The Truthfulness of the Prophet

the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was the one who came with the truth from his lord.

his words were true, his sunnah was true, his contentment was true, his anger was true, his

entrance was true, his exit was true, his laughing was true, his crying was true, his waking up

was true, his sleeping was true, and all of his speech was absolutely truthful, fair, and just.

he never told a lie throughout his lifetime whether it was in earnest or in jest. rather, he forbade

and prohibited lying and rebuked those who did so.

all the words and deeds of the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, were truthful. he was

truthful in times of peace and war, when content and when angry, when he was serious and when

he joked, and he was truthful in his judgments.

he was truthful with those who were close to him and those who were not, with his friends and

foes, with men and women. he was truthful with himself and with others. he was truthful in his

traveling and being resident, fighting and peace, buying and selling, contracts and covenants, and

sermons and messages.

he was the most truthful and the most credible person ever. he never uttered a single letter or

word that was not truthful. his inward state never differed from his outward state. rather, he was

truthful at all times, in all his actions and even in his gestures. he was the one who said to the

companions, may allaah be pleased with them, when they asked him to gesture with his eye to

them regarding killing a captive: “it is not befitting of a prophet to have deception of the eyes.”

[abu daawood and an-nasaa’i; al-albaani: saheeh (authentic)]

he was the most truthful and trustworthy person in the pre-islamic period before the advent of

islam and his prophethood. how then would he be after receiving the revelation and guidance;

how would he be after jibreel, may allaah exalt his mention, came to him and he became a

prophet; how would he be after allaah the almighty honored and chose him?

in fact, his sworn enemies testified to his honesty and trustworthiness, such as an-nadhr ibn al-

haarith who was one of the so-called human devils of the quraysh. once he addressed the

people of quraysh, saying, "o quraysh, you have experienced an unprecedented phenomenon

before which you have so far been desperately helpless. muhammad was a young boy who grew

up among you and always proved to be highly obliging, the most truthful and trustworthy young

man. later on, when his hair started to grey, he began to preach a new faith alien to your

society, and opposed to your liking so you began to denounce him as a sorcerer! i swear by

allaah he is not so..." [al-mubarakpuri in ar-raheeq al-makhtoom and al-bayhaqi in dalaa’il

an-nubuwwah]

similar testimonies were expressed by al-waleed ibn al-mugheerah, ‘utbah ibn rabee‘ah and

others of his sworn enemies and those who hated the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,

most. [dalaa’il an-nubuwwah by al-bayhaqi]

the outward appearance of the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, indicated that he had the

ultimate truthfulness. this meaning could not be appreciated except by unbiased open-minded

people such as ‘abdullaah ibn salaam, who was, before embracing islam, the most learned rabbi,

may allaah be pleased with him. he said, “when the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi

wa sallam, arrived in madeenah, people quickly gathered around him and it was announced that

the messenger of allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) had arrived. i went to him with people

to look at him. when i saw his face, i knew that it was not the face of a liar.” [at-tirmithi and

ibn maajah; al-albaani: saheeh (authentic)] so he could not help but embrace islam and

washed his hands of the deceit of the jews.

the outward appearance of the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, indicated his ultimate

truthfulness even before his words or deeds did. thus, the truthfulness of the prophet,

sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, became deeply rooted in the hearts of his companions, may

allaah be pleased with them. when they saw his noble countenance and witnessed his speech

and actions, they were sure that he was the most truthful and the most trustworthy person in all

that he conveyed from his lord to them.

allaah the almighty, the most truthful says describing him: {and indeed, you are of a great

moral character.} [quran 68:4]