The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) informed Muslims that, while a believer might be miserly or cowardly on occasion, he will never lie; furthermore, he forbade Muslims from lying even if they do so only as a joke, in order to make others laugh.
Muhammad (s.a.w) the truthful one
Of all men who have ever walked. the earth, none has been - nor will any ever be - as truthful as the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). How could anyone come close to him, when he never spoke a single lie in his entire life, not even one that was meant as a joke?
And while he held himself to a high standard of truthfulness, he ordered. his followers to do the same. He said: “Verily, truthfulness leads to al-Birr (righteousness, piety), and al-Birr leads to Paradise. And a man continues to be truthful and to search out for the truth until, with Allah, he is written as a truthful person...”
The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) informed Muslims that, while a believer might be miserly or cowardly on occasion, he will never lie; furthermore, he forbade Muslims from lying even if they do so
only as a joke, in order to make others laugh.
Enough of a testament to his truthfulness is the fact that Allah entrusted Muhammad with the job of conveying His message to both mankind and jinns. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) then carried out that job with complete truthfulness and trustworthiness, accurately conveying the entire message he was entrusted with, without adding or removing even a single letter of that message.
The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was truthful on all occasions and in all situations - in times of war and times of peace; when he was happy and when he was angry; when he was serious and when he was joking; when he was engaged in normal conversation and when he issued legal rulings. And he was truthful with all people with close acquaintances and strangers, with men and women, with friends and enemies. When buying and selling, when. signing contracts or treaties, when delivering sermons or writing letters, when issuing legal rulings or telling stories - in these and all other situations, the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was completely truthful. In fact, he couldn’t lie, for Allah not only forbade him from lying, but also protected him from it.
The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was truthful not only in speech, but also with his gestures and signals. For instance, in certain situations, he considered the act of winking to be a lie, because it gave key information to some people, while leaving others in the dark. I am referring here to an incident that actually occurred during the Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime. During the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) issued a universal pardon to his enemies, with the exception of a few men, men who had especially been cruel, evil, and brutal. in the enmity they showed towards Muslims. Such men, the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) announced, were to be killed, even if they were found clutching the covering of the Ka‘bah. One of those men was “Abdullah ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi as-Sarh.
Abdullah ibn ’Sa‘d knew he was a wanted man, so he went into hiding; he appealed to Uthman ibn ‘Affan for help. Agreeing to help him, “Uthman took him to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), made him stand before the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) while others were pledging allegiance to him, and said, “O Messenger of Allah, accept the pledge of ‘Abdullah.” ‘Abdullah offered his hand three times in order to pledge allegiance, and each time, the Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w) held back his hand and instead simply fixed his gaze on ‘Abdullah. On ‘Abdullah’s fourth try, the Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w) finally extended his. hand, thus accepting Abdullah’s pledge to follow and obey him. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) then went to his Companions and said, “Was there not a sensible man among you who, upon seeing me restrain my hand from accepting his pledge, could have killed him.” They replied, “We did not know what you were thinking (when you held your hand back), O Messenger of Allah. Should you not have. signalled to us (by winking your eye and by thus informing us that we should kill him)?” The Prophet Muhammad (Blessings and peace be upon him) replied, “It is not befitting for a Prophet to have a treacherous eye (i.e., it is for this reason that I did not wink to you as a signal).”
Allah said:
(That He may ask the truthful ones [Allah’s Messengers and His Prophets] about their truth [i.e., the conveyance of Allah’s Message that which they were charged with]....) (Qur’an 33: 8)
He also said:
(O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and, be with those who are true [in words and deeds]) (Qur’an 9: 119)
And in another verse, He said:
(... Then if they had been true to Allah, it would have been better for them.) (Qur’an 47: 21)
The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was truthful with Allah, truthful with himself, truthful with his family, truthful with his friends, truthful with people in general, and even truthful with his enemies. Had the truth been an actual man, that man would have been
Muhammad (s.a.w). He was known as, “The Truthful, Trustworthy One” prior to the advent of Islam; imagine, then, how he became once he began to receive revelation from his Lord, once he became a Prophet, once he became blessed with guidance and uprightness.