Imam Hasan al-Askari (peace be upon him) says: “All evils are placed in a house, and the key to it is lying.”[1]
The strength of any society lies in the trust that people have in one another. What makes this foundation firm and unshakable is the honesty of individuals toward each other. If truth and honesty vanish from society, lives will become difficult, unsafe, bitter, and full of misery. In fact, the essence of honesty, wherever it is found and whoever embodies it, is precious and valuable.
A person who is truthful in speech avoids lying, whether joking or serious. A person who is sincere in faith stays away from hypocrisy, deceit, and insincerity. One who is honest in advising, preaching, and guiding will have their actions reflect their words, and their behavior will witness to their speech. Truthfulness in promises and agreements means keeping one’s word and fulfilling commitments.
As the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, honesty in speech, commitment to people, and faithfulness to promises are signs of truthfulness and measures of closeness to him. Anyone who is a liar, treacherous, and unfaithful is far from him.[2]
Truthfulness in both speech and actions makes a person beloved in the hearts of others and trustworthy in society. On the contrary, lying makes an individual lose their credibility in the community and become distanced from God. Honest individuals enjoy peace of mind and are free from the worry of disgrace. As the saying goes: “He who has a clean account, has nothing to fear from scrutiny!”
Thus, honesty is the strongest foundation upon which friendships, collaborations, struggles, and more are built. Without it, all of these things are at risk of collapse and disintegration.
However, on the opposite side, many behavioral abnormalities, family conflicts, arguments between friends and relatives, and even tensions and fights arise from a lack of honesty and purity. Hypocrisy and deception are forms of dishonesty and another manifestation of insincerity in words and actions. It is not uncommon for divorces to stem from a lack of honesty during the early stages of marriage, whether in statements, claims, or promises, and from pretense and false responses.
Indeed, it is this way that honesty and truthfulness reveal the paradise of goodness to a person, while, on the opposite end, lying and dishonesty open the chest of evils to them. This is the treasure that Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) teaches us with his words. Truly, their words are light…
(Taken from the book “Ethics of Interaction” by Hujjat al-Islam Jawad Modhahi)
Footnotes:
[1] (A’lam al-Din, p. 313)
[2] (Laa’li al-Akhbar, Vol. 5, Hadith 253)