Am I Allowed to Say Inaccurate Impressions?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I have a question about the permissibility of small lies. For example, if my mother made a soup and I didn’t like it, and she asked me if I tried it, I said yes to not upset her. The second example is if someone asks me how many driving lessons I have had and I forget how many, I make up the number 40 and say that is that haram.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
The above is not considered lying. These are just exaggerated and estimated statements based on our cultural norms, which most people utter and speak in a way in our day-to-day life.
Lying means to inform another about something that is otherwise than it is. In your case, you are just estimating. Rest assured. Just work on yourself to not speak in the way you mention above.
If you don’t like a specific type of food, taste it, and say it was good. It might not be tasty to you, but it is good overall as it is food and nutrition for all.
The proof that exaggeration is sometimes permissible and not considered lying is the hadith related in Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, …“as for Jahm, his stick never leaves his shoulder, while Muawiya (Allah bless him and give him peace) does not own a thing,” is being understood that the latter owned the garment he was wearing. The former set his stick aside when he slept and at other times. [Nawawi, Al-Adhkar al-Muntakhab min kalam Sayyid al-Abrar]
I recommend you go through the lessons on Permissible Lying and the Importance of Speech from imam Birgivi’s The Path of Muhammad Explained.
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Linked Answer
Purification of the Heart for Youth: Diseases of the Heart and Their Cure – YouTube
(4) 103 – Importance of Speech – Birgivi’s The Path of Muhammad Explained – Shaykh Faraz Rabbani – YouTube
(4) 106c – Lying: Permissble Lying – Birgivi’s The Path of Muhammad Explained – YouTube
Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart: Hamza Yusuf: 9780985565909: Amazon.com: Books (Book)
I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.
