and the regular congregational prayers, yet he does not fulfill his duty. One day he starts early, another day he comes late; at times he prolongs the prayer with an unlawful lengthening, and at other times he himself shows no composure in the prayer and pays no heed to those praying behind him. All of this is a betrayal of trust. The essential point is that betrayal of trust can arise in every context—in deposits, in business dealings, in personal conduct, in everything.

"When he is trusted, he betrays; and when he speaks, he lies." Such a person, whenever he relates something—“So-and-so said,” “this happened,” “that did not happen”—lies outright. That is one of the signs of hypocrisy. Some people are tried by this vice: you find them lying to others, joking with them in order to ensnare them; once the victims are caught, they say, “I was only joking.” Glory be to Allah! You lie to people, joking with them just to entangle them? Others are afflicted with lying simply to amuse those present. Yet the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Woe to the one who speaks and lies so that the people may laugh; woe to him, woe to him.”

We have already noted that the gravest form of lying is to lie about Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, followed by lying about the scholars. If someone lies about a scholar concerning the law—claiming, for example, that the scholar declared something forbidden, permissible, or obligatory when in fact he did not—then that person is lying about the law itself. The scholars represent the sacred law and are the ones who explain it to the people. Therefore, when someone fabricates and says, “Shaykh so-and-so said such-and-such,” he approaches the level of one who lies against the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

In short, whoever speaks and lies possesses one of the traits of hypocrisy. May Allah protect us.