THE DANGER OF FALSE TESTIMONY
All praise is for Allah, the Omnipotent Who is well acquainted with everything; nothing shall be hidden or concealed from Him. He even knows what one might think to himself, what may be whispered within his soul, what he conceals and what he utters.
I praise Allah. He commanded us to keep our tongues away from giving false testimony or speaking vulgarities. I ask Him to guide us to always speak the truth in ease and difficulty. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Alláh Alone, having no partners. I also bear witness that Muhammad(pbuh) is His slave and Messenger, who gave the truthful ones the great tiding of the Gardens that under which rivers flow and warned the liars of a gloomy destructive destination the Fire. May peace, and blessings of Alláh be upon Him, his family, and Companions who were truthful in speech and action and in staying away from deviation and going astray.
O Muslims, fear Alláh(swt) and listen carefully to His Words, with hearts that are open to receive the truth and righteousness and hence follow them. Allah(swt) says:
“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Alláh, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Alláh is a Better Protector to both (than you).” (4:135)
O servants of Alláh, Alláh(swt) commands you to adhere to Al-Qist(justice) and that your testimony should be in favor of the truth and justice whether for a person or against him. Your testimony should be offered for the sake of Alláh(swt) who wants you to testify according to the truth without altering or tampering with it. May Alláh(swt) have mercy on you. In your testimony as well as in your sayings, seek the truth-the pure truth. If you do so, you cement the foundation of security. Do not make yourselves vulnerable to emotions; do not make your testimony be affected by your awe towards your family relations. Do not be biased towards a rich person for his wealth or a needy one because you sympathize with him. You must know that Alláh is more entitled in looking after His servants than you are. Don’t you ever think that truthful testimony leads to mischief. No, it is always a blessing even though it may appear otherwise.
O servants of Alláh, a truthful testimony is not offered except by those who are highly honored, endowed with dignity and faithfulness that makes them refrain from testifying for the purpose of gaining an interest in this Dunya (life or vanities of this world) which will eventually vanish. Those are the honored ones who look forward to Paradise, to the sealed nectar whose seal is musk. For this, may Alláh(swt) have mercy on you, you must endure any difficulty you may encounter when offering your testimony regardless of what difficulty it may be, such as when you have to wait in the courtroom or when you make someone angry with you. You must also know that failing to offer this testimony when you can offer it truthfully is a great sin (which Alláh(swt) described as a sin of the heart). Alláh says:
“And conceal not the evidence, for he who hides it, surely, his heart is sinful.” (2:283)
O servants of Allah(swt)! The heart is the source of piety or corruption. Thus if the heart is sinful, what is left of man to be righteous? So do not conceal the testimony because concealing the testimony and the evidence it entails will bring about evil to all mankind, whom you are obligated to bring goodness for and protect from evil.
O servants of Alláh! If ceasing to offer the truthful testimony is deemed harmful for humanity and destructive to its balance, there is something that may be considered even more harmful and destructive. Do you know what that is? It is a terrible crime and a great catastrophe! It is the false testimony, which is almost tantamount to Shirk (taking partners with Alláh(pbuh)). It is the false testimony that is a threat to our wealth, security and well-being. It indeed destroys homes, kills dear and innocent ones and violates obvious rights. Once it spreads within a nation, it spreads chaos and causes people’s whims to control their lives. This and many other dangers are the outcome of the false testimony. The Messenger of Alláh(pbuh) has warned us of it when he said:
“Shall I not tell you of the most major sins? Taking partners with Alláh, being rebellious towards your parents, and murder.” The narrator of the Hadith said: ‘The Prophet(pbuh) was reclining, but he sat up and said: “Indeed, the false testimony, verily the false testimony.” The narrator proceeded saying the Prophet(pbuh) kept repeating the last statement until they (i.e., the Companions) wished he would stop.”
So I warn you O Muslims! I warn you against the giving of false testimony! It is an insult for the Muslim judges because it deceives them and keeps them away from finding the truth. It is also a leading astray for the one who is favored in this testimony because it will help him pursue sinning and aggression. It is an oppression against the one who is a victim of this testimony, because he has lost his right by being cheated by the one who falsely testified against him when he was badly in need of his support.
We admonish the witnesses who testify falsely to fear Allah(swt) and to repent for their wrong doings and tum to Allah(swt) for forgiveness. They should realize that they would be brought to stand before Allah(swt), the Most Just. Alláh will even return the right of the victimized sheep from the aggressor one. They should repent to Alláh(swt) before they are dragged into Hellfire along with the other criminals. I swear by Alláh that if they had known what Alláh had prepared for them in the Hellfire of torture and disgrace, they would have wished that their tongues had been cut out before they ever spoke a word of their false testimony. So fear Allah(swt) O Muslims!
“And follow not (O man, i.e., say not, or do not, or witness not) that of which you have no knowledge. Verily, the hearing, and the sight, and the heart of each of those ones will be questioned (by Allah).” (17:36)
May Allah(swt) benefit all of us with the guidance of His Book. With this I conclude my speech and ask Allah(swt) to forgive all of our sins. Seek His forgiveness, for verily, He is the All-Forgiving and the All-Merciful.
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