This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Hadith 5: Prophet Ibrahim’s (peace be upon him) Three Lies
There is a narration regarding Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) that he told three lies, whereas lying is not befitting of the Prophets (peace be upon them).
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Ahadith al-Anbiya, Chapter: Allah’s Saying: And Allah took Ibrahim as a friend, Hadith: 3358
❀ First lie: When Ibrahim (peace be upon him) broke the idols and was asked about it, he said:
بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ
“Rather, the biggest one among them did it.”
Reference: (21-Al-Anbiya:63)
❀ Second lie: When the people invited Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to participate in their festival, he said:
إِنِّي سَقِيمٌ
“I am sick.”
Reference: (37-As-Saffat:89)
❀ Third lie: He said about his wife that she is his sister.
Answer:
Two of these are mentioned in the Holy Quran; why do the deniers of Hadith object only to Hadith? The answer they give regarding the two mentioned in the Holy Quran is the same answer for the third matter mentioned in Hadith.
In Arabic idiom, the term "lie" is sometimes applied to equivocation (tawriyah), which means that the speaker uses words that have two possible meanings. The listener takes the apparent meaning, while the speaker intends the other meaning. These lies are understood in the sense of tawriyah, and they are called lies because they are contrary to the meaning intended by the listener, i.e., they are lies from the listener’s perspective.
Moreover, there are two types of lies: one is blameworthy, and the other is commendable, and sometimes speaking it is obligatory. The lies of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) are not blameworthy lies; otherwise, Allah would have expressed condemnation. These are commendable lies. The first two are lies spoken to establish an argument against the polytheists and to elevate the word of truth, while the third is the one he spoke to save himself, and this is not a blameworthy lie but rather a commendable and obligatory one.
