and we will be guided to the Paradise of our Lord. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.
And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti
Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti is a Syrian scholar born in Aleppo in 1977. He obtained his degree in Shari‘a from the Shari‘a Faculty of Damascus University, a Diploma in Educational Qualification from the Faculty of Education at Aleppo University, and a Diploma in Shari‘a and a Master’s in Shari‘a from the Faculty of Sharia, and Law at Omdurman University in Sudan. He is currently writing his doctoral thesis.
He studied under esteemed scholars such as Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Shaghouri, Shaykh Mustafa al-Turkmani, and Shaykh Dr. Nur al-Din Itr, among others. Shaykh al-Yakti has worked in teaching and cultural guidance in orphanages and high schools in Aleppo. He served as an Imam, Khatib, and reciter at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and as a certified trainer for Khatibs in Abu Dhabi’s Khatib Qualification Program.
He is involved in developing and teaching a youth education program at Seekers Arabic for Islamic Sciences.
Among Shaykh al-Yaqti’s significant works are “Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni: Bayna Ilm al-Kalam Wa Usul al-Fiqh” and the program “The Messenger of Allah Among Us (Allah bless him and give him peace).”