Question
salam alaykum
Allah blessed me with the ability to write fictional stories. Is fiction considered lying or an expression of one’s imagination? What about comedic stories, do they come under ‘woe onto the one who tells lies to make people laugh’? Kindly provide a prolific reply.
jazakum Allah khayran
Answer
The Shari’ah does not prohibit story telling – whether fiction or non-fiction. There is nothing in Islam that forbids one from being creative and using their mind to produce material that is purely fantasy. This could be for educational purposes or entertainment, it makes no difference in Islam. Creating works of fiction should not be confused with lying because it is clear to the audience that it is fiction. All such works are typically categorized properly and clearly designated fiction or non-fiction. On the other hand, some works are so fantastical they are undeniably imaginative.
Setting aside any authenticity issues the hadith in question is as follows:
Woe be on one who speaks and lies in order to make people laugh, woe be on him. – Abu Dawood Vol. 3, no. 4972
This hadith is pretty explicit in its import: that to deliberately make false statements is wrong. Consider this example: people standing around talking but one person decides to make up stories about a fellow co-worker just to make the others laugh. His lying resulted in maligning a peer just for a laugh. Clearly, this is what the hadith is referring to and not to fictional works that may have moral lessons, which may not be conveyed as well with a real story.
With your God-given ability you are free to make people laugh, smile, cry, think, etc… All we can say is that we wish you the best in your endeavors and hope you choose a positive path when reaching out to peoples’ mental and emotional investments.
I hope this helps.
God knows best.