Truth in Islam

Telling the truth and resisting from lying is a very basic principle to all the major religions in the world. With all of us telling lies and not telling the truth our society will not function properly. Honesty is one of the greatest of all moral virtues. By telling the truth many great qualities like integrity, chastity, and valor are acquired . We all know the expression, “The truth shall set you free?”.” Well in the Quran there is a similar phrase which is:
qū·lū qau·lan sa·dī·dā
Which means: Say the straightforward word.
(3:71)
There once was a man who did many bad things. He went to the
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and asked, “How can I stop doing bad things?” The Holy Prophet answered, “Always be truthful.” A few days later, the man was going to drink alcohol, but he thought, “What if the Holy Prophet asks me if I drank? I can’t lie.” So he didn’t drink. The next day, he was going to steal something, but he
thought, “What if the Holy Prophet asks me if I stole anything? I can’t lie.” So he didn’t
steal it. Slowly the man stopped doing all the bad things he used to do by doing just one thing : telling the truth.
That’s how important telling the truth is.
    Truthfulness is required everywhere and at all times. It has a lot to do with our
conscience and integrity. It develops the trust people have in us. It is not right to be
truthful in certain situations but not in others. It is something that requires
Consistency. Allah says in the holy Quran :
[2:43] وَلَا تَلْبِسُوْا الْحَـقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوْا الْحَـقَّ وَاَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُوْنَ
And confound not truth with falsehood nor hide the truth, knowingly.
Once, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) sent a manuscript for publishing. He
put a letter in the envelope with his publication and sent it. At that time, there was a rule that said: no one was allowed to send a letter with a publication. If you did you would have to pay a fine or spend time in...