The Ruling on Hypothetical Questions About Events That Have Not Occurred

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: If one of the attendees asks a question for the Shaykh and says, “The question is for F.” He says, “May Allah reward you.” If one of the attendees asks a question for the Shaykh and says in the question, “So-and-so happened,” or says, “A man did such and such,” or says, “Such and such happened,” what is the ruling? And the question is: Are these questions valid? You know that the incident in this question did not occur, and it may have been imaginary. In other words, does that count as lying, or is it permissible on the basis that the purpose of the question is to know the fiqh ruling?

Answer:
This lying is reporting what is not a reality. Lying is reporting something that did not happen as if it were a reality. For example, saying, “Such and such happened,” when it did not happen; “So-and-so came,” when he did not come; or, for example, “So-and-so did such and such,” when he did not do it. This is the definition. Lying is reporting a thing in a way that contradicts its reality. It is not permissible for a person to lie and say, “Such and such happened.” But if he says, “If such and such happens, what is the ruling?” He says, “If such and such happens.” He advises, and does not say, “Such and such happened,” when it did not occur. Rather, he says, “If such and such happens, what do we do?” There is nothing wrong with that.