How to Cure Our Lying?
To lie means to say something that you know is wrong on purpose.
We all know that lying is a great sin. The bad thing is that we do not realize how often we are doing it.
Our Sixth Imam said that it is more difficult to repent for many small sins than for one big sin.
Remember the story of the two men who came to Imam to repent for their sins.
Prophet Muhammad (S) has said:
“Leave falsehood and make speaking the truth a habit.”
“If a person has a habit of speaking lies, he is a hypocrite until he rids himself of the habit.”
To lie is Haraam because you are deceiving others. There are many reasons why people lie, some of them are:
- as an excuse to get yourself out of trouble;
- to cheat somebody out of something you want;
- to get someone else into trouble.
As you can see, all the above reasons are bad. If you have done something which gets you into trouble, then you should face it, and not lie your way out of it because that is being very irresponsible.
Holy Qur’an also tells us not to lie:
(2:42) “And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when you know (what it is).
Prophet Muhammad (S) has also said:
“Beware of association with the liar for he is like a mirage which draws the far one nearer to you and the nearer far from you.”
If you make the habit of lying, then you will lie very often without realizing. You will lie to your family, your friends and everybody you meet. Then one day you will be caught out because you will have trapped yourself in a corner, and there will be no escape.
Also if you make a habit of lying you will start doing other things which are even worse. One evil leads you to another. So it is necessary for all of us to confront this ugly habit. There are some practical recommendations which can be helpful:
- Make a commitment to stop. Treat lying as you would any other addiction, make a serious commitment to quit. It’s going to require a lot of hard work and thought, so set a date after which you vow to be honest and get a plan in place to help you be successful. Reading this article is a great first step.
- If you can’t say something true, don’t say anything at all. When you’re faced with a trigger and tempted to tell a lie, stop yourself from speaking at all. If you simply can’t be honest in the moment, it’s better to stay quiet or change the subject. You are not required to answer questions you don’t want to answer, or reveal information you don’t feel like revealing.
- Practice actively telling the truth. If you’ve been lying more often than not, telling the truth really does take practice. The key is to think before you speak, and decide to say something true instead of false. Again, if you’re asked a question you can’t answer truthfully, don’t answer. The more you tell the truth, the easier it will become.
- Make honesty the core of your character. Honesty is a character trait that is highly valued across cultures and societies. It’s a quality that is honed through the hard work of being strong in difficult situations year in and year out. Let truth, rather than lies, become your automatic response when you’re faced with the trials of life.
