Kadhib
Definition
Kadhib — lying — is the deliberate communication of what one knows to be false, and al-Ghazali presents it as one of the foundational tongue-sins from which many others derive their force. He distinguishes different degrees: the white lie (socially normalised but spiritually corrosive), the strategic lie (calculated for personal advantage), and the lie that destroys reputations or relationships (approaching buhtan). He also discusses the limited contexts in which the scholars have permitted untruth: preventing a greater harm, reconciling between people in conflict, and the permitted softening of the truth in speech between spouses. But these are genuine exceptions, not loopholes to be exploited.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Kadhib.
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"Perhaps he used to speak about what did not concern him and be stingy with what did not enrich him. Guard your tongue against eight things. First, lying. Guard it from lying in seriousness and jest. Do not accustom your tongue to lying in jest, lest it leads to lying in seriousness. Lying is among the greatest sins. If you become known for it, your credibility and respect will falter, and disdain and contempt will greet you."
— Imam al-Ghazali, The Beginning of Guidance
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"Behold: the worst of the tales men carry are the tales of lying. Behold: lying is never proper, neither in earnest nor in jest, nor that a man promise his child something and then not fulfil it. Behold: lying leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to the Fire; and truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. It is said of the truthful man: he spoke truth and did right; and it is said of the liar: he lied and did wrong. Muhammad told us that a man keeps speaking the truth until he is written down with God as most truthful, and keeps lying until he is written down with God as a great liar."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Fawāʾid — Points of Benefit, Volume Two
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"For example, preserving a Muslim's life is obligatory, so lying is mandatory if telling the truth would lead to the shedding of innocent blood. Similarly, if the goals of war or reconciliation between people can only be achieved through lies, then lying becomes permissible. However, it should be avoided as much as possible because opening the door to lying might lead to unnecessary lies, making lying intrinsically forbidden except in cases of necessity."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 24: Evils of the Tongue
Appears in
1 book in the library
Hear the term in context.
Every book above uses Kadhib the way the classical scholars meant it. Listen with the full Study Kit in the app.