It is obligatory for you to tell the truth, for truth leads to virtue and virtue leads to Paradise, and the man who continues to speak the truth and endeavours to tell the truth is eventually recorded as truthful with Allah, and beware of telling of a lie for telling of a lie leads to obscenity and obscenity leads to Hell-Fire, and the person who keeps telling lies and endeavours to tell a lie is recorded as a liar with Allah.
Hadith Text
It is obligatory for you to tell the truth, for truth leads to virtue and virtue leads to Paradise, and the man who continues to speak the truth and endeavours to tell the truth is eventually recorded as truthful with Allah, and beware of telling of a lie for telling of a lie leads to obscenity and obscenity leads to Hell-Fire, and the person who keeps telling lies and endeavours to tell a lie is recorded as a liar with Allah.
Source Reference
The Book of Virtue, Enjoining Good Manners, and Joining of the Ties of Kinship
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim 2607 c
Scholarly Commentary
This noble hadith establishes a fundamental principle of Islamic ethics: the imperative of truthfulness and the prohibition of falsehood. The Prophet ﷺ employs a profound spiritual causality, demonstrating how moral choices create spiritual trajectories that culminate in eternal consequences.
Truthfulness (siddiq) is presented not merely as a moral recommendation but as an obligation (wajib) that initiates a divine chain reaction: truth → virtue (birr) → Paradise. Birr encompasses all forms of righteousness and moral excellence, indicating that truthfulness is the foundation upon which all other virtues are built.
Conversely, falsehood initiates an opposite trajectory: lying → obscenity (fujur) → Hell-Fire. Fujur refers to moral corruption, lewdness, and transgression of divinely set boundaries, showing how a single lie can corrupt one's entire moral character.
The hadith emphasizes divine documentation of human character - those who persistently choose truth are recorded as "truthful" (siddiq) with Allah, while habitual liars are recorded as "liars" (kadhdhab). This recording reflects not merely individual acts but the formation of one's essential character (khuluq) in the divine register.
Practical Implications
Scholars explain that this hadith requires Muslims to verify information before speaking, avoid exaggeration, fulfill promises, and maintain honesty in all transactions.
The spiritual psychology here is profound: truthfulness brings tranquility and light to the heart, while lying creates darkness and restlessness in the soul, making it easier to commit further sins.
This teaching extends beyond verbal statements to include being truthful in one's intentions, actions, and states - aligning one's outer conduct with inner reality.