Date : 23-05-2016

Question :

What is the ruling when a sportsman lies to his coach in order to escape punishment?


The Answer :

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.



Sport serves a noble purpose; namely creating a strong generation that competes with honesty. On its part, Islam has encouraged people to maintain strong bodies. The Prophet(PBUH) said: " The stronger believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, although both are good"{Muslim}.



Moreover, there is no harm in holding competitions and giving prizes, or setting up some punishments in the sports field, as long as they comply with Sharia.



However, manipulating results and facts is prohibited since Allah, the Almighty, says in this regard{what means}: " O ye who believe! Fear God and be with those who are true (in word and deed)"{At-Tawbah/119}. The Prophet(PBUH) also said: " He who deceives is not of me (is not my follower)."{Muslim}.



In fact, our true religion encourages us to be of noble character in every aspect. For example, it is imperative that a Muslim is truthful in word and deed, even if he/she is be called to account since Allah, the Exalted, says(what means): " whenever ye speak, speak justly, even if a near relative is concerned; and fulfill the covenant of God: thus doth He command you, that ye may remember."{Al-An`m/152}.



The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Truth leads to piety and piety leads to Jannah. A man persists in speaking the truth till he is enrolled with Allah as a truthful. Falsehood leads to vice and vice leads to the Fire (Hell), and a person persists on telling lies until he is enrolled as a liar".{Agreed upon}.



In conclusion, it is prohibited that a person lies to those in charge of him so as to avoid punishment since truthfulness saves one from Allah`s wrath. And Allah knows best.