Ruling on one who tells lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

 

What is the ruling on one who fabricates things about the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?.

Praise be to Allaah.
 

 

Telling lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) is a great evil and a serious sin, because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Telling lies about
me is not like telling lies about anyone else. Whoever tells lies about me
deliberately, let him take his place in Hell.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari,
1229. It was also narrated by Muslim in the Introduction to his Saheeh,
without the phrase “Telling lies about me is not like telling lies about
anyone else.” 

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “Do not tell lies about me, for whoever tells lies about me will
enter Hell.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 106. And he (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever narrates a hadeeth from me that he
thinks is false is one of the liars.” Narrated by Muslim (1). 

A number of scholars are of the view that the one who
deliberately tells lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) is a kaafir. 

Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said in al-Fath: If it is said
that lying is a sin except in cases where one is trying to bring about
reconciliation and the like, and that Hell is threatened for those who sin,
what is there to distinguish the one who tells lies about the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) from those who tell
lies about anyone else? 

He answered this from two angles: 

1 – That according to one scholar, Shaykh Abu Muhammad
al-Juwayni, the one who tells lies about him deliberately is a kaafir.  But
this view was classed as da’eef (weak) by his son Imam al-Haramayn and those
who came after him. Ibn al-Muneer, however, favoured this view, based on the
idea that the one who tells lies about him by describing forbidden things as
permissible, for example, either regards that forbidden thing as permissible
or misleads others by making them believe that. Regarding forbidden things
as permissible is kufr and leading others to kufr is also kufr. But this
view is subject to further examination. The majority of scholars are of the
view that this does not constitute kufr unless one believes that this
forbidden thing is permissible.  

2 – That telling lies about him is a major sin, and telling
lies about anyone else is a minor sin, so they are different. The fact that
the same warning is given to the one who tells lies about him and the one
who tells lies about anyone else does not necessarily mean that they will
both end up in the same place or that if they do, they will stay there for
the same length of time. The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) – “Let him take his place in Hell” – indicate that
(the liar’s) stay there will be lengthy. Rather the apparent meaning is that
he (the one who commits this sin) will not be brought forth from it because
he no other abode. The definitive evidence shows that abiding therein (in
Hell) for eternity is a punishment that is given only to the kuffaar. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) differentiated
between telling lies about him and telling lies about anyone else and said:
“Telling lies about me is not like telling lies about anyone else.” 

From al-Fath, 1/244 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
discussed this matter at length and mentioned the ruling on one who tells
lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
verbally, the ruling on one who tells lies about him in a report and the
ruling on one who narrates a hadeeth knowing it to be false. He was of the
view that the one who tells lies about him verbally is a kaafir. He said in
al-Saarim al-Maslool ‘Ala Shaatim il-Rasool (2/328-399), after
quoting the hadeeth of Buraydah: 

A clan of Banu Layth in Madeenah was of two minds. A man had
proposed marriage to one of their womenfolk during the Jaahiliyyah but they
did not accept his proposal. He came to them wearing a hullah (a suit of
clothing) and said: “The Messenger of Allaah gave me this hullah to wear and
told me to rule over your wealth and your blood.” Then he went and stayed
with that woman whom he loved. The people sent word to the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he said: “The
enemy of Allaah is lying.” Then he sent a man and said: “If you find him
alive – although I do not think that you will find him alive – then strike
his neck (kill him). And if you find him dead then burn him with fire.” He
said: This is what the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said concerning “one who tells lies about me
deliberately.” Shaykh al-Islam said: “This is a saheeh isnaad according to
the conditions of al-Saheeh and we do not find any fault in it.” 

Then he said: There are two opinions concerning this
hadeeth: 

1 – That the apparent meaning should be followed and the one
who deliberately tells lies about the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) should be killed. Among those who were of
this view were some who said that the one who does that becomes a kaafir
thereby. This was the view of several including Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni. Ibn
‘Aqeel quoted his Shaykh, Abu’l-Fadl al-Hamdaani, as saying: “The
innovators, liars and fabricators of hadeeth are worse than the heretics
because the heretics want to attack Islam from without but these people want
to attack it from within. They are like people who try to destroy a city
from within whilst the heretics are like those who are laying siege to it
from without, and those who are inside open up the fortress. So they are
more dangerous to Islam than those who do not appear outwardly to be
Muslims.” 

The main point of this opinion is that telling lies about him
(the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) is tantamount
to telling lies about Allaah. Hence he said: “Telling lies about me is not
like telling lies about one of you.” What the Messenger (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded is what Allaah commanded, and it
must be followed just as the commands of Allaah must be followed. Whatever
he told us must be believed, just as whatever Allaah told us must be
believed. Whoever rejects what he told us or refuses to follow his command
is like one who rejects what Allaah told us or refuses to follow the command
of Allaah. It is well known that the one who tells lies about Allaah by
claiming to be a messenger or prophet of Allaah, or tells false things about
Allaah, such as Musaylimah and other fabricators of his ilk, is a kaafir
whose blood may be shed, and the same applies to one who tells lies about
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). 

Thus it is clear that telling lies about him is tantamount to
disbelieving in him. Hence Allaah mentions the two things together in the
verse where He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against
Allaah or denies the truth, when it comes to him?”

[al-‘Ankaboot 29:68] 

Indeed, telling lies about him may be a greater sin than
disbelieving in him, so Allaah mentioned that first, just as the one who is
sincere towards him is higher in status than one who believes what he says.
If the liar is like the denier, or worse, then the one who tells lies about
Allaah is like the one who disbelieves in Him, and the one who tells lies
about the Prophet is like the one who disbelieves in him.

 Thus it becomes clear that disbelieving in him is akin to
lying, because denying what he says implies that one thinks that what he
says is not true, which is tantamount to saying that the religion of Allaah
is false. It makes no difference whether one rejects one thing or everything
that he says. Rather the person who does that becomes a kaafir because that
implies that he thinks that the message and religion of Allaah are false.
And the one who tells lies about him deliberately introduces into the
religion something that is not part of it, and claims that the ummah is
obliged to believe this report and follow this command because it is the
religion of Allaah, knowing that it is not part of the religion of Allaah. 

Adding something to the religion is like taking something
away from it. There is no difference between rejecting a verse of the
Qur’aan or deliberately adding some words and saying that this is a soorah
of the Qur’aan. 

Moreover, if a person deliberately tells lies about him
meaning to mock him or belittle him, by claiming that he issued commands
that he did not issue, and that it is not permissible for him to issue, this
is tantamount o attributing foolishness or false statements to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and claiming that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is a liar, and this
is blatant kufr.

 If someone claims that Allaah enjoined fasting of another
month other than Ramadaan, or a sixth prayer, etc, or that bread and meat
are haraam, knowing that he is lying, then he is a kaafir according to
scholarly consensus. 

Whoever claims that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) enjoined something that he did not enjoin, or that he
forbade something that he did not forbid, has told lies about Allaah, like
the one described (in the paragraph) above, with the additional factor that
he clearly says that the Messenger said that. He is issuing a fatwa without
pointing out that this is ijtihaad. In conclusion, whoever deliberately
tells a blatant lie about Allaah is like one who deliberately disbelieves in
Allaah and is even worse. It is obvious that the one who tells lies about
the One Whom he should venerate is mocking Him and disregarding His
sanctity. 

The one who tells lies about him (the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)) is inevitably seeking to dishonour and
belittle him by lying. It is well known that the one who lies about him as
Ibn Abi Sarh did when he said, “He used to learn from me,” or by attributing
evil actions and foul words to him, becomes a kaafir thereby. The same
applies to the one who tells lies about him, because he is attributing to
him a command or a narrative or an action. If he attributes to him a command
that he did not issue, he has added something to his sharee’ah, which cannot
be part of it and which he could not have uttered, as he said: “I have not
omitted anything that will bring you closer to Paradise but I have enjoined
it upon you, and there is nothing that will keep you further from Hell but I
have commanded you to do it.” If he did not enjoin it, then it is not
permissible to enjoin it. Whoever narrates that he did enjoin it has
attributed to him something that it is not permissible to enjoin and that is
tantamount to attributing foolishness to him. 

Similarly, if he transmits a narrative from him, if this was
something that he should have told us he would have told us, because Allaah
completed the religion. If he did not tell us of it then it is not something
that he should have told us. Similarly with regard to actions that are
falsely attributed to him; if the action is something that he should have
done then he would have done it, but if he did not do it then it is better
not to do it. 

The point is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) is the most perfect of mankind in all senses. Whatever
he did not say or do, it is better not to say or do it, and whatever he did
do, it is better to do it than not to do it. If a man deliberately tells a
lie about him or narrates something from him that did not happen, then
whatever he says is tantamount to attributing shortcomings to him, because
if it was something good he would have done it, and whoever attributes
shortcomings to the Messenger is a kaafir. 

It should be noted that this view is very strong but a
distinction should be made between the one who tells lies about him verbally
and the one who tells lies about him that he claims to have heard from
someone else, such as saying: “So and so the son of So and so told me such
and such from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).”
In this case he is telling lies about that man and attributing the hadeeth
to him. But if he says “This hadeeth is saheeh” or “It was proven that he
said that”, knowing it to be false, then he is telling lies about the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). But if he
fabricates it and narrates it in silly manner, this is subject to further
discussion, especially since the Sahaabah are regarded as being dignified
and of good character and if one of them were to lie it would cause a great
deal of harm to the religion. Therefore the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)  wanted to kill the one who told lies about
him and he hastened to punish him so that would be means of preventing any
of the hypocrites being counted as one of the Sahaabah of good character.

But if a person narrated a hadeeth knowing it to be false,
this is haraam, as it was narrated in a saheeh hadeeth that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:  “Whoever narrates a
hadeeth from me that he knows is false is one of the liars.” But he is not a
kaafir unless he adds to that narration something that implies kufr, because
he believes that his Shaykh narrated it, but he knows that his Shaykh is
lying and it is not permissible for him to narrate it. So he is in the same
position as one who witnesses a deal, a testimony or a contract knowing it
to be invalid. This testimony is haraam, but he is not bearing false witness
per se (shahaadat al-zoor). 

Then he mentioned the second view and said:  

2 – The liar is to be punished severely, but he is not
regarded as a kaafir and it is not permissible to kill him, because the
factors that determine who is a kaafir and is to be killed are well known
and this is not one of them. It is not permissible to affirm something for
which there is no basis. Whoever says that he is not to be executed has to
stipulate that telling lies about the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) does not imply any criticism or defamation of him. But
if he says that he heard him say something that implies belittling the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or criticizing him,
such as the hadeeth about “the sweat of horses” and other such silly
fabrications, this is obviously mocking him, and the one who says this is
undoubtedly a kaafir whose blood may be shed. Those who were of the view
that such a person is not to be executed responded to this hadeeth by saying
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) knew that
he was a hypocrite so he killed him for that and not for lying, but this
answer does not count for anything. 

Then he (may Allaah have mercy on him) mentioned some further
points of refutation. 

And Allaah knows best.