or speaks well). Thus, if someone’s intention is to reconcile people and he says to one party, “So-and-so praises you, commends you, and prays for you,” and other such words, there is no harm in that.

The scholars have differed over this point: does the ḥadith permit a person to utter an explicit falsehood, or does it only allow for equivocation (tawriya)—that is, giving the listener an impression contrary to the facts while still intending a meaning that is technically sound? An example would be saying, “So-and-so praises you,” while intending praise for his category and peers among the Muslims, for everyone praises the Muslims in general without singling anyone out.

Likewise, he might say, “He prays for you,” intending that the man is one of Allah’s servants, since a Muslim prays for every righteous servant in every prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said: “When you say—namely, when you say, ‘Peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah’—you have extended peace to every righteous servant in the heavens and on earth.”