people, in warfare, and in what a man says to his wife and a wife says to her husband.”

Yet many scholars have maintained that the “lying” referred to in this ḥadith is not outright falsehood; rather, it is equivocation (tawriyah), and equivocation is sometimes called “lying.” Abraham (peace be upon him) will say on the Day of Resurrection, when people come to him seeking intercession, that he told three “lies,” whereas in fact he merely spoke by way of equivocation—he presented to the listener something other than what he truly intended. Some scholars therefore hold that the concession contained in this ḥadith applies only to such equivocal speech, not to clear falsehood. According to this view, no form of lying is excluded from the general prohibition: every lie is forbidden.

Be aware, moreover, that lying ensnares a person and leaves him helpless to remedy its consequences, as the poet said:

I have a stratagem against the talebearer,
but none against the liar;
For he who invents what he says
leaves me few resources.

The one who carries tales and sows discord among people—I can devise a way to protect myself from him and his evil. But the liar, who claims, “I did such-and-such,” while he is in fact lying—there is no stratagem against him. If he can fabricate whatever he wishes, that is a serious problem, and I have no means to deal with him. Hence the ḥadith stipulates here: “and he does not lie to him.”

Another wording states, “and he does not hold him in contempt,” meaning that he must not despise or belittle his fellow Muslim—even if the other is older, wealthier, or more knowledgeable than he—he must not treat him with disdain.