Salam aleikum, a friend of mine in a western country ask for advice, he is a convert and before islam he was on drugs and in jail. Since about 4 years he moslem and free of drugs and so on. Since this time he donated blood with different organizations many times without problems. Now he came to a new oganisation and they ask very specific question, wether he was in jail or used drugs ever in his life. My friend is shy to talk about his past and he donated before blood with other organisations, so he is quite sure that he has no sickness, incha Allah. Is it allowed to answer NO in the patients statement to the question of drugs ,jail and so on? Is it still considered to be a lie, because as a convert he is new born and his past is forgiven incha Allah , and he is sure to be no danger to the reciptient of his blood? May Allah bless and thank all of you and me, Ameen.

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we would like to congratulate your friend on the blessing that Allaah has conferred upon him by embracing Islam. We implore Allaah to bless us all with guidance, aid, and steadfastness on the straight path until death. Verily, Allaah is near and answers our supplications.

Needless to say, lying is a serious matter; it is a grave sin and incurs the wrath of Allaah Almighty. It is unbecoming of a believer to be a liar, as the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, informed us. Therefore, lying is considered among the characteristics of the hypocrites as highlighted in the authentic Hadeeth. You can refer to Fatwa 88412 to learn some religious texts about lying.

Indeed, blood donation is a good deed; however, it is impermissible to resort to lying in order to carry out that good deed because there is no valid necessity for it. As long as this organization stipulates that the donor should not have been in jail or used drugs, then he (your friend) has to abide by this condition and should not lie about it. It is expected that Allaah, The Exalted, will reward your friend for his good intention and keenness to abide by the teachings of Islam.

Allaah Knows best.