Lying is the source of all sins and it is the shortest way to Hell. The Prophet, , said: “Beware of lying because lying leads to dissoluteness, and dissoluteness leads to Hell. A person keeps on telling lies until he is written before Allah as a liar.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

　　Lying, in essence, is deliberately telling something that is other than the truth and is something dispraised by all sensible people. A liar is always in doubt and never truly believes anything. Had this been the only disadvantage of lying, it would have been sufficient. Some philosophers have stated, “The one who knows himself to be a liar will never believe people who tell the truth. Moreover, the one who is known to be a liar will never be believed, even when he tells the truth. Not only this, but when people hear lies, they may automatically attribute it to him, even if he is not the one who told it.”

　　Reasons and Signs

　　There are several causes of lying and various signs that indicate it. There is no doubt that knowing such causes and signs is of great help in treatment because the first step in the treatment of any disease is knowing its causes and determining its symptoms in order to eliminate them. Al-Maawardi mentioned some of these reasons as follows:

　　1- Intending to gratify one’s thirst for revenge. So, he may tell lies about his enemy and attribute falsities to him.

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