Life of the Holy Prophetsa

A man once came to the Holy Prophet^sa and said: “O Messenger^sa of Allah! I suffer from three evils: falsehood, indulgence in strong drinks and fornication. I have tried my utmost to get rid of them but have not succeeded. Will you tell me what to do?” The Prophet^sa replied: “If you make a firm promise to me to give up one of them I guarantee that you will be rid of the other two.” The man promised and asked the Prophet^sa to tell him which of the three he should give up. The Prophet^sa said: “Give up falsehood.”

Sometime later the man came back and told the Holy Prophet^sa that, having followed his advice, he was now free from all three vices. The Prophet^sa asked him for the details of his struggle and the man said:

“One day I wanted to indulge in liquor and was about to do so when I bethought myself of my promise to you and realised that if any of my friends asked me whether I had taken liquor, I would have to admit it as I could no longer utter a falsehood. This would mean that I would acquire an evil reputation among my friends and they would in future avoid me. Thinking thus, I persuaded myself to postpone drinking to some later occasion and was able to withstand the temptation at the time. In the same way when I found myself inclined towards fornication, I argued with myself that indulgence in the vice would expose me to the loss of the esteem of my friends as I would either have to tell a falsehood if questioned by them, thus breaking my promise to you, or I would have to admit my sin. In this way I continued to struggle between my resolve to fulfil my promise to you and my desire to indulge in liquor and in adultery. When some time had passed I began to lose the inclination to indulge in these vices and the resolve to keep away from falsehood has now saved me from the other two also.”