The Light of the Holy Qur'an — Page 104
T HE L IGHT OF T HE HOLY Q U R’AN—NUM BE R T WO T HE L IGHT OF T HE HOLY Q U R’AN—NUM BE R T WO 104 real message of the speaker. And, upon close scrutiny, it should be evident that what the speaker had said is sheer truth and not a lie. Also, it should not have even an iota of falsehood mixed, nor the [speaker’s] heart should have even slightly inclined towards falsehood. For instance some a ha d i th justify tauriyah to bring about reconciliation between two Muslims; or to save one’s wife from some hardship, domestic discord, or dispute; or to keep one’s aims hidden from the enemy in a battle or to distract the enemy. Notwithstanding this, it is clear from many other a ha d i th that tauriyah is incompatible with the righteousness of the higher order, and that unmitigated truthfulness is still preferable even if one were to be killed or burned on account of it. Sadly, such tauriyah is plentiful in the words of your Yas u ‘ [ Jesus] and the entire Gospel is brimming with it. Therefore, we have to accept that if tauriyah is lying, then there has been no greater liar in the world than Yas u ‘. The statement of Jesus that he could demolish the Temple of God and then rebuild it within three days is one such statement that is called tauriyah. So is his saying that there was an owner of a house who planted a vineyard. All these are varieties of tauriyah , and there are plenty of examples of this in the discourses of Yas u ‘ because he always minced words when he spoke and his statements had duplicity. A sublime example of the teaching of our lord and master, the Honourable Holy Prophet, is established here and it is that the same tauriyah of which your Yas u ‘ availed himself throughout his entire life as if mother’s milk—had been admonished by the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to avoid as far as possible, so that the purport of a statement should not resemble