Blog Archives
False Witness (Ahadith 2319 – 2320)
Bismillah.
Volume 3, Book 48, Number 821 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) was asked about the great sins He said, “They are:- (1 ) To join others in worship with Allah, (2) To be undutiful to one’s parents. (3) To kill a person (which Allah has forbidden to kill) (i.e. to commit the crime of murdering). (4) And to give a false witness.”
Volume 3, Book 48, Number 822 :
Narrated by Abu Bakra (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said thrice, “Should I inform you out the greatest of the great sins?” They said, “Yes, O Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam)!” He said, “To join others in worship with Allah and to be undutiful to one’s parents.” The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) then sat up after he had been reclining (on a pillow) and said, “And I warn you against giving a false witness”, and he kept on saying that warning till we thought he would not stop.
There’s mention of false witness in the Quran as well:
وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَشْهَدُونَ الزُّورَ
“And [they are] those who do not testify to falsehood..” [Al-Furqan: 72]
Ibn Kathir comments:
These are further attributes of the servants of the Most Gracious. They do not bear witness to falsehood, including lies, immorality, disbelief, foul speech and false words…
“And those who do not bear witness to falsehood” refers to giving false testimony, which means lying deliberately to someone else…
From the context it seems that what is meant by those who do not bear witness to falsehood is those who do not attend it or are not present when it happens.
The above ayah talks about false witness, which is a major sin. Allah also talks about hiding witness/testimony in the Quran:
وَلَا تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَ ۚ وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ
“And do not conceal testimony, for whoever conceals it – his heart is indeed sinful, and Allah is Knowing of what you do.” [Al-Baqarah: 283]
Ibn Kathir comments:
Allah’s statement,
﴿وَلاَ تَكْتُمُواْ الشَّهَـدَةَ﴾
(And conceal not the evidence) means, do not hide it or refuse to announce it. Ibn `Abbas and other scholars said, “False testimony is one of the worst of the major sins, and such is the case with hiding the true testimony.” This is why Allah said,
﴿وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ ءَاثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ﴾
(For he who hides it, surely, his heart is sinful).
As-Suddi commented, “Meaning he is a sinner in his heart.”
This is similar to Allah’s statement,
﴿وَلاَ نَكْتُمُ شَهَـدَةَ اللَّهِ إِنَّآ إِذَاً لَّمِنَ الاٌّثِمِينَ﴾
(We shall not hide testimony of Allah, for then indeed we should be of the sinful) ﴿5:106﴾.
Allah said,
﴿يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءِ للَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَلِدَيْنِ وَالاٌّقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيّاً أَوْ فَقَيراً فَاللَّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ وَإِن تَلْوُواْ أَوْ تُعْرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيراً ﴾
(O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you avoid justice; and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do) ﴿ 4:135
P.S. We have talked previously about a similar subject: false oaths.
When The Earth Starts To Shake…
In light of the frequently occurring earthquakes these days… Most of these signs can be found in various Hadiths of the Prophet (SallAllaahu Alaiyhi Wasallam). I tried to find the ones I could. See the links in sha Allah.
As we reach close to the end of times
The earth gets filled with sins and crimes
When Humans worse than animals behave
When a child treats his own mother as a slave (1)
When false prophets start to increase in number (2)
When you wake people up but they prefer to slumber
When the most loved person is a liar and deceiver
When the most hated person is a faithful believer
When even Muslims start believing in false prophecies
When no one is afraid of committing hypocrisy
When killing someone becomes a piece of cake
When while taking a life, a person’s hands don’t even shake (3)
When children of fornication are born everyday
When people stop caring if someone goes astray
When all of this gets too much to take
Then that is when the earth frequently starts to shake… (4)

Graph provided by DL Research – http://www.dlindquist.com
Justified (Hadith No. 234)
Salam,
Bismillah.
Hadith no 230, 231, 232 and 233 are repeats. Read here.
Narrated Abu Qilaba:
Anas said, “Some people of ‘Ukl or ‘Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (Milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels. The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then ordered to cut their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, They were put in ‘Al-Harra’ and when they asked for water, no water was given to them.” Abu Qilaba said, “Those people committed theft and murder, became infidels after embracing Islam and fought against Allah and His Apostle .”
Some people try to prove Prophet (SAW) a tyrant and unjust person by highlighting this incident, saying that the punishment was harsh. But do they not see the intensity of the crimes committed? Theft, murder, reverting back to infidelity and waging war against Allah and His Apostle (SAW). Prescribed punishments (respectively) are: cutting off hands, death sentence, death sentence and death sentence. So all in all, it was a just and justified punishment, and obviously kept the potential enemies from doing anything silly afterwards.
Wassalam.