DONT BE THE LIAR NOR THE FOOL April first every year is regarded worldwide as the April Fools Day. It is a time many see as a franchise to tell lies jokingly. They see it as an opportunity to display their golden talent in the act of telling lies. Generally, a person is told something which perturbs or even shocks him. However, he shortly thereafter realizes that what he was told is not true but it was rather a joke. This ugly practice of lying, which is considered to be merely a humor, is known to have caused great harm to many. Dear brethren, you dont need partaking in this non-beneficial and sinful act! O you who believe, fear Allah and always speak the truth. - Quran 33:69 Lying is a characteristic of hypocrisy and Allahs Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) strictly forbade lying at all times. He (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] The above Ahaadeeth show the gravity of participating in the false tradition of April Fool, which the Western tradition appreciates and encourages claiming that it brings joy and amusement, whereas the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) forbade lying and deceiving even if the intention of the person is to amuse people. Abd al-Rahman Ibn Abi Laylaa said: “The companions of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) told us that they were traveling with the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam). 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 (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: “What are you laughing at?” They said, “Nothing, except that we took the arrows and he got alarmed.” The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: “It is not permissible for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim.” [Abu Dawood (5004) and Musnad Ahmad. Authenticated by Shaikh al-Albanee in Saheeh al-Jamee (7658)] He (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)] Deception Making people April fools also involves one in the serious sin of khiyanah (deception). Rasulullah Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam is reported to have said: It is a great khiyanah that you say to your brother something regarding which he believes you to be true but you are in fact lying to him (Mishkaat). Another Hadeeth pronounces the declaration of Rasulullah Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam thus: The one who deceives us (Believers) is not from among us (Mishkaat). These aspects alone make it apparent that engaging in April fool antics involves one in a host of major sins. Imitating the Kuffar Over and above this is the fact that playing tricks is a custom of the Kuffaar. According to the Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, playing tricks on the first of April is a custom among European peoples (vol.2; pg.263). The World Book Encyclopedia records that the observance of April Fools Day began in France after the adoption of the reformed calendar by Charles IX in 1564 (vol. 1; pg. 557). [Details below! ] Thus, the aspect of tashabbuh [imitating] the kuffaar also becomes applicable. Rasulullah Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam is reported to have said: He who imitates a nation, he is from amongst them (Mishkaat). Hence when playing April fool tricks involves one in such serious sins, how can a person who claims to love Allah Taala and His beloved Rasul Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam ever engage in it? If one has played such tricks in the past, one must sincerely repent and seek the pardon of those who were deceived in such a manner. ORIGIN OF APRIL FOOL Many theories have been put forward about how the tradition began. Unfortunately, none of them are conclusive. Thus, the origin of the “custom of making April fools” remains as much a mystery to us as it was back in 1708 CE. The most popular theory about the origin of April Fools’ Day involves the French calendar reform of the sixteenth century. The theory goes like this: In 1564 CE France reformed its calendar, moving the start of the year from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, and stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25 and April 1, had jokes played on them. Pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were thus called poisson d’Avril, or April fish—which, to this day, remains the French term for April Fools Day — and so the tradition was born. Others say that this started a long time before that, and that it was initiated during the ancient ages as a part of polytheistic celebrations on a set date on the beginning of the spring season. Yet others say that fishing did not yield any catch in the first days of the spring season and thus this was innovated as a new practice on the first of April. According to legend, the Duke of Lorraine and his wife were imprisoned at Nantes. They escaped on April 1, 1632 CE by disguising themselves as peasants and walking through the front gate. Someone noticed them escaping and told the guards. But the guards believed the warning to be a “poisson d’Avril” (or April Fools’ Day joke) and laughed at it, thus allowing the Duke and his wife to escape. “April’s fish” was also said to be due to the movement of the sun from Pisces (February 20- March 20) to the next sign. Some theories believe that it was given this name after altering the word passion (as a symbol for the torture that Jesus may Allaah exalt his mention suffered) to poisson d’Avril. British folklore links April Fools’ Day to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was a tradition in the 13th century for any road that the King placed his foot upon to become public property. So when the citizens of Gotham heard that King John planned to travel through their town, they refused him entry, not wishing to lose their main road. When the King heard this, he sent soldiers to the town. But when the soldiers arrived in Gotham, they found the town full of lunatics engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. Their foolery was all an act, but the King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to warrant punishment. Ever since then, according to legend, April Fools’ Day has commemorated their trickery. The first lie on this occasion was recorded in a British magazine. The April 2, 1698 CE edition of Dawks’s News-Letter (a British newspaper) reported that, “Yesterday being the first of April, several persons were sent to the Tower Ditch to see the Lions washed.” Sending gullible victims to the Tower of London to see the “washing of the lions” (a non-existent ceremony) was a popular prank. It became traditional for this prank to be played on April Fools’ Day. Examples of it occur as late as the mid-nineteenth century In the eighteenth century written references to April Fools’ Day became numerous and appeared throughout Europe. One of the most famous incidents that happened in Europe on April 1, was when the English newspaper, The Evening Star, announced in March 1746 CE that on the following day – April 1st – there would be an parade of donkeys in Islington, in England. The people rushed to see these animals and there was a huge crowd. They continued waiting and when they got tired of waiting, they asked about when the parade would be held. They did not find anything, and then they finally realized that they had come to make an exhibition of themselves, as if they were the donkeys! The above was just to show the history of this event. However, it is not important to know what is its real source or how it originated. What matters to us is the ruling of lying on this day. This practice certainly never existed in the bright eras of Islam during which the Muslims highly cherished the rulings of Islam and adhered to them as closely as they could. This event was certainly not initiated by the Muslims, but rather, by their enemies. The unfortunate part is that many Muslims have made it a common practice for them to lie to their wives, friends or relatives and cause them great sorrow and frighten them by lying on this day, claiming that it is only a joke. Many a times, people have died as a result of some of these lies due to heart attacks or become paralyzed from the impact of the lie on them. Some people have even divorced their wives and others have uttered such lies about a man’s wife that he went and killed her. There is no end to such tragic stories associated with this day. The only way one can restrain him/herself from falling in this evil practice is by remembering the Islamic ruling which prohibits lying even in jest. May Allah protect us from indulging ourselves in such dishonest activities and may He give us the strength to withstand such practices when they tend to infect our Muslim Society. Ameen!
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:51:47 +0000
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