Tahdhir al-Jumhur min Mafaasid Shahadat al-Zur
- Author died
- 1370 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah lil-Tiba'ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi'
Tahdhir al-Jumhur min Mafaasid Shahadat al-Zur (Warning the Public Against the Evils of Perjury) is an ethical and juridical treatise by the Lebanese scholar Ahmad ibn Umar al-Mahmasani (d. 1370 AH / 1951 CE), focusing on the severe religious, legal, and social repercussions of giving false testimony .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Mahmasani composed the treatise in Beirut at the request of local acquaintances who urged him to compile a work detailing the harms of perjury (shahadat al-zur) alongside the relevant scriptural texts . He completed its writing on the morning of Friday, 20 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1327 AH (December 1909 CE), framing it as an act of sincere religious counsel (nasihah) to alert the general public to the destructive impact of false witness on individual morality and social cohesion .
Structure and Content
The author organized the book into an introduction, four numbered chapters, and a conclusion :
- Introduction: Outlines the societal gravity of perjury, highlighting how pre-Islamic and foreign legal traditions—such as Roman law—punished the crime with extreme penalties, including execution for enslaved persons and exile with property confiscation for free citizens, before detailing how Islamic law classified perjury among the most heinous major sins (kaba'ir) .
- Chapter One: Explores the linguistic definitions of zur (citing Ibn Manzur's Lisan al-'Arab) and examines Quranic verses addressing the topic (such as Surat al-Hajj 30–31 and Surat al-Furqan 72) alongside prophetic traditions that condemn perjury and equate it in gravity to idolatry (shirk) .
- Chapter Two: Reviews judicial rulings and penalties established by the Companions—including Umar ibn al-Khattab and Ali ibn Abi Talib—and classical jurists across the Sunni schools regarding discretionary punishment (ta'zir) and the public denunciation (tashhir) of false witnesses . It incorporates legal discussions from works such as Ibn Hajar al-Haytami's al-Zawajir 'an Iqtiraf al-Kaba'ir, Ibn al-Humam's Fath al-Qadir, and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in .
- Chapter Three: Details six individual and collective harms caused by perjury, such as psychological guilt, loss of community trust, mutual contempt between the perjurer and the beneficiary (citing Ibn Hazm's al-Akhlaq wa-l-Siyar), and the erosion of social solidarity . The chapter includes an appendix (dhayl) on the sin of withholding truthful testimony (kitman shahadat al-sidq) and an addendum (tadhneeb) defining false witness broadly to include notables and bureaucrats who draft fraudulent written endorsements or petitions for unqualified officials .
- Chapter Four: Discourages lying and urges steadfast commitment to truthfulness (sidq), gathering scriptural warnings and quoting classical reflections on veracity, notably from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah's Zad al-Ma'ad .
- Conclusion: Calls on Muslims to maintain piety (taqwa), adhere to the prophetic Sunnah, avoid innovations (bida'), and emphasizes the obligation of religious scholars to speak the truth and guide their communities against social vices .
Publication History
The treatise was first published during the author's lifetime by the Ottoman Press (al-Matba'ah al-'Uthmaniyyah) in Beirut in 1327 AH (1909 CE) . It was later edited with hadith documentation by Ramzi Sa'd al-Din Dimashqiyyah and published in Beirut by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in 1421 AH (2000 CE) as part of the Liqa' al-'Ashr al-Awakhir bi-l-Masjid al-Haram publication series .
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