Riyad al-Salihin from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Chapter: The Prohibition of Lying.
On the authority of Samurah ibn Jundub, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would often ask his Companions:
"Has any one of you seen a vision?"
Then, whoever Allah willed would relate his vision to him.
One morning, he said to us:
"Two visitors came to me last night."
"They said to me, 'Come along.'"
"So I went with them."
"We came upon a man lying down,"
"and another standing over him with a rock,"
"and he was smashing the rock against his head,"
"shattering his skull."
"The stone would roll away,"
"and he would follow it, retrieve it,"
"and not return to him until his head had healed and returned to its original state."
"Then he would return to him,"
"and do to him exactly what he did the first time."
I said to them, "Subhan Allah! What is this?"
They said to me, "Go on, go on."
So we went on.
We came upon a man lying on his back,
with another standing over him holding an iron hook,
and he would approach one side of his face,
tearing his jaw to the back of his neck,
his nostril to the back of his neck,
and his eye to the back of his neck.
Then he would move to the other side,
and do to it exactly what he did to the first side.
No sooner would he finish that side,
than it would heal and return to its original state.
Then he would return to him,
and do exactly what he did the first time.
I said, "Subhan Allah! What is this?"
He said,
They said to me, "Go on, go on."
So we went on.
We came upon something like a furnace,
(I believe he said,)
and inside it was clamor and voices.
We looked into it,
and there were naked men and women.
A flame would come to them from beneath them,
and when that flame reached them,
they would cry out.
I asked, "Who are these?"
They said to me,
"Go on, go on."
So we went on.
We came upon a river,
(I believe he said) red like blood.
In the river was a man swimming,
and on the bank of the river was a man
who had gathered many stones before him.
The swimmer would swim for a while,
then come to the one who had gathered the stones,
and open his mouth,
and he would cast a stone into it.
Then he would go off and swim,
and then return to him.
Every time he returned, he would open his mouth for him,
and he would cast a stone into it.
I said to them,
"What are these two?"
They said to me,
"Go on, go on."
So we went on.
We came upon a man with a repulsive appearance,
or the most repulsive appearance you have ever seen in a man.
He had a fire before him, which he was stoking and running around.
I said to them,
"What is this?"
They said to me,
"Go on, go on."
So we went on.
We came upon a lush garden, filled with all the flowers of spring.
In the middle of the garden was a tall man,
whose head I could barely see because of his height reaching toward the sky.
Around the man were more children than I had ever seen.
I said, "What is this?"
"And who are these?"
They said to me,
"Go on, go on."
So we went on.
We came to a magnificent tree,
the greatest and most beautiful I have ever seen.
They said to me,
"Climb it."
We climbed it until we reached a city built
with bricks of gold and bricks of silver.
We came to the gate of the city,
and asked for it to be opened,
and it was opened for us.
We entered it,
and were met by men
whose one half was as beautiful as the most handsome person you have ever seen,
and whose other half was as ugly as the most hideous person you have ever seen.
They said to them,
"Go and submerge yourselves in that river."
It was a river flowing across,
its water as white as pure milk.
They went and submerged themselves in it,
then returned to us, and that ugliness had left them,
and they had become the most beautiful in appearance.
He said,
They said to me,
"This is the Garden of Eden,"
"and that is your dwelling."
I raised my gaze upward,
and there was a palace like a white cloud.
They said to me,
"That is your dwelling."
I said to them,
"May Allah bless you both!"
"Let me enter it."
They said,
"Not now, but you shall enter it."
"And you will enter it."
I said to them,
"I have seen wonders tonight,"
"so what is this that I have seen?"
They said to me,
"We will inform you."
"As for the first man you came upon, whose head was being shattered with the rock,"
"he is the man who receives the Qur'an and rejects it,"
"and sleeps through the obligatory prayer."
"As for the man you came upon whose jaw was being torn to the back of his neck,"
"his nostril to the back of his neck,"
"and his eye to the back of his neck,"
"he is the man who leaves his house,"
"and tells a lie that reaches the horizons."
"As for the naked men and women"
"who were in something like a furnace,"
"they are the adulterers and adulteresses."
"As for the man you came upon swimming in the river,"
"and being fed stones,"
"he is the consumer of usury."
"As for the man with the repulsive appearance"
"who was by the fire, stoking it and running around it,"
"he is Malik, the guardian of Hell."
"As for the tall man in the garden,"
"he is Ibrahim."
"As for the children around him,"
"they are every child who died upon the fitrah (natural state)."
In the narration of al-Barqani:
"Born upon the fitrah."
Some Muslims asked,
"O Messenger of Allah, and the children of the polytheists?"
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"And the children of the polytheists."
"As for the people who were half handsome"
"and half ugly,"
"they are people who mixed a righteous deed"
"with another that was evil,"
"but Allah pardoned them."
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
In another narration of his:
"I saw two men last night who came to me,"
"and took me out to a sacred land,"
then he mentioned it,
and said:
"We went to a hole like a furnace,"
"narrow at the top and wide at the bottom,"
"with a fire blazing beneath it."
"When it flared up,"
"they rose until they almost exited,"
"and when it subsided,"
"they returned into it."
"Inside were naked men and women."
And in it:
"Until we came to a river of blood,"
(and he did not express doubt),
"in which a man was standing in the middle of the river,"
"and on the bank of the river was a man,"
"with stones before him."
"The man in the river would come forward,"
"and whenever he wanted to exit,"
"the man would throw a stone into his mouth,"
"returning him to where he was."
"Every time he tried to exit,"
"he would throw a stone into his mouth,"
"and he would return as he was."
And in it:
"He took me up the tree,"
"and they brought me into a house,"
"the most beautiful I have ever seen,"
"containing old men and young men."
And in it:
"The one you saw having his jaw torn,"
"is the liar who tells a lie,"
"and it is carried from him until it reaches the horizons,"
"so he is treated as you saw until the Day of Resurrection."
And in it:
"The one you saw having his head smashed,"
"is a man whom Allah taught the Qur'an,"
"but he slept through it at night,"
"and did not act upon it during the day,"
It will be done to him until the Day of Resurrection.
As for the first dwelling you entered,
it is the dwelling of the general body of believers.
As for this dwelling,
it is the dwelling of the martyrs.
I am Jibril,
and this is Mika'il.
So raise your head.
I raised my head,
and above me was something like a cloud.
He said,
"That is your dwelling."
I said,
"Let me enter my dwelling."
He said,
"You still have a portion of life left to complete."
Had you completed it,
you would have entered your dwelling.
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
His phrase "yathlaghu ra'sahu" (he smashes his head),
means to crush and split it.
His phrase "yatadahdahu" (it rolls),
means it tumbles.
His phrase "yusharshiru" (he saws),
means he cuts.
His phrase "dawda'a" (they clamored),
means they shouted.
His phrase "yafgharu" (he opens wide),
means he opens.
His phrase "al-mir'ah" (the view),
means the sight.
His phrase "yahushshuha" (he stokes it),
means he ignites it.
His phrase "rawdah mu'timah" (a lush garden),
means one with abundant vegetation.
Its length.
His phrase "dawhah" (a large tree),
refers to a great tree.
His phrase "al-muhibb" (the milk),
refers to milk.
His phrase "fashama basari" (my gaze rose),
means it ascended.
"Wa sa'ada" (and it rose),
means it was elevated.
"Al-rababah" (the cloud),
refers to a cloud.
Among the benefits of the hadith:
Interpreting dreams in the morning
is better than at other times,
because the dreamer remembers them well,
due to the proximity of the time.
The desirability of asking
someone who has seen a dream and listening to it.
Affirmation of the punishment
of the grave,
and that some sinners are punished
in the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection).
The permissibility of summarizing knowledge,
which is to group issues together,
then explain them in order,
so that one may grasp
the conceptualization of them in the mind.
A warning against sleeping through
the prescribed prayer.
A warning against abandoning the Qur'an
for one who has memorized it.
It contains a warning against adultery,
usury, and intentional lying,
because they are among the destructive sins,
the ruinous ones.
An explanation of the encouragement to seek knowledge
and to follow those who seek
it from others.
An explanation of the virtue of the martyrs,
and that their dwellings
are the highest of dwellings.
As for the one whose good deeds and bad deeds are equal,
Allah will overlook them
by His mercy.
Chapter: What is permissible
regarding lying.
Know that lying,
although its origin is forbidden,
is permissible in certain circumstances,
under conditions I have clarified
in the book al-Adhkar.
A summary of this is
that speech is a means
to achieve objectives.
Every praiseworthy objective
that can be achieved without lying,
it is forbidden to lie to achieve it.
But if it cannot be achieved
except by lying,
then lying is permissible.
Furthermore, if the achievement of that
objective is permissible,
then the lie is permissible.
And if it is obligatory,
then the lie is obligatory.
For instance, if a Muslim hides from an oppressor
who wants to kill him or take his wealth,
and he hides his wealth,
and someone is asked about him,
it becomes obligatory to lie to protect him.
Likewise, if one has a trust (deposit)
and an oppressor wants to take it,
it becomes obligatory to lie
to hide it.
The most cautious approach in all of this
is to use tawriyah (equivocation).
The meaning of tawriyah is
to intend by one's expression a meaning
that is true, which is not
a lie in relation to that intent,
even if it is a lie in the outward
form of the words and in relation
to what the listener understands.
Even if one abandons this
and uses a direct lie,
it is not forbidden
in this situation.
The scholars cited as evidence
for the permissibility of lying in this situation
the hadith
from Umm Kulthum,
may Allah be pleased with her,
that she heard the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say:
"He is not a liar
who reconciles between people,
conveying good
or saying good."
It is agreed upon.
Muslim added in a narration:
Umm Kulthum said,
"I did not hear him
grant a concession for anything
that people say, except in three:
meaning war,
reconciliation between people,
and the speech of a man to
his wife, and the speech of
a woman to her husband."
"He is not a liar,"
meaning he is not blameworthy in the Shari'ah.
"Conveying,"
meaning reporting.
Among the benefits of the hadith:
Whoever reconciles between people
is not called a blameworthy liar.
The blameworthy lie is
that which results in
harm.
The permissibility of lying in the three
matters mentioned in the hadith,
because the resulting benefit
is greater.
Riyadh al-Salihin.