Truth is the oldest of all the virtues; it antedated man, it lived before there was a man to perceive it or to accept it. Truthfulness is the greatest and most important of all human virtues. Truthfulness is the backbone of any peaceful and sincere society. Everyone will trust him and will also inspire by his good attitude. It may possible that many people try to follow him and especially the close companions of the person will also try to become like him. Allah says:
وَمَنْ يُطِعْ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُوْلَئِكَ رَفِيقًا
“And whosoever obeys God and His Messenger, such will be in the company of those whom God has blessed: the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent a company is such people!” (Surat An-Nisa 4:69)
Telling yourself the truth can be the best habit you can develop, and asking questions and talking things through with yourself can be the easiest and quickest way to establish this habit. Allah ordered the believers to tell the truth and urged them to be among the truthful. He revealed too many verses about truthfulness in His Book. Allah says:
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الصِّدِّيقُونَ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ وَنُورُهُمْ
“And (as for) those who believe in Allah and His apostles, these it is that are the truthful and the faithful ones in the sight of their Lord: they shall have their reward and their light… “ (Surah Hadid 57:19)
Truthfulness is one of the most basic things for the establishment of mutual social relations. If all Muslims try to adopt this great and basic character, there is no doubt and no hurdle in the way of their success. In short, truthfulness itself is a big solution to many problems like cheating, fraud, misrepresentation, theft and many other bad habits and sins.
Truthfulness has too many benefits. Some of them are listed below:
- Truthfulness is one of the major necessities of our society
- Truthfulness helps individuals attain rewards from Allah
- Truthfulness is one of the excellence of human attitude
- Those who believe know that it is a truth
- The danger zone is what children listen
- The danger is what we tell our children
- Train yourself with a no-excuse policy
- Truthfulness brings glorious benefits
- The truth is your way out
- Be real with technology
- Realize that lying is bad for you
- Never cover the truth with falsehood
- Lying is corruption in the community
- Speaking the truth is a habit you need
- We urge you to always speak the truth
- We emphasized this great type of manner
- Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things
- Lying is one of the basic elements of destruction
- Allah makes a way out of our concerns and a refuge
- Lying is destruction and corruption in the community
A truthful man will never tell a lie. He always says what he means. I have experienced that in speech, the man who makes Truth his watchword is careful in his words, he seeks to be accurate, neither understating nor over-colouring. In fact, truthfulness is an essential attribute of every single prophet who graced the earth. truthfulness is something that is to be cultivated till it becomes implanted in a person’s soul and disposition and therefore reflected throughout the person’s character. Allah says:
وَبَشِّرْ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنَّ لَهُمْ قَدَمَ صِدْقٍ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ
“…and give good news to those who believe that theirs is a high rank with their Lord.” (Surah Yunus 10:2)
Truthfulness is something that is to be cultivated till it becomes implanted in a person’s soul and disposition and therefore reflected throughout the person’s character. The positive reciprocal effect of behaving truthfully with people in this worldly life. Telling the truth is key for all doors and kinds of goodness that lead to Paradise.
Allah Almighty says in The Holy Quran:
- “Speak truthfully so that Allah may reform your deeds.” (Surah al-Ahzab, 33:70)
- “And mention in the Book, Enoch: surely he was a most truthful Prophet.” (Quran 19:56)
- “The Allah may reward the truthful for their truthfulness, and punish the Hypocrites if he wills, or turn mercifully towards them.” ( Qur’an 33:24)
- “And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves. Indeed, Allah loves not one who is a habitually sinful deceiver.” (Quran, 4:107)
- “They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive [it] not.” (Quran, 2:9)
- “And mention in the Book, Ishmael: surely, he was a man true to his word, and he was a Messenger, a Prophet.” (Quran 19:54)
- “And mention in the Book, Abraham: surely he was a most truthful Prophet.” (Quran 19:41)
Truth has great power and it is the rock foundation of every great character. No one likes to tell lies but we feel being dishonest with others and ourselves is sometimes easier than telling the truth. Learning to be honest and eliminating the need for lies can help clean up your conscience and your relationships. A truthful man has the strength of mind. He is not afraid of anybody. He is never ready to suffer by speaking the truth. Allah says
أُوْلَئِكَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ
”These are they on whom Allah bestowed favours…” (Surah Maryam 19:58)
Truthfulness is a means by the help of which the servants of Allah attain the Good Pleasure and the True Love of Allah. Those who tell the truth always gain success and salvation on the Day of Judgment. Almighty Allah ordered the believers to tell the truth and urged them to be among the truthful. Through it is the hypocrite distinguished from the believer and the inhabitant of Paradise from the denizen of Hell. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ
”O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones.” (Surah Tawbah 9:119)
Hence, to tread the path of truthfulness is to tread the path of the most righteous of God’s creation. Telling the truth is key for all doors and kinds of goodness that lead to Paradise. Faith (Iman) and lying are two different characteristics, one is good and the other is bad. They can never exist together in the heart of a true believer. As such, truthfulness is the very cornerstone of the upright Muslim’s character and the springboard for his virtuous deeds. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ.
“O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) Allah and be with the true ones.” (Surah Tawbah 9:119)
Thus a person should be the same on the inside and the outside. A man continues to be truthful and strives for truthfulness until he is written as a truthful person by God. As Muslims and true believers, we should tell the truth, adhere to it and follow the good example of the Prophet (PBUH). We ask Allah to make us truthful secretly and openly and forgive our sins. We ask Allaah to make us sincere and truthful in word and deed. And Allaah knows best. Ameen
