No Prophet Lied — So Why Does Trump Lead Some Religious Folk?

Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), his use of negotiations as a stalling tactic while enabling Israeli strikes, and his public lies — such as claiming he would “wait two weeks” before deciding on a military response, only to covertly authorize action — raise not merely political or strategic concerns, but deep moral and theological questions about the very nature of leadership. This concern is amplified by the fact that his base includes many devout Christians who find his bravado motivational and empowering. 

In this piece, I examine the theological implications of his dishonesty through the lens of ʿilm al-kalām (Islamic theology), and his deceit in negotiations with Iran through the lens of classical Islamic law—particularly in the Mālikī tradition.

Prophetic Integrity An Inspiration Prophethood has always held a central place in Islamic theological reflection. Prophets are not followed because of coercion or wealth, but because of their balanced teaching, ethical clarity, and the miracles that support their truth. Their leadership inspires. Of all their qualities, moral integrity—ṣidq (truthfulness)—was considered so foundational that classical theologians listed it among the essential beliefs every Muslim must hold about a prophet. 

This quality was not merely ethical; it was epistemological. The Prophet’s truthfulness is the guarantee of the truth of revelation. As Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī writes:
“If the source of information is corrupt, then what follows is invalid.” (al-Maṭālib al-ʿĀliyah)

Prophetic honesty, then, is not merely a virtue—it is a reflection of the ontological harmony between the Prophet and the Divine Will. His truth mirrors the covenant between him and God. And it was that truth that inspired, and it so clear, that it was logical. Al-Taftāzānī explains in Sharḥ al-ʿAqā’id: 

“If it were possible for a prophet to lie, even once, then belief in revelation would collapse — hence ṣidq is rationally and textually obligatory.”

Treaties & Deceit 
Muslim political theorists extended this principle—though to a lesser degree—to rulers and heads of state. A leader devoid of truthfulness is epistemically unfit: fundamentally unreliable as a source of knowledge, judgment, or legitimate authority. His mirror becomes blurred, reflecting not strength or courage, but weak faith and a severed connection to divine responsibility. As Imām Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī taught, divine obligation (taklīf) assumes that those in power speak truthfully. When a ruler severs the bond between language and reality, he collapses the moral framework that makes obedience meaningful. The Muʿtazilī scholar ʿAbd al-Jabbār similarly argued that obedience to a dishonest leader is tantamount to obedience to falsehood—an ethical contradiction and theological impossibility. Shāh Waliyyullāh al-Dihlawī captures this brilliantly in Ḥujjatullāh al-Bāligha:

“The Prophet’s amānah was not just personal but institutional, and imāms who come after must reflect it in justice, restraint, mercy, and dedication to the sharīʿah.”

Shari’ah & Sidq
This is not merely a theological matter. Classical Islamic law, especially within the Mālikī school, explicitly condemns ghadr (treachery)—even in war, and especially in the context of treaties. Al-Dardīr writes in al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr:

“Treachery is not permitted — even with disbelievers.” — 2/196
And more directly:

“Fulfilling the treaty is obligatory. If the Imām fears treachery from the enemy, he may not break the treaty until he openly nullifies it [on equal terms].” — 2/196

Breaking a treaty under the pretense of diplomacy, using negotiations to buy time for military aggression, or lying to the public while secretly escalating conflict—these are all classified as prohibited treachery in Islamic law. From this perspective, Trump’s conduct is not only a breach of political integrity, but a moral betrayal and legal transgression. In Islam, truth is not optional in leadership. Without it, both revelation and governance lose their claim to legitimacy. Sad, his most passionate supporters claim to do so in name of faith and integrity. 

As we move forward in an increasingly unstable world, being known as a nation whose leaders lie will only further erode the trust required to heal a fractured global order. Trumping others is not the way of the Prophets. It is the opposite.
imam Suhaib Webb,
Ella Collins Institute

How to cope with witnessing a genocide?

I asked ChatGPT: How to cope with witnessing a genocide?

I'm truly sorry to hear that you're going through such a traumatic experience. Witnessing a genocide can have severe emotional and psychological effects, and coping with such trauma is a complex process. Here are some suggestions, but it's important to seek professional help and support as well:

Reach out for immediate support:

Talk to someone you trust about what you've witnessed. Sharing your experiences with a friend, family member, or colleague can be an important first step.
Contact mental health professionals:

Seek the assistance of mental health professionals, such as therapists, counselors, or psychologists, who specialize in trauma. They can provide guidance tailored to your specific needs.
Participate in group therapy:

Group therapy sessions with individuals who have experienced similar traumas can create a supportive environment. It allows you to share your feelings, gain insights, and realize that you're not alone in your experiences.
Practice self-care:

Focus on your physical and emotional well-being. Ensure you're getting enough sleep, eating healthily, and engaging in activities that bring you comfort and relaxation.
Create a safe space:

Establish a safe and comfortable environment for yourself where you can retreat when the emotional burden becomes overwhelming.
Limit exposure to triggers:

Avoid exposing yourself to materials or situations that trigger traumatic memories. This may include news coverage, documentaries, or discussions related to the genocide.
Express your emotions:

Find healthy outlets for expressing your emotions, such as journaling, art, or music. This can help you process your feelings and make sense of the trauma.
Establish routines:

Creating and sticking to a daily routine can provide structure and stability during difficult times.
Consider spiritual or religious support:

If you have spiritual or religious beliefs, seeking guidance and support from your faith community may be beneficial.
Set boundaries:

Establish clear boundaries with others regarding discussions or questions about the genocide. It's okay to let people know what topics are off-limits for you.
Be patient with yourself:

Coping with trauma is a gradual process, and healing takes time. Be patient with yourself and acknowledge that recovery is a journey.
Remember that professional help is crucial in dealing with the psychological impact of witnessing a genocide. If you're struggling, please reach out to mental health professionals or support organizations that specialize in trauma and post-traumatic stress. You don't have to navigate this journey alone.

Hadith: Good deeds

 

 The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

 "Do you know who is a poor person? A poor person in my community is someone who will come on the Day of Resurrection backed with prayers, fasting, regular charity, and pilgrimage, but also with a number of injustices to others, such as abusing this one, taking the property of that one, slandering someone, hitting another, or shedding the blood of someone else. Thereafter, (that person's) good deeds will be taken one after one and will be given to (those) who were wronged by him." 

Sahih Muslim

Let’s Pray For The Oppressed - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan

LEYLA HUSSEIN | THE CRUEL CUT

Imam Suhaib Webb - I Can't Breathe

God says women drivers are evil and deserve to die.

Follwing is excerpt from article you can read here: Once more I am shocked at disgraceful words of yet another woman-hating, sex-obsessed extremist patriarchal 'scholar' seriously these men must have issues with their mothers!

God says women drivers are evil and deserve to die.

And then there's this. The Saudi-owned Elaph.com website reports on the meditations of Saudi cleric Shaykh Abd-al-Rahman al-Barrak against women who wish to drive cars. "What they are intending to do is forbidden and they thus become the keys to evil in this country," he writes, calling them "westernized women seeking to westernize this country." Name-calling aside, al-Barrack is drawing on an extremist Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, according to which God forbids any mixed-gender mingling outside the family. Giving women the freedom to move around on their own would be to tempt God's wrath.

In fact, al-Barrak predicts the activists will be struck dead: "They will die, God willing, and will not enjoy this." The reporter for Elaph.com, with an impressive degree of restraint, refers to this as "biting criticism." (Al-Barrack seems to enjoy something of a contrarian reputation among the Wahhabi chattering classes: Earlier this year, he endorsed a fatwa that calls for the demolishment and subsequent redesigning of Mecca's Kaaba -- Islam's holiest site -- so as to avoid gender mixing. Biting!)

At least no one offered up the old saw that women aren't any good at driving. Probably because on that score Saudi women are painfully aware that their male counterparts aren't in any position to judge.

India's sex trade exposed

On the streets of Kamathipura young women stand ready and available, looking to lure their next customer. They pose, they smile, some wave. They look terribly young, their faces heavy with make-up. Many are dressed in Western clothes, others in traditional saris. In this red light district of Mumbai, they stand on the kerbside in front of grimy shacks containing the beds on which they do their work. There is the hustle and chaos of the traffic, the clogged roads, the constant noise. And there is terrible sadness too.

"I was tricked here. I was in love with a man and I came here with him. But when I got here, he sold me," says Simla, a 42-year-old prostitute, originally from Nepal. She has two children and she saves what little she earns to send them to school, desperate that they do not follow her into the sex industry. "I was fooled into this. I will not allow my children to do it."

Sex costs little on the frenetic streets of India's business capital, where people come and go all the time. New arrivals wash up from India's poor rural hinterland, desperate for work, any sort of work. Men – who are used to a repressed, conservative culture – come and stand and stare. There is a near-constant flow. A young woman might be able to charge a customer 100 rupees (£1.30) a time, but an older woman might only get 30 rupees (40 pence). When a woman demands that a customer use a condom, the price is usually lowered as a result.

These women and their customers are at the forefront of India's Aids crisis. The country has up to three million people living with HIV, the third-highest total in the world. Experts say that the most important danger in the spread of HIV comes from the relatively high numbers of men who go to sex workers, who do not use condoms and whose jobs involve them travelling. As a result, both sex workers and India's legions of horn-blaring truck drivers are among the groups most persistently targeted by health workers and educators trying to push the message of safe sex.

"You can educate children in schools about safe sex but the people who need to be targeted the most are the sex workers themselves," says Penny Richards, the communications director for the Avahan India AIDS Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "The other group in need of education are men who have sex with men."

The sex workers of Mumbai have long attracted the interest of photographers. In the early 1980s, the distinguished American photographer Mary Ellen Mark spent weeks on the city's Falkland Road, one of the poorest red-light districts. Initially suspicious of her, the sex workers gradually came to trust the American and invited her into their homes. Her now-famous and unsettling collection of photographs is titled after the street on which the women work.

By contrast, when he set about working on the collection of images published on these pages, the photographer (and longstanding contributor to The Independent Magazine) Kalpesh Lathigra wanted to portray the women (who included some hijras, or eunuchs who dress and identify themselves as female) outside of their usual environment. Working with a friend, he arranged to hire a studio in Mumbai in which to photograph them. As it transpired, the studio was only a short distance from the area in which the women worked. But despite the geographical proximity, it was a world apart. The results were dignified and powerful.

"They were really surprised that I wanted to take their photographs in the studio and not in a brothel," Lathigra recalls, "but I did it because I wanted to isolate the women visually in a direct way. The photographs are for me a way of breaking away from visual clichés – and more importantly, a way of breaking away from the taboos and stigma of HIV, which in India are still very prevalent."

"Whenever photographers go to the red-light areas, they are always taking their pictures in the street. It is not easy. And you'll get tourists coming and taking pictures as well. So when I told them I wanted to go the studio they were surprised, but they were also really positive. I think they understood what I was trying to do."

As well known as it is for its sex workers, Mumbai is also famed for its terrible traffic, its almost constant gridlock and the persistent building of new roads and flyovers. Amid this twisting jungle of fast-setting concrete and blinding headlights, it was not difficult for Lathigra to discover an impromptu truck stop where drivers gathered for rest and relaxation.

There is an aura of slight menace to some of the images he took there of the truck drivers but there is also a sense of weariness about these men of the road. Standing in front of their brightly painted rigs – which are themselves the constant menace of India's roads – the men also look a long way from home. A long way from their families, from their wives.

There are new challenges for the changing India as campaigners seek to make the world's largest democracy (with a population of more than 1.1bn) wake up to the threat of Aids. Some experts, for example, believe that the rise and rise of the booming information-technology industry – and, in particular, of the call centres that service clients on the other side of the world – that represents the emerging threat to watch.

Warning of the menace of so-called "call-centre romeos", men who make use of the cramped working conditions and night-shift hours to snare young women, Dr Suniti Solomon says the profile of those who carry the HIV virus is changing. Dr Solomon, who is from Chennai and who detected India's first-ever case of Aids in 1986, explains: "Men and women are entering the workplace for the first time. Often they are coming from outside the urban areas. They are getting a good salary; it's a nice atmosphere. They are away from their parents and they have more freedom."

It soon becomes clear that a key issue in encouraging safe sex in India is that it remains a remarkably conservative society. For a culture that once created the Kama Sutra and the erotic carvings at Khajuraho, it's ironic that many subjects remain taboo – among them, men having sex with men, drug abuse and the issue of easy access to condoms. "It's as if it is not possible to talk about it," says Penny Richards of the Gates Foundation.

Yet on the streets of Kamathipura, campaigners have had success in educating the women of the red-light area about their circumstances and what they can do to protect themselves. In addition to education about safer sex, a number of schemes have been set up to help the economic circumstances of the women.

A cooperative bank, established by the charity Population Services International, which allows women to deposit small amounts of money is one such example. Saving even a few rupees here and there means the women can remove an element of desperation from their daily lives. "It means," says Indra, a sex worker from the southern state of Karnataka, "that I can say, 'No', if a customer does not want to use a condom."

source

For more information, see concern.net