Did Ibrahim (pbuh) Lie Three Times?
Question:
Both Bukhari and Muslim reported that the Prophet said: lam yakdhib ibrahimu illa thalath kadhabat... Ibrahim never lied except for three lies... Can you tell me which three instances and also the authenticity of this hadith.
Answer:
The Hadith as narrated in the book of Muslim is as follows:
"Ibn Sirin narrates from Abu Hurayra that said, "Ibrahim, (pbuh), never lied except three times, two were for the sake of God, the Mighty, when He said, 'I am sick' and 'The biggest of them did it.' And one was about Sareh. He went by the land of one of the tyrants with Sareh, who was very beautiful. He said to Sareh 'This is a tyrant person, if he knows that you are my wife he will overcome me (kill me) because of you. So if he asked you tell him that you are my sister. You are in deed my sister in Islam, and I do not know any Muslims on the face of earth except myself and you." ... (Muslim, 2371).
Some notes on the narrators:
In the books of Bukhari and Muslim, as far as I see, all the reports of this Hadith are through Jarir ibn Hazim.
Although overall he is trusted by the scholars of Rijal (science of narrators), however a study of the comments about him also shows some concerns. Ibn Hajar in Tahzib, (2:71) writes that Ahmad considered Jarir to err a lot, Ibn Haban while considering him trusted also makes the comment that he used to err because most of what he would narrate was from his memory (i.e. not documented).
There are reports of this Hadith in other books where Jarir is not among the narrators however, when I looked at a few of the narrators of those reports as a sample, I found more problems with some of them. This is expected, since normally the reports with stronger narrators are in the books of Bukhari and Muslim.
In the book of Bukhari, one version of the Hadith (no. 3358) is narrated from Abu Huraira himself, without attributing it to the Prophet (pbuh). Since every other report of this Hadith goes back to the Prophet (pbuh) the scholars of Hadith explain this one accordingly and have commented that it was the habit of Ibn Sirin that he would not mention "narrated from the Prophet - pbuh" in all his narrations for the sake of being brief. Interestingly enough this version (that has not mentioned the Prophet - pbuh) does not include Jarir in the narrators and its narrators seem to be reasonably reliable.
I do not want to draw any definite conclusions from the above. I think overall it is not wrong to consider this Hadith to be technically reliable. However it is also advisable to remain extra cautious in attributing the Hadith, with its exact wording, to the Prophet (pbuh).
Some notes on the content:
Disregard of the degree of reliability of the Hadith, we need to appreciate that in the normal conversation we may call 'not saying the truth', 'not saying the exact truth', 'sarcastically saying something that all know is not the truth' and 'not saying all the truth' a lie. This is while obviously these are not the same.
According to the Hadith, Ibrahim (pbuh) did not tell the truth in three occasions:
1. When he said he was Saqeem, which can be translated as weak or ill (37:89).
2. When he said that the big idol had destructed the other idols (21:63).
3. When he advised Sareh to say she was his sister when she met the tyrant.
By stretching the meaning of lie one may consider the above three as lies, however none of them really go under that meaning of lie that is condemned.
A review of verses 6:76-79 shows that Ibrahim (pbuh) had a very unique and effective approach in preaching. He would orchestrate a situation in order to illustrate the false beliefs of his people and let them come to conclusions themselves. Instances one and two above are also part of this:
Ibrahim says he is ill (or weak) to excuse himself from the ceremony that people were at, in order to have an opportunity to break the idols. When some one is not in a mood to attend a ceremony he can simply say that he is not feeling well meaning that his mood is not befitting with the ceremony. This is not saying the truth in an exact way but is also not a total lie.
In the second instance Ibrahim (pbuh) says something that is not true (i.e. the big idol destructing the other ones), but every one else also knows that it is not true. He knows that every one knows this is not true and every one knows that he knows that no one considers this to be true! This is not a lie. This is a sarcastic and at the same time a powerful way of showing people how baseless and ridiculous their belief is.
As for the third instance, the wording of the Hadith itself suggests that Ibrahim (pbuh) intended the truth, but not all the truth and not the exact truth. Sareh was in deed his sister in Islam (1). All that happens is that it was not revealed that here 'sister' does not mean literal sister, and it was not revealed that she was also his wife. There are times that we should be ready to sacrifice our lives for the sake of the truth and in these times we are not to lie about ourselves and our beliefs. However there are also life threatening situations where no sacrifice is needed or even applicable. I do not think that the Almighty expects us to say the truth and then die as the result in these situations. Verse 16:106 of the Qur'an even allows denying the faith (while holding it in the heart) if that can save one's life (like the story of Ammar ibn Yasir).
**********
In summary, although the Hadith may fulfill the conditions of technically correct (Sahih) chain of narrators, there seems to be evidences that cause some concerns about its attribution, in its exact words, to the prophet (pbuh).
Disregard of the degree of the authenticity of the Hadith, it does not attribute any inappropriate things to Ibrahim (pbuh). The word 'lie' in the Hadith should be interpreted in its very general and stretched definition. In none of the three occasions Ibrahim (pbuh) really expressed a condemnable lie and in all of them his expressions were for for the sake of a bigger cause.
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Footnote:
1. Christians and Jews may be able to provide an alternative explanation. We read in Genesis 20:10-12: "And Abim'elech said to Abraham, 'What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?' Abraham said, 'I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. Besides she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." We have no way to verify the reliability of this.
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June 2013
Both Bukhari and Muslim reported that the Prophet said: lam yakdhib ibrahimu illa thalath kadhabat... Ibrahim never lied except for three lies... Can you tell me which three instances and also the authenticity of this hadith.
Answer:
The Hadith as narrated in the book of Muslim is as follows:
"Ibn Sirin narrates from Abu Hurayra that said, "Ibrahim, (pbuh), never lied except three times, two were for the sake of God, the Mighty, when He said, 'I am sick' and 'The biggest of them did it.' And one was about Sareh. He went by the land of one of the tyrants with Sareh, who was very beautiful. He said to Sareh 'This is a tyrant person, if he knows that you are my wife he will overcome me (kill me) because of you. So if he asked you tell him that you are my sister. You are in deed my sister in Islam, and I do not know any Muslims on the face of earth except myself and you." ... (Muslim, 2371).
Some notes on the narrators:
In the books of Bukhari and Muslim, as far as I see, all the reports of this Hadith are through Jarir ibn Hazim.
Although overall he is trusted by the scholars of Rijal (science of narrators), however a study of the comments about him also shows some concerns. Ibn Hajar in Tahzib, (2:71) writes that Ahmad considered Jarir to err a lot, Ibn Haban while considering him trusted also makes the comment that he used to err because most of what he would narrate was from his memory (i.e. not documented).
There are reports of this Hadith in other books where Jarir is not among the narrators however, when I looked at a few of the narrators of those reports as a sample, I found more problems with some of them. This is expected, since normally the reports with stronger narrators are in the books of Bukhari and Muslim.
In the book of Bukhari, one version of the Hadith (no. 3358) is narrated from Abu Huraira himself, without attributing it to the Prophet (pbuh). Since every other report of this Hadith goes back to the Prophet (pbuh) the scholars of Hadith explain this one accordingly and have commented that it was the habit of Ibn Sirin that he would not mention "narrated from the Prophet - pbuh" in all his narrations for the sake of being brief. Interestingly enough this version (that has not mentioned the Prophet - pbuh) does not include Jarir in the narrators and its narrators seem to be reasonably reliable.
I do not want to draw any definite conclusions from the above. I think overall it is not wrong to consider this Hadith to be technically reliable. However it is also advisable to remain extra cautious in attributing the Hadith, with its exact wording, to the Prophet (pbuh).
Some notes on the content:
Disregard of the degree of reliability of the Hadith, we need to appreciate that in the normal conversation we may call 'not saying the truth', 'not saying the exact truth', 'sarcastically saying something that all know is not the truth' and 'not saying all the truth' a lie. This is while obviously these are not the same.
According to the Hadith, Ibrahim (pbuh) did not tell the truth in three occasions:
1. When he said he was Saqeem, which can be translated as weak or ill (37:89).
2. When he said that the big idol had destructed the other idols (21:63).
3. When he advised Sareh to say she was his sister when she met the tyrant.
By stretching the meaning of lie one may consider the above three as lies, however none of them really go under that meaning of lie that is condemned.
A review of verses 6:76-79 shows that Ibrahim (pbuh) had a very unique and effective approach in preaching. He would orchestrate a situation in order to illustrate the false beliefs of his people and let them come to conclusions themselves. Instances one and two above are also part of this:
Ibrahim says he is ill (or weak) to excuse himself from the ceremony that people were at, in order to have an opportunity to break the idols. When some one is not in a mood to attend a ceremony he can simply say that he is not feeling well meaning that his mood is not befitting with the ceremony. This is not saying the truth in an exact way but is also not a total lie.
In the second instance Ibrahim (pbuh) says something that is not true (i.e. the big idol destructing the other ones), but every one else also knows that it is not true. He knows that every one knows this is not true and every one knows that he knows that no one considers this to be true! This is not a lie. This is a sarcastic and at the same time a powerful way of showing people how baseless and ridiculous their belief is.
As for the third instance, the wording of the Hadith itself suggests that Ibrahim (pbuh) intended the truth, but not all the truth and not the exact truth. Sareh was in deed his sister in Islam (1). All that happens is that it was not revealed that here 'sister' does not mean literal sister, and it was not revealed that she was also his wife. There are times that we should be ready to sacrifice our lives for the sake of the truth and in these times we are not to lie about ourselves and our beliefs. However there are also life threatening situations where no sacrifice is needed or even applicable. I do not think that the Almighty expects us to say the truth and then die as the result in these situations. Verse 16:106 of the Qur'an even allows denying the faith (while holding it in the heart) if that can save one's life (like the story of Ammar ibn Yasir).
**********
In summary, although the Hadith may fulfill the conditions of technically correct (Sahih) chain of narrators, there seems to be evidences that cause some concerns about its attribution, in its exact words, to the prophet (pbuh).
Disregard of the degree of the authenticity of the Hadith, it does not attribute any inappropriate things to Ibrahim (pbuh). The word 'lie' in the Hadith should be interpreted in its very general and stretched definition. In none of the three occasions Ibrahim (pbuh) really expressed a condemnable lie and in all of them his expressions were for for the sake of a bigger cause.
-----------
Footnote:
1. Christians and Jews may be able to provide an alternative explanation. We read in Genesis 20:10-12: "And Abim'elech said to Abraham, 'What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?' Abraham said, 'I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. Besides she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." We have no way to verify the reliability of this.
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June 2013
