Sunday, March 30, 2008

April Fool in Islam

Assalamualaikum,

My kids told me that they used to do April Fool's Day in the school.
We always have to tell the kids do not lie.

We must beware of lying when playing with children, because that will be written down (in the record of deeds of) the one who that. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) warned against doing that.

May Allah always guide us in the right path. Ameen.

April Fool

The origins of April Fool’s Day are unknown, although various theories have been proposed. April Fool in Arabic is Kidhbat Neesaan or the lies of April. It is translated literally, the “trick of April”.

1st April is a day when:

  • people lie,
  • play jokes and mock in the name of entertainment,
  • newspapers and magazines participate in it by publishing false news and untrue stories.


The April Fool's day tradition contradicts the teachings and morals of Islam.
We don't want our kids to lie.

Lying is a characteristic of hypocrisy and Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) strictly forbade lying at all times.

There are some of statements that said "no lying" in Al Qur'an and in hadiths, as following:

In Al Qur'an


  • "It is only those who believe not in the Ayaat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allaah, who fabricate falsehood, and it is they who are liars"
    [al-Nahl 16:105]

    Ibn Katheer said:

    “Then Allaah tells us that His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is not a fabricator or a liar, because only the most evil of people who do not believe in the signs of Allaah, the kaafirs and heretics who are known amongst the people for telling lies, tell lies about Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was the most truthful of people, the most righteous, the most perfect in knowledge, action, faith and certain belief. He was known amongst his people for his truthfulness; none of them doubted that, to such an extent that he was known amongst them as ‘al-Ameen (the trustworthy) Muhammad.’ Hence when Heraclius, the ruler of Rome, asked Abu Sufyaan about the characteristics of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), one of the things he asked was, ‘Did you ever accuse him of lying before he said what he said?’ He said, ‘No.’ Heraclius said: ‘If he refrained from telling lies about people he would not go and tell lies about Allaah.’
    (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 2/588)

  • "Say: ‘Verily, those who invent a lie against Allaah will never be successful'"
    [Yoonus 10:69]

  • ‘And of them are some who made a covenant with Allaah (saying): “If He bestowed on us of His Bounty, we will verily, give Sadaqah (Zakaah and voluntary charity in Allaah’s Cause) and will be certainly among those who are righteous.”

    Then when He gave them of His Bounty, they became niggardly [refused to pay the Sadaqah (Zakaah or voluntary charity)], and turned away, averse.

    So He punished them by putting hypocrisy into their hearts till the Day whereon they shall meet Him, because they broke that (covenant with Allaah) which they had promised to Him and because they used to tell lies
    [al-Tawbah 9:75-77].”

  • “O you who believe! Be afraid of Allaah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds)”
    [al-Tawbah 9:119]

  • “And on the Day of Resurrection you will see those who lied against Allaah (i.e. attributed to Him sons, partners) their faces will be black”[al-Zumar 39:60]





In Hadiths


  • Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
    "Let he who truly believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good or be silent." [Saheeh al-Bukharee]
    Moreover, he (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) has specifically cursed the person who lies to make people laugh, he said:
    "Woe be on one who speaks and lies in order to make people laugh, woe be on him." [Abu Dawood]

  • Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) described the severe punishments for the liars and said: "I saw (in a dream), two men came to me. They said, 'The person, the one whose cheek you saw being torn away (from the mouth to the ear) was a liar and used to tell lies and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection.'" [Saheeh al-Bukharee (vol. 8, no: 118)]

  • It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The signs of the hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is entrusted with something, he betrays that trust.”
    (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 33; Muslim, 59)

  • It was narrated that ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him): “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Do not tell lies about me. Whoever tells lies about me, let him enter the Fire.’”
    (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 106).

  • It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever tells lies about me, let him take his place in Hell.”
    (narrated by al-Bukhaari, 110; Muslim, 3).

  • It was narrated from Abu Dharr (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There are three to whom Allaah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection and He will not look at them or praise them, and they will have a painful torment.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) repeated this three times. Abu Dharr said: “May they be doomed and lost, who are they, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said, “The one who lets his garment hang below his ankles, the one who reminds others of his favours, and the one who disposes of his goods by swearing a false oath.”
    (Narrated by Muslim, 106)

  • It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “They said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, you joke with us.’ He said, ‘But I only speak the truth.’”
    (narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1990)

  • ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Laylaa said: the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that they were travelling with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). A man among them fell asleep and some of them went and took his arrows. When the man woke up, he got alarmed (because his arrows were missing) and the people laughed. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “What are you laughing at?” They said, “Nothing, except that we took the arrows and he got alarmed.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “It is not permissible for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim.”
    (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 5004; Ahmad, 22555 – this version narrated by Ahmad).

  • It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Aamir (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “My mother called me one day when the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sitting in our house. She said, ‘Come here, and I will give you (something).’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘What do you want to give him?’ She said, ‘I will give him a date.’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If you had not given him something, you would have been lying.’”

  • And it was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whoever says to a child, ‘Come here and take this,’ then does not give him something, this is counted as a lie.’”
    (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4991)

  • It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood said:
    “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Truthfulness is righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A person will continue to tell the truth until he is written with Allaah as one who tells the truth. Lying is evildoing, and evildoing leads to Hell. A person will keep on telling lies until he is written as a liar.’”
    (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5743; Muslim, 2607)

  • It was narrated from Umm Kalthoom bint ‘Uqbah that she heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “He is not a liar who reconciles between people and narrates something good or says something good.”
    (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2546; Muslim, 2605)

  • It was narrated that Asmaa’ bint Yazeed said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘It is not permissible to tell lies except in three (cases): when a man speaks to his wife in a way to please her; lying in war; and lying in order to reconcile between people.’”
    (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1939)


Conclusion
In conclusion, we, as Muslim, do not:

  • lie about Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
  • lie about or to other people, such as lying in buying and selling.
  • lie about visions and dreams.
  • lie about everything that one hears.
  • lie in joking or in serius.
  • lie when playing with children.
  • lie to make people laugh.



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Activites and Worksheets for kids:

All the worksheets are only to learn about grammar and spelling words.

To hear video:

Sources: