exalted is He:

“Say, ‘Shall We inform you of those who lose most through their deeds? Those whose efforts have gone astray in this worldly life, while they think they are doing good.’”

Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqās and others among the early generations said that this was revealed concerning those who inhabit hermitages and monasteries. It has also been reported from ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, and others that they understood it to apply to the Harūriyyah and similar people of innovation and misguidance.

Allah, exalted is He, also said:

“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon every sinful liar.”

The liar is one who tells lies, and the sinner is a wicked person, as He said:

“We will surely seize him by the forelock—a lying, sinful forelock.”

Whoever speaks about religion without knowledge speaks falsely, even if he does not deliberately lie. This is established in the two Sahīh collections in a report from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Subay‘ah al-Aslamiyyah’s husband, Sa‘d ibn Khawlah, had died during the Farewell Pilgrimage while she was pregnant. She gave birth a few nights after her husband’s death, and Abū al-Sanābil ibn Ba‘kak told her, “You may not marry until the later of the two waiting periods has ended.” When she told the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he said, “Abū al-Sanābil has spoken falsely. Rather, you are now free to marry, so marry.”

Likewise, when Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ said, “They are saying that ‘Āmir killed himself and that his deeds have come to nothing,” he replied:

“Whoever said that has spoken falsely. He indeed strove earnestly and fought in Allah’s cause.”

The person who said this had not deliberately lied, for he was a righteous man. It has been reported that he was Usayd ibn al-Hudayr. Nevertheless, because he spoke without knowledge, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, declared that he had spoken falsely.