An-Nahl (The Bee)

105. “Only they forge falsehood who do not believe in Allah’s signs, and they themselves are liars.”

In the last two verses, the pagans used to claim among their accusations to the blissful Prophet (S) that these verses were taught to him by a man and he falsely ascribed them to Allah.

In answer to them the Qur’an, through previous verse, implied that that man is not an Arab instructor; furthermore, Allah will not teach all of the Qur’anic sciences to a pagan. Now, it implies in this verse that: The prophet is not the one who ascribes the words of others to Allah; this is the job of those who are not believers.

Thus the Qur’an says:

“Only they forge falsehood who do not believe in Allah’s signs and they themselves are liars.”

And what a lie is greater than accusing men of the truth, and causing other obstacles to stand in the path of them and those who are thirsty for the truth?

The above verse is one of the shaking verses which concern the ugliness of falsehood. It equates liars with the pagans and with those who reject the Divine verses.

In principle, there is a great deal of importance attached to the issue of telling the truth and campaigning against lying and falsehood in Islamic teachings in so far as lying has been equated with the key to all sins, and telling the truth as the bill or the ticket to enter the Paradise.

The blissful Qur’an proclaims:

“And if he had fabricated against Us some of the sayings,” “Then We would certainly have cut off his aorta.”1

In Tafsir-i-Durr-ul-Manthūr and Al-Mizan, it has been quoted from the blissful Prophet (S) that a believer may be involved in fornication or in theft, but he will never tell lies. Then he recited this verse.

Ali (as) says:

“Telling lie is disgrace in the world and will cause the punishment of Fire in the Hereafter.”2

And also, Imam ‘Askari (as) proclaims:

“All evil and nasty things are placed in a room, the key to which is ‘telling lies’.”3

In another quotation from Ali (as) we read:

“One can not be blessed with faith unless he abandons lying whether it is in the form of a joke or is seriously said.”4