What is Truthfulness in Islam?

Allah SWT says in the Qur’an,

« O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true. » – [At-Tawbah:119]

Truthfulness starts with a person being truthful in his relations with Allah SWT. We can not be truthful if we are not true to our Creator. We must also show truthfulness to the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (PBUH), through our words and actions.

What is Truthfulness in Islam?

Honesty and truthfulness are beautiful sentiments and make us among the righteous. Allah, His creatures, and the angels love those with these qualities. Truthfulness is not just a beautiful virtue; it’s a crucial trait for a believer.

What is truthfulness and how we can be truthful Muslims requires introspection. We must look into ourselves and improve our relationship with our Creator and His Messenger (PBUH) daily. Knowledge is a source of truthfulness; if we are truthful, we will learn and increase our knowledge daily. We will go out and sometimes fight our laziness or desire to do something else when knowledge is imparted. We would also increase the knowledge of our religion brought to us by Muhammad (PBUH) and start acting upon whatever we have learned from his teachings.

Sometimes we ask questions about religion because we need to equip ourselves with the correct answers. Therefore we doubt some of the teachings solely because of ignorance. Truthfulness towards our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is also going out of our way to learn his biography, upbringing, and lifestyle. That truthfulness comes with many benefits; it teaches us how to lead our life because Allah SWT has told us,

« There has certainly been an excellent pattern for you in the Messenger of Allah. » [Al-Ahzaab:21]

Be truthful within our family life. We should be truthful to our parents and understand who they are; Allah chose them for us. We will respect them, fulfill their rights and perform our responsibilities obediently. We should be truthful to our children and become their ideal role models by practicing what we preach.

Truthfulness is essential to our workmates. When we deal, we are truthful to the one we buy or sell. How can we call ourselves truthful if we deal with someone and cheat through our dealings?

When Allah SWT speaks about truthfulness, He speaks about it as a totality of our experience. He tells us to speak the truth, to act with truth, to be with those who are truthful, and to turn away from those who are not truthful. When we speak about honesty and truthfulness, it involves three basic levels:

Truthfulness in the heart – Sincere intentions demonstrates honesty and purity. The most significant sign of hypocrisy is dishonesty.

Truthfulness in our words – When we speak with dishonesty, it comes under telling lies and fabricating the absolute truth. Lying may be in omitting essential details.

Truthfulness in our body language – « The worst of people in the sight of Allah on the Day of Judgment will be the two-faced person…. presenting one face to a group of people and another to a different group. » [Hadith]

The most significant sign of our truthfulness is intolerance for untruthfulness.

« You who believe, uphold justice, and bear witness to God, even if it is against your yourselves. » [4:135]

It is always better to learn from our mistakes instead of overcoming them. We should be humble and acknowledge our mistakes. Truthfulness is the hallmark of faith and leads to righteousness, and righteousness will lead us to Jannah. 

« Falsehood leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to Fire. » [At-Trimidhi: 1971]

We should strive to be among those written down as « Siddiq. »