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Fatwa CenterHow to treat unjustifiable fear and how to avoid lying
Question
I have two question: firstly, When somebody had strange fears which make no sense but cause great grief ( certain shapes etc) are things like these from the works of shaytan or tests from Allah? My second question is does one incur a sin for lying in the case that they are lying to match the story of someone else to save them trouble and embarrassment or even legal trouble . For example your sister lied in the past about something serious and now if you tell the truth she could be in deep trouble , or your father told someone he was you went to. A certain school, when you do not and later someone asks you about it should you lie and confirm your fathers story or tell the truth and in the process expose your father?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
When a Muslim is tried with an affliction – including (being haunted by) fears, it is not necessarily a punishment for the sins he has committed. Such feelings of fear may be a consequence of an incident that has affected the person's life. In addition, the person’s mental state may be one of the factors that contribute to experiencing such fears. It is also probable that such fears are the work of the devil which he causes by some false illusions. Fatwa 31301 highlights the way to guard oneself against such Satanic deception and illusions.
In any case, the Muslim should have firm belief in Allaah and His Omnipotence and should place his trust in Him. This is the optimal means for a person to overcome such fears. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {Say, "Never will we be struck except by what Allaah has decreed for us; He is our protector." And upon Allaah let the believers rely.}[Quran 9:51] Moreover, Zayd ibn Thaabit 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “... If you had wealth that is equivalent to Mount Uhud and you spent it in the cause of Allaah, that would not be accepted from you until you believe in the Divine Decree and you know that whatever has befallen you, could not have missed you; and that whatever has missed you, could not have befallen you; and that if you were to die while believing otherwise, you would enter the Hellfire.” [Ibn Maajah]
Thus, you can overcome such fears and anxiety.
As for lying, it is prohibited and should not be resorted to unless there is an outweighing benefit or there is evil that could not be warded off except by lying. We have underlined that lying is prohibited in Fataawa 84728 and 90665 and highlighted the cases when lying is permissible.
However, it should be noted that lying is impermissible as long as there is possibility of escaping it by resorting to indirect speech. Please, refer to Fatwa 88412 about indirect and multi-connotative speech as a way to escape lying.
Allaah Knows best.
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