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Fatwa CenterRuling on whether liar is obliged to confess lies
Question
I submitted a question earlier, but I typed the wrong email. Here is my question, Do you have to confess if you lied or is merely repenting good enough?
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 
is His slave and Messenger.
Lying is a prohibited act and a grave sin in Islam. It is unbecoming of the believer to lie; please refer to fataawa 84728 and 88412 on the religious texts about lying. The Muslim is enjoined to avoid lying, and whoever commits this sin is obliged to repent to Allaah and fulfill the conditions of sincere repentance; these are: stopping to commit the sin, regretting have committed it, and resolving never to commit it again in the future. He is not obliged to inform the person to whom he has lied. It is sufficient to repent to Allaah of this sin in secret as long as no harm was incurred on the person to whom he has lied. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 195921.
However, in case of harm, if it were financial, then the liar must return his money to him even if indirectly. If the harm concerns his honor, then it falls into the category of moral rights. The preponderant view in this regard is that it is sufficient for the offender to supplicate Allaah in favor of the wronged person and ask Allaah's forgiveness for him. Al-Mustadrak ʻala Fataawa Ibn Taymiyyah reads, "Any transgression against one's honor such as backbiting or buhtaan (false accusation) falls under the category of slander. The person might be truthful in his claim, and in this case it would be considered backbiting; and he may be lying, and this is considered buhtaan. The chosen view of our companions is that the transgressor should not inform the wronged person of it and only supplicate Allaah in his favor..."
The scholars held different views in this regard; the preponderant view is what we mentioned. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 251593.
Allaah knows best.
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