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and grant him peace—:
“Abraham never lied except three times, all of them for Allah’s sake.” (1)
Those were equivocations (2). He had been commanded to make them, so they constituted obedience to Allah on his part. Equivocations may be called lies because the speaker leads the listener to understand something other than what he himself intends.
In the two Sahih collections, Umm Kulthūm said:
“I never heard the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—permit anything that people call lying except in three cases: what a man says to his wife, his efforts to reconcile people, and in war.” (3)
(1) The hadith of Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, is found in al-Bukhārī, 4/140–140 (Book of the Prophets, chapter “The Words of Allah Most High: ‘And Allah Took Abraham as a Close Friend’”), 6/84–85 (Book of Quranic Exegesis, Sūrat Banī Isrāīl); and Muslim, 4/1840–1841 (Book of Virtues, chapter “Some of the Virtues of Abraham, the Close Friend”). The text of the hadith, according to Muslim’s wording, is narrated from Abū Hurayra, who reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, never spoke falsely except on three occasions: two for Allah’s sake—when he said, ‘Indeed, I am ill,’ and when he said, ‘Rather, this largest one of them did it’—and one concerning Sarah. He entered the land of a tyrant accompanied by Sarah, who was the most beautiful of women. He said to her, ‘If this tyrant learns that you are my wife, he will overpower me on your account. If he questions you, tell him that you are my sister, for you are indeed my sister in Islam…’” The hadith continues. It is also found in *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 2/355–356 (Book of Divorce, chapter “A Man Who Says to His Wife: ‘O My Sister’”); *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 5/4 (Book of Quranic Exegesis, Sūrat al-Anbiyā); and *al-Musnad* (al-Maārif edition), 18/35–36.
(2) In *Lisān al-Arab*: “*Maārīd* (equivocations) means concealing one thing by means of another… It is the plural of *mirād*, derived from *tarīd* (indirect expression).”
(3) The hadith is narrated with similar wordings from Umm Kulthūm bint Uqba ibn Abī Muayt, may Allah be pleased with her, in Muslim, 4/2011–2012 (Book of Righteousness, Maintaining Ties, and Manners, chapter “The Prohibition of Lying and an Explanation of What Is Permitted Thereof”); *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 4/385–386 (Book of Manners, chapter “Reconciling People”); *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 3/222–223 (Chapters on Righteousness and Maintaining Ties, chapter “What Has Been Related concerning Reconciling People”); and *al-Musnad* (al-Halabī edition), 6/403–404. Al-Bukhārī also cited a portion of the hadith, 3/183 (Book of Reconciliation, chapter “The One Who Reconciles People Is Not a Liar”).
وَسَلَّمَ -:
"
«لَمْ يَكْذِبْ إِبْرَاهِيمُ إِلَّا ثَلَاثَ كِذْبَاتٍ كُلُّهُنَّ فِي ذَاتِ اللَّهِ»
(١)
. "
فَتِلْكَ كَانَتْ مَعَارِيضَ
(٢)
". فَكَانَ مَأْمُورًا بِهَا، وَكَانَتْ مِنْهُ طَاعَةً لِلَّهِ، وَالْمَعَارِيضُ قَدْ تُسَمَّى كَذِبًا لِكَوْنِهِ أَفْهَمَ خِلَافَ مَا فِي نَفْسِهِ.
وَفِي الصَّحِيحَيْنِ عَنْ أُمِّ كُلْثُومٍ قَالَتْ:
«لَمْ أَسْمَعِ النَّبِيَّ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -
يُرَخِّصُ فِيمَا يَقُولُ النَّاسُ إِنَّهُ كَذِبٌ إِلَّا فِي ثَلَاثٍ:
حَدِيثُ الرَّجُلِ لِامْرَأَتِهِ، وَإِصْلَاحُهُ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ، وَفِي الْحَرْبِ»
(٣)
) . .
(١) الْحَدِيثُ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: الْبُخَارِيِّ ٤/١٤٠ - ١٤٠ (كِتَابُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ، بَابُ قَوْلِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلًا) ، ٦/٨٤ - ٨٥ (كِتَابُ التَّفْسِيرِ، سُورَةُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ) ; مُسْلِمٍ ٤/١٨٤٠ - ١٨٤١ (كِتَابُ الْفَضَائِلِ، بَابُ مِنْ فَضَائِلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْخَلِيلِ. .) وَنَصُّ الْحَدِيثِ (وَاللَّفْظُ لِمُسْلِمٍ) عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: " لَمْ يَكْذِبْ إِبْرَاهِيمُ النَّبِيُّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ قَطُّ إِلَّا ثَلَاثَ كِذْبَاتٍ: ثِنْتَيْنِ فِي ذَاتِ اللَّهِ: قَوْلُهُ: إِنِّي سَقِيمٌ، وَقَوْلُهُ: بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَذَا، وَوَاحِدَةٌ فِي شَأْنِ سَارَّةَ فَإِنَّهُ قَدِمَ أَرْضَ جَبَّارٍ وَمَعَهُ سَارَّةُ وَكَانَتْ أَحْسَنَ النَّاسِ فَقَالَ لَهَا: إِنَّ هَذَا الْجَبَّارَ إِنْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّكِ امْرَأَتِي يَغْلِبْنِي عَلَيْكِ فَإِنْ سَأَلَكِ فَأَخْبِرِيهِ أَنَّكِ أُخْتِي فَإِنَّكِ أُخْتِي فِي الْإِسْلَامِ. . الْحَدِيثَ. وَهُوَ أَيْضًا فِي: سُنَنِ أَبِي دَاوُدَ ٢/٣٥٥ - ٣٥٦ (كِتَابُ الطَّلَاقِ، بَابُ فِي الرَّجُلِ يَقُولُ لِامْرَأَتِهِ: يَا أُخْتِي) ; سُنَنِ التِّرْمِذِيِّ ٥/٤ (كِتَابُ التَّفْسِيرِ، سُورَةُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ) ; الْمُسْنَدِ (ط. الْمَعَارِفِ) ١٨/٣٥ - ٣٦
(٢) فِي اللِّسَانِ: " الْمَعَارِيضُ: التَّوْرِيَةُ بِالشَّيْءِ عَنِ الشَّيْءِ. . جَمْعُ مِعْرَاضٍ: مِنَ التَّعْرِيضِ
(٣) الْحَدِيثُ مَرْوِيٌّ بِأَلْفَاظٍ مُتَقَارِبَةٍ عَنْ أُمِّ كُلْثُومٍ بِنْتِ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ أَبِي مُعَيْطٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا فِي: مُسْلِمٍ ٤/٢٠١١ - ٢٠١٢ (كِتَابُ الْبِرِّ وَالصِّلَةِ وَالْآدَابِ، بَابُ تَحْرِيمِ الْكَذِبِ وَبَيَانِ مَا يُبَاحُ مِنْهُ) ; سُنَنِ أَبِي دَاوُدَ ٤/٣٨٥ - ٣٨٦ (كِتَابُ الْأَدَبِ، بَابُ فِي إِصْلَاحِ ذَاتِ الْبَيْنِ) ; سُنَنِ التِّرْمِذِيِّ ٣/٢٢٢ - ٢٢٣ (أَبْوَابُ الْبِرِّ وَالصِّلَةِ ; بَابُ فِي مَا جَاءَ فِي إِصْلَاحِ ذَاتِ الْبَيْنِ) ; الْمُسْنَدِ (ط. الْحَلَبِيِّ) ٦/٤٠٣ - ٤٠٤. وَذَكَرَ الْبُخَارِيُّ قِطْعَةً مِنَ الْحَدِيثِ ٣/١٨٣ (كِتَابُ الصُّلْحِ، بَابُ لَيْسَ الْكَاذِبُ الَّذِي يُصْلِحُ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ