Jurisprudence

(7) Lying

1- Would lying in general invalidate sawm or is there a special kind of it?

A: Lying which would invalidate sawm is specified by inventing of lie about Allah, His Prophet Muhammad (s.) and about the Infallible Imams (a.) according to the obligatory caution.

2- If a sa`im had invented a lie about jurisprudents and mujtahids would that entail invalidating of his sawm?

A: Although inventing lies about them is haram, yet it would not invalidate the correctness of the sawm.

3- If the sa`im intended to say the truth but it appeared to be an untruth and vice versa, what about the ruling?

A: In both cases his sawm is correct.

4- If a sa`im had just quoted a saying from someone which was lying, would that invalidate the sawm?

A: If the saying was a kind of narration or quotation from a person or a book, it would not harm the correctness of his sawm, although it is based on obligatory caution to relate the saying to the book from which it is quoted.

5- If the sa`im tells a lie, which invalidates the sawm, without directing his speech to someone or he is directing it to an irrational creature (like an animal); will this invalidate sawm?

A: It does not invalidate his sawm unless it could be truly said that he was informing someone, i.e. he wants to make someone understand it, even in case the later will hear it later.

6- If a sa`im invents a lie about the Prophet Muhammad (s.) or the Infallible Imams (a.) in a secular issue, would that invalidate his sawm?

A: In invalidating the sawm there is no difference, according to the obligatory caution, whether one invents a lie about them in the religious or in the secular issues.

7- Would the invention of lies about the Prophets and legates or Fatimat al-Zahra (s.) invalidate the sawm?

A: It is based on obligatory caution to join them with Infallible Imams (a.) in this issue.

8- If one tells a lie as a joke, i.e. he did not mean the real meaning, what about the ruling?

A: The ruling of lying would not be applied here unless one was serious in telling it.

Adopted from the book : "Questions & Answers About Fast Accroding to Ayatollah Khamenei's Fatwa"