In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.
Allaah [The Most High] said:
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّٲمِينَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ شُہَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَوِ ٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَۚ إِن يَكُنۡ غَنِيًّا أَوۡ فَقِيرً۬ا فَٱللَّهُ أَوۡلَىٰ بِہِمَاۖ فَلَا تَتَّبِعُواْ ٱلۡهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعۡدِلُواْۚ وَإِن تَلۡوُ ۥۤاْ أَوۡ تُعۡرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرً۬ا
O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah; even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do. [Surah An-Nisaa. Ayah 135]
[وَإِن تَلۡوُ ۥۤاْ أَوۡ تُعۡرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرً۬ا – and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do].
Imaam Ibnul Qayyim [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: Allaah [Glorified be He and Free is He from all imperfections] mentions two reasons that will inevitably lead to concealment of truth:
The first of them is distortion and the second is to turn away from giving truthful witness, because when a proof that supports the truth is manifested and the one who wants to repel it finds no way of doing so, he refrains from mentioning it and thus becomes a silent devil, and sometimes he distorts it. Distortion is of two types: Distorting words and distorting meanings. Distorting words is when one utters a word in a context in which it does not establish the truth – either adding to the word or omitting something from it, or substituting it with something else- to the extent that the listener is made to believe something, whilst something else is intended by it, just as the Yahood [i.e. those Yahood who disbelieved in the Prophet and hated him] used to distort words when giving Salaam to the Prophet [i.e. saying As-Saamu Alayka (death be upon you), instead of saying Assalaamu alaykum)]. This is one type of distortion.
The second type of distortion is related to meanings – distorting the wording- giving it an interpretation that is not intended by the one who uttered it and pretending not to know its unintended meaning or dropping other meanings intended by it. Allaah [The Most High] said: [وَإِن تَلۡوُ ۥۤاْ أَوۡ تُعۡرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرً۬ا – and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do]. (1)
Imaam Ibnul Qayyim [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: Beware of lies because indeed it corrupts one’s ability to illustrate information based on what it should be in reality- corrupts one’s ability to illustrate information and his ability to teach the people. The liar portrays what is non-existent as something present and what is present as something non-existent. He portrays truth as something false and falsehood as something true; portrays good as evil and evil as good, so this corrupts his conception and knowledge, which then becomes a punishment upon him. Then he portrays what is not true to the one deceived by him – the one inclined towards him- and thus corrupts his conception and knowledge. The soul of the liar turns away from the existing reality -inclined towards what is non-existent and gives preference to falsehood.
And when his conception and knowledge is corrupted, which is the basis of every willful chosen deed, his deeds become corrupt and are marked by lies, and thus those deeds would emanate from him just as lies emanate from the tongue. He neither benefits from his tongue nor his deeds. This is why lying is the basis [or foundation] of immorality, just as the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “Indeed lies lead to immorality (or wickedness) and indeed immorality (or wickedness) leads to the fire”. [Bukhaari 2606/2607]
First, lies emerges from the heart and then on the tongue, so it corrupts it; then it transfers to the limbs and corrupts its actions, just as it corrupts the statements of the tongue. So, it prevails over his statements, deeds and state of affairs; corruption becomes deeply rooted in him and its disease leads to destruction if Allaah does not grant him cure with the medication of truthfulness, which uproots it [i.e. lying] from its original source. This is why the basis [or foundation] of all the deeds of the hearts is based on truthfulness, and the basis of their opposites – such as showing off, self-amazement, pride, being glad [with ungratefulness to Allaah’s Favours], conceitedness, boastfulness, insolence, weakness, laziness, cowardice, disgrace and other than them- is lies. The origin of every righteous deed- whether carried out in private or public- is based on truthfulness; and the origin of every corrupt deed – whether carried out in private or public- is lies. (2)
Imaam Ibnul Qayyim [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said: The fact that a statement regarding something is lies and falsehood is sometimes known based on the statement in and of itself, its contradictions, perplexity and the manifestation of those clear indications which shows that it is lies. Lies may manifest due to what it is in reality, what is apparent and what is being concealed. It is sometimes known due to the situation of the utterer of the lie, for indeed the one who is known for lying, wickedness and deception, his statements do not show anything else except a state of conformity with his deeds. He does not utter a statement or perform an action similar to that of a pious and truthful person – the one innocent of every evil, deception, lie and wicked behaviour; rather the heart, intention, statements and deeds of the truthful one have the same image; and the heart, statements, deeds and intentions of the liar have the same image. (3)
Indeed, my close companion and Salafi brother Ustaadh Abu Tasneem – Mus’haf Al Banghaalee – informed me that one of our Mashaayikh in the West stated, “When the dust settles, we’ll see who was riding the donkey”. Indeed, now we can see who was riding the donkey, because many matters have become very clear for some of those aggressors who were eager to lend an ear to fearmongers in the mainstream media and severely vilify those who asked critical questions. Now it has become clear to some of those unrepentant aggressors that the mainstream media was engaged in fearmongering, manipulation and concealment, and their greatest weapon was character assassination which they utilised against every scientist who dared questioned their narrative about the perfect safety of the experimental Covid 19 vaccines in the West and benefits of those stringent social distancing rules. Now it has become very clear to some of those aggressors that the mainstream media did not provide the opportunity for people to comprehend the state of affairs as it truly was, with certainty; rather they presented information in a manner that hindered full comprehension and made people understand the affairs in a way contrary to its true reality. Sometimes people were made to feel that they understood the state of affairs in the West despite the presence of other things that should have made them realize that they were incorrect, and at other times they were made to think that they comprehend something despite being aware of something else contrary to what they think which may also be true, but due to fear of vilification and being falsely referred to as conspiracists, they refrained from listening to the trustworthy investigators. Al-Hamdulil laah, here is one of those articles from which many of us learnt moderation: https://abukhadeejah.com/advice-regarding-differing-over-covid-19/
Finally, now that it has been established without doubt that the covid vaccines – in the West – have harmed people, then let this be a reminder that one should never trust the mainstream media again.
Question to Imaam Abdul Azeez Bin Baaz [may Allaah have mercy upon him]: “The believer does not get stung in the same hole twice”- is this a hadeeth?
Answer: “Yes, it is an authentic Hadeeth and its meaning is that it is obligated on a believer that he is cautious if he was harmed by a person. If Zayd once deceived him, then he is cautious so that Zayd does not deceive him again. If Amr committed injustice against him in a mutual dealing, he is cautious in another mutual dealing. This is what the affair is, meaning that it is obligated on him to prevent the evil of the one who deceived or harmed him the first time”. (4)
Let this be a good lesson for all of us!
May Allaah unite the hearts, protect us from confusion, bless all the students of knowledge, increase us in beneficial knowledge, righteous deeds and pure provision. May Allaah raise many more clearsighted students of knowledge – those who will be proficient in both the religious and worldly sciences – as we have all witnessed the outstanding manner in which Shaikh Abu Iyaadh – due to being armed with qualifications and knowledge in the worldly sciences as well as robust understanding of the statements of the scholars – clarified numerous subject matters in the past two years of lockdowns and stringent social distancing rules in the West.
[Ref 1: An Excerpt from ‘Badaa’i At-Tafseer Al-Jaami Limaa Fassarahu Al-Imaam Ibnul Qayyim. Vol 1. Page 300-303. Slightly paraphrased]
[Ref 2: Al-Fawaa’id. pages 202-203]
[Ref 3: An Excerpt from As-Sawaa’iq Al-Mursalah 2/469-470. Slightly paraphrased]
