Bait-ul-Arqam

Bismillahi Rahman Roheem Just as truthfulness is the very cornerstone of the upright person’s character and the springboard for his virtuousness, falsehood, its opposite, is the foundation of a person’s depravity and the launch pad for his wickedness.  Just as the truthfulness of a person starts from within - that is, it is a reflection of a state of true faith - a person’s dishonesty, lying and deceit is also a reflection of the inner state.  This is why God mentions truthfulness as being the opposite of hypocrisy: “That God may reward the truthful for their truthfulness, and punish the hypocrites if He wills, or turn mercifully towards them...” (Quran 33:24) …and why He mentions sincerity as a mark of truthfulness. “So that God might recompense the truthful for their truthfulness….” Little wonder then that the most righteous and truthful of people, the Prophets of God [1]  and their true followers, were not belied, denounced, op...

Bismillahi Rahman Roheem Truthfulness in Islam, plus the injunction towards it, and the status of those who practice it, is what we intend to remind ourselves here and we shall discuss it in two parts. “O you! Who believe, Have fear of God, and be among the truthful.” (Quran 9:119) Ask the average person to define truthfulness and the answer will most likely be restricted to something about truthful speech. Islam, however, teaches that truthfulness is far more than having an honest tongue. In Islam, truthfulness is the conformity of the outer with the inner, the action with the intention, the speech with belief, and the practice with the preaching. As such, truthfulness is the very cornerstone of the upright Muslim’s character and the springboard for his virtuousness deeds. The great sage and scholar of Islam, Ibn al-Qayyim, said: “Truthfulness is the greatest of stations, from it sprout all the various stations of those traversing the path to God; and from it sprouts the u...