—the hadith scholars—these hadiths a basis for the obligation to verify hadiths transmitted from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and to scrutinize narrators, so as to distinguish the trustworthy from others.

Because lying has become so widespread among people in this age, one can no longer distinguish between reports or tell the sound from the unsound.

42—The Proliferation of False Testimony and the Concealment of Truthful Testimony

In the hadith of Abdullāh ibn Masūd (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Among the events immediately preceding the Hour are: ... false testimony and the concealment of truthful testimony.” (1)

False testimony means deliberately lying when giving testimony. Just as false testimony causes the truth to be nullified, concealing testimony likewise causes the truth to be nullified.

Allah Most High says: “Do not conceal testimony, for whoever conceals it has a sinful heart.” [al-Baqarah: 283].

Abū Bakra (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) when he said: “Shall I not tell you of the greatest of the major sins?” (three times). “Associating partners with Allah, disobeying one’s parents, and giving false testimony—or speaking falsely.” He had been reclining, but then sat up and continued repeating it until we said, “If only he would stop.” (2).