Is a person held responsible if he orders the things that he does not do according to the verse "Why do you say the things that you do not do?"

"O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not? Grievously odious is it in the sight of Allah that ye say that which ye do not." (as-Saff, 61/2-3)

Dear Brother / Sister,

"O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not? Grievously odious is it in the sight of Allah that ye say that which ye do not." (as-Saff, 61/2-3)

This verse does not mean that a Muslim cannot tell others about religious issues that he himself does not practice. The verse aims to warn those who tell lies by saying, "I did" for the things that they did not do in the past and those who promise by saying, "I will do" about the things that they will not or cannot do.

It is possible to interpret the verse in two ways:

a) A person promising something that he cannot do,

b) A person telling lies about his deeds, speaking about something he did not do as if he had done it.

In tafsir books, several incidents that support both of these interpretations are included. (see Tabari and Zamakhshari, the interpretation of the relevant verse)

These incidents, which are narrated as reasons for the verse to be sent down, shed light on understanding the verse but it can be said that this verse aims to give a permanent message about the importance of avoiding controversial words and deeds. Some tafsir scholars state that it is an expression that condemns telling lies and breaking one’s promise (Zamakhshari, IV/91-92), reflecting this understanding. Therefore, it can be concluded that this warning does not only state that what is said and what is done must be consistent but also the words and deeds must be consistent with each other.

In individual and social life, good, nice and useful things form in the minds first; they are transformed into words and deeds after that. The words and deeds of a believer who needs to be a model for the people around him in the society he lives in should be consistent and his words, deeds and attitudes should not be contrary to his faith. Acting contrarily will cause the high ethics, honesty and reliability in the community to be harmed and even eliminated. This will lead people to mischief and restlessness. Man cannot be happy in such a community and he cannot develop his spirituality. He cannot attain Allah's consent and love. Therefore, in the Quran, Allah asks believers to be consistent about their words and deeds and to keep their promises and act in accordance with the contracts they make.   

"O ye who believe! Why say ye that which you will not do? Grievously odious is it in the sight of Allah that ye say that which you will not do."

In some translations (1), the verse is translated as "why do you say the things that you did not do". This translation does not correspond with the original text of the verse. For this translation is the equivalent of the following phrase in Arabic: "ma lam taf'alu". However, the verse includes the phrase "ma la taf'aluna". "Ma" is a relative pronoun meaning the thing which (what).  "La taf'aluna" means you will not do (future negative); "ma la taf'aluna" means what you will not (be able to) do. (2) "Lam taf'alu" means you did not do; "ma lam taf'alu" means what you did not do. The word "lam" (not) transforms a present verb into past tense negative. The meaning between "what you will not (be able to) do" and "what you did not do" is completely different.

It is a lie for a person to say something that he did not do. To say what one will not do means to promise something that he cannot or will not be able to do. The former is some news about the past and the latter is a promise about the future.

Some people use this verse in a context that is not relevant. They use this verse in order to express that it is necessary for a preacher himself to do what he tells others to do first and that if he does not do something, it will not be appropriate for him to tell others to do it because it will not have any effect on people and they say the following: "Why do you tell people what you do not do?" They want to say that a person who tells lies has no right to say "do not tell lies" to others and a person who drinks alcohol has no right to say "do not drink alcohol" to others.

It is ideal for a person to do what he preaches and not to forget himself when he gives advice to others. As a matter of fact, Allah states the following in a verse:

"(O people!) Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people and forget (to practise it) yourselves?"(3)

Thus, He blames a person who orders others to do good deeds, useful things, worship and obey Allah and His Prophet but who forgets himself, that is, who does not do what he preaches. However, it is not possible to deduce a meaning like the following from this verse or the verse we are analyzing: "It is not appropriate to tell others to do what we do not do."

Man should do appropriate, good and nice things himself and advise others to do so; he should give up bad, ugly, sinful and useless things himself and tell others to give them up. This is the ideal thing. However, a man cannot abandon the duty of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil just because he cannot do good things or cannot give up bad things. If he abandons this duty, his mistake doubles. His first mistake is not to do what is good and to commit harams and sins; his second mistake is abandoning the duty of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil. Therefore, man should fulfill the duty of giving advice, and enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil even if he cannot do it himself. 

As a matter of fact, some Companions who were concerned about the same things asked the Prophet (pbuh) about it:

Hz. Anas narrates: We asked the Prophet (pbuh),

“O Messenger of Allah! Should we not refrain from calling others to goodness if we do not practice all good things ourselves? Or, should we not refrain from forbidding wrong things until we ourselves have abstained from all the bad?”

Hz. Prophet (pbuh) answered as follows:

“No! You should call others to goodness even if you do not do all good, and you should try to forbid bad things even if you do not abstain from all of them yourselves.” (see Ghazali, Ihyaul-Ulum, II/329)

We can say that it is not appropriate to think that a person who does not do what he preaches will not have any effect on others. For, the duty of man is to tell people and enjoin what is good and to forbid what is evil; success and effect belong to Allah. Sometimes, the advice of a person who does a bad deed can have more effect on people. For instance, when a person who drinks alcohol, smokes and takes drugs tells another person, "I was harmed a lot by them. Never start using them", his advice may have more effect on a person than the advice of a person who does not have such bad habits.

The topic of the verse we have tried to analyze is completely different from these issues. The verse is related to a person’s inner world, his making a promise and vowing, and whether he can fulfill them or not. The reason why the verse was sent down shows this.

Footnotes:

1. For instance, Hüseyin ATAY-Y. KUTLUSAY, Kur'an-ı Kerim ve Türkçe Anlamı, D.İ.B. Yay. Ank. 1985.
2. Present verb, negative future.
3. al-Baqara, 2/44.

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