the martyrs and the righteous—what excellent companions they are!” (Qur’an 4:69).

Know that the sin of lying grows in proportion to the harm it produces. Lying in financial dealings is more serious than lying in ordinary conversation. When a man begins to lie in his buying and selling, in what he takes and what he gives, the offense becomes graver; for once he lies in trade, the blessing in his transaction is erased. The Messenger ﷺ said, “The two parties to a sale have the option to cancel; if they are truthful and make everything clear, their sale will be blessed, but if they lie and conceal, the blessing of their sale will be wiped out.”

Any extra money or merchandise obtained through such lying—whether by inflating the price or adding to the goods—is illicit wealth, for it rests on falsehood, and whatever is founded on falsehood is itself false. The same applies to lying when describing an item: someone may claim, “This product has such-and-such desirable features,” while he is lying; this too is devouring wealth unlawfully.

A case in point is what some car dealers do: a man gives his vehicle to a broker knowing full well that it has a certain defect, and when the car is offered for sale the broker announces, “Accept every defect it may have,” yet hides the real flaw. This is forbidden. If the seller knows of the defect but conceals it, telling the buyer, “Bear with any defect,” he is sinning because he is aware of the flaw. However, if he truly does not know of any defect but only fears there might be a hidden one he has not detected, there is no harm in disclaiming liability for any unknown defects. Allah is the One who grants success.