Is acting a form of lying, and does the definition of lying apply to it?
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The questioner : You said, O Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), in yesterday's lesson, in the definition of lying: it is reporting something contrary to reality. So what is the ruling on what some people do in acting, when they say: this acting is not considered lying, because it is not contrary to reality, and because people did not come to this place except because they know that this acting is not its reality, it is not the truth. So the question, O Shaykh, is: is this considered lying?
The Shaykh : As for acting, if it is attributed to a person, meaning a person plays the role of so-and-so, and speaks words that this man did not speak, then this is lying, there is no doubt about it.
Or if he brings a comic story to make the people laugh, this is also lying and is not permissible. And in the hadith:Bulugh al-Maram 16:80.
But if it is a matter that addresses a current problem among the people's problems, then there is nothing wrong with it, but on the condition:
That it does not include what is forbidden, such as a man playing the role of a woman, or the role of a disbeliever, or the role of an open sinner, or the like of that, because in reality it is not lying; everyone knows that this is not the case.
And those who permitted such a thing said that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) gave verbal examples, and these are practical examples. Yes?
The questioner : Do we say that it is better to leave this?
The Shaykh : The matter of what is better and what is not better is a second thing.
As for this, it says it was written by Mansur.
The questioner : Yes, I do.
The Shaykh : Mansur, we are all, if Allah wills, successful.
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Why did you not write the rest of the name?
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Well, in any case, this question is long, O Mansur, and perhaps you should leave it with you until tomorrow, if Allah wills, it will be the first, because it appears to be an important question.
This is Umm Abdullah; if we had known about it, we would have brought it forward, but she has gone,
The questioner : They have a right,
The Shaykh : They have a right, what do you say, O Salim?
The Shaykh : As for acting, if it is attributed to a person, meaning a person plays the role of so-and-so, and speaks words that this man did not speak, then this is lying, there is no doubt about it.
Or if he brings a comic story to make the people laugh, this is also lying and is not permissible. And in the hadith:
Woe to him who lies in his talk to make the people laugh, Woe to him! Woe to him!
ويل لمن حدث فكذب ليضحك به القوم ، ويل له ثم ويل لهBut if it is a matter that addresses a current problem among the people's problems, then there is nothing wrong with it, but on the condition:
That it does not include what is forbidden, such as a man playing the role of a woman, or the role of a disbeliever, or the role of an open sinner, or the like of that, because in reality it is not lying; everyone knows that this is not the case.
And those who permitted such a thing said that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) gave verbal examples, and these are practical examples. Yes?
The questioner : Do we say that it is better to leave this?
The Shaykh : The matter of what is better and what is not better is a second thing.
As for this, it says it was written by Mansur.
The questioner : Yes, I do.
The Shaykh : Mansur, we are all, if Allah wills, successful.
The questioner : ....
The Shaykh : Why did you not write the rest of the name?
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Well, in any case, this question is long, O Mansur, and perhaps you should leave it with you until tomorrow, if Allah wills, it will be the first, because it appears to be an important question.
This is Umm Abdullah; if we had known about it, we would have brought it forward, but she has gone,
The questioner : They have a right,
The Shaykh : They have a right, what do you say, O Salim?