Lecture

Truthfulness

Sıdk — a compilation from the Risale-i Nur

This lecture gathers passages exclusively from the Risale-i Nur on the theme of truthfulness. The interspersed remarks (Note) serve only as orientation — the text itself does the speaking. Sources in parentheses: book, chapter, section.

Terms: sıdk — truthfulness, veracity; kizb — lying, falsehood; maslahat — (supposed) benefit, expediency.

I. The Foundation of Islam

My inquiries throughout my whole life, and the churning of social life, have taught me their sum and essence with certainty: Truthfulness is the very foundation of Islam, the bond of its noble qualities, and the disposition of its elevated sentiments. Therefore we must revive truthfulness and honesty — the foundation of our social life — within ourselves, and cure our spiritual sicknesses with it.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

II. The Everyday Guises of Lying

Note — Lying here is not only the spoken false word: hypocrisy, flattery and affectation are counted as lying "in deeds".

Indeed, truthfulness and honesty are the vital knot of the social life of Islam. Hypocrisy is a kind of lying in deeds. Flattery and affectation are a base form of lying. Duplicity and two-facedness are a harmful lying. And lying itself means: to slander the power of the Majestic Maker.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

III. Faith and Falsehood: Fire and Light

Unbelief in all its kinds is falsehood, is lying. Faith is truthfulness, is honesty. By this mystery there lies a boundless distance between lying and truthfulness; they must be as far apart as East and West — like fire and light, they must not mingle. Yet cruel politics and tyrannical propaganda have mixed the two together — and have thrown the perfections of mankind into confusion with them.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

IV. Lying — the Foundation of Unbelief

Note — The same truth seen from the other side, from the Qur'anic commentary İşârâtü'l-İ'câz, in the section on the hypocrites: the nature and the destruction wrought by the lie.

That the punishment of the hypocrites, among all their crimes named, is characterised by lying alone points to the extreme ugliness and repulsiveness of lying — and this indication is a truthful witness to what a potent poison lying is. For: Lying is the foundation of unbelief. Lying is the first sign of hypocrisy. Lying is a slander against Divine power. Lying is contrary to the wisdom of the Lord. It is lying that destroys noble character. It is lying alone that has poisoned the world of Islam. It is lying that has cast the affairs of mankind into corruption. It is lying that holds humankind back from perfection. It is lying that made Musaylima the Arch-Liar and his like infamous before all the world. And it is for these reasons that among all crimes it is lying to which curse and threat are dedicated.

(İşârâtü'l-İ'câz — Signs of Miraculousness, commentary on Sūra al-Baqara 9–10, section on lying)

V. The Road Is Twofold: Silence or Truthfulness

Note — Immediately after the section on lying, the same commentary draws the positive balance: what truthfulness accomplishes.

In sum: the road is twofold. Either silence — for every word that is spoken must be true. Or truthfulness — for the foundation of Islam is truthfulness. The distinguishing mark of faith is truthfulness. What conveys to all perfections is truthfulness. The life of noble character is truthfulness. The axis of progress is truthfulness. The order of the world of Islam is truthfulness. What carries humankind to the Kaaba of perfection is truthfulness. What raised the noble Companions above all people is truthfulness. What raised Muhammad of the Hāshimites — peace be upon him — to the highest of human ranks is truthfulness.

(İşârâtü'l-İ'câz — Signs of Miraculousness, commentary on Sūra al-Baqara 9–10, section on lying)

VI. The Most Prized Ware in the Market of the Age of Bliss

Note — The Damascus Sermon casts the worth of truthfulness in a market parable: in that mighty revolution it was the most sought-after ware.

This truthfulness and this lying are as far apart as belief and unbelief. Because in the Age of Bliss Muhammad — peace and blessings be upon him — rose through truthfulness to the highest of the high, and because with the key of truthfulness the treasury of the truths of faith and the truths of the universe was opened, truthfulness became, in the marketplace of human society, the most sought-after ware and the most precious merchandise to be bought. And through lying, the likes of Musaylima the Arch-Liar plunged to the lowest of the low. …

Such was the mighty revolution of the Age of Bliss: truthfulness and lying stood as far apart as belief and unbelief; yet as time passed they drew step by step closer to one another, and political propaganda at times gave lying the greater currency; evil and mendacity gained ground to a degree. It is because of this truth that no one can ever attain to the Companions.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

VII. Between the Highest of the High and the Lowest of the Low

Note — From the Addendum to the Twenty-Seventh Word, on the Companions: the same thought, unfolded across the distance between the Prophet and Musaylima the Arch-Liar.

Indeed, the Companions were, in their overwhelming majority, lovers of the truth, yearning for truthfulness, devoted to justice. For in that age the ugliness of lying and falsehood in all its ugliness, and the beauty of truthfulness and honesty in all its beauty, were shown in such a way that the distance between them opened wider than from the Divine Throne down to the earth: a separation was seen as great as from the depth of Musaylima the Arch-Liar in the lowest of the low up to the degree of truthfulness of the Prophet — peace and blessings be upon him — in the highest of the high. Indeed: as it was lying that hurled Musaylima down to the lowest of the low, so it is truthfulness and honesty that raised Muhammad the Trustworthy — peace and blessings be upon him — to the highest of the high.

(Sözler — The Words, Addendum to the Twenty-Seventh Word — on the Companions)

VIII. Our Age: Shoulder to Shoulder in the Same Shop

Note — The continuation of the same passage looks at our own time: truth and lie sold in the same shop.

But in this age the distance between lying and truthfulness has so shortened that they stand, as it were, shoulder to shoulder. One passes from truthfulness to lying with the greatest of ease; indeed, through political propaganda mendacity is even preferred to truthfulness. Now if the ugliest thing is sold together with the most beautiful things in the same shop and for the same price, then the diamond of truthfulness and right — so exalted, and leading to the jewel of reality — will certainly no longer be bought blindly, on trust in the shopkeeper's craft and word.

(Sözler — The Words, Addendum to the Twenty-Seventh Word — on the Companions)

Since today, through mankind's dreadful mendacity and its distortions, public security and the good order of the face of the earth are being overturned by lying and by the abuse of "benefit", this very fact compels humanity, with a decisive command, to close off that third road. Otherwise the world wars, the dreadful upheavals, collapses and devastations which mankind has seen in this half century will bring a doomsday down upon its head.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

IX. No Lying "for the Greater Good"

Note — Maslahat means supposed benefit — the "white lie". Even the old, narrowly bounded scholarly allowance is declared abrogated through its abuse — argued from a principle of legal methodology.

As for lying for the sake of benefit — time has abrogated it. For benefit and necessity some scholars gave a "temporary" ruling of permission. In this age that ruling can no longer be given. For it has been so abused that among a hundred harms there may be a single benefit. The ruling is therefore not built upon benefit. For example: the occasion for shortening the prayer on a journey is hardship; yet hardship cannot be the legal cause, for it has no fixed measure and may fall into abuse — the legal cause can only be the journey itself. In just the same way, benefit cannot be the legal cause for lying. For it has no fixed measure — it is a swamp inviting abuse. No ruling of fatwa is built upon it. Therefore: اِمَّا الصِّدْقُ وَاِمَّا السُّكُوتُ — either truthfulness or silence. That is: the roads are two, not three — not: speak truth, or lie, or keep silent.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

Question: It is said that lying is permissible for the sake of some benefit. Is it so? Answer: Yes — for a decisive and compelling necessity there is a dispensation of the Law. But if one looks at the truth of the matter, what they call "benefit" is a void excuse. For by the principle established in legal methodology, a thing that is not precisely defined and whose measure is not determined cannot be the cause and basis of rulings; since its measure is bound by no limit, it falls prey to abuse. Moreover, if the harm of a thing outweighs its benefit, that thing is abrogated and invalid — the benefit then lies in abandoning it. Indeed, all the upheavals and disorders seen in the world bear witness that harm has triumphed over the "benefit" taken as an excuse. What is said, however, by way of allusion or indirect speech — that is, with a word that is not explicit — is not counted as lying.

(İşârâtü'l-İ'câz — Signs of Miraculousness, commentary on Sūra al-Baqara 9–10, section on lying)

X. Not Every Truth Is to Be Spoken — but Speak Only Truth

Note — The counterpart of uncompromising truthfulness is not talkativeness but tact: not every truth belongs to every moment — but the lie belongs to none.

Indeed, everything you say must be true; yet it is not right to speak every truth. If at times it would cause harm, then be silent. But for lying there is no ruling of permission whatsoever. Everything you say must be right; yet you have no right to speak every right thing. For if it is not sincere, it works ill — and right is spent in wrong.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

Every word you speak must be true; yet it is not right to speak every truth.

A single grain of truthfulness burns up a whole harvest of lies. A single grain of reality is preferable to a whole harvest of illusions.

(Mektubat — The Letters, Hakikat Çekirdekleri — Seeds of Reality)

XI. Conclusion: The Firmest Handhold Is Truthfulness

Note — The call of the Damascus Sermon. Urvetü'l-vüska — "the firmest handhold" — alludes to Qur'an 2:256.

O my brothers here in the Umayyad Mosque! And O our four hundred million brothers in faith who, forty or fifty years hence, will fill the great mosque of the world of Islam! Salvation comes only through truthfulness, through honesty. The "firmest handhold" is truthfulness. That is: the strongest chain to hold fast to is honesty.

(Hutbe-i Şamiye — The Damascus Sermon, Third Word)

The English renderings of the quotations are our own close translations of the original; omissions are marked with "…". For the original wording see the Turkish version of this page.