Salaam. Am I able to lie and say that I am married when I am not? (I am divorced and have no intention of ever marrying again.) I live alone and am fully dependable on myself for survival. My job requires interaction with males for business purposes. However, I am being treated with disrespect by my own people, and I no longer wish to work with them, so I told two past clients that I have recently gotten married and that my husband does not want me to work with males anymore. One client texted me to ask if he can come by and visit; the other client is a pious man whom I accidentally developed feelings for, and the feelings were getting worse by communicating with him. Is it safe to assume that I can stick with this lie to protect myself and others?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Lying is prohibited, and there are many Islamic texts which emphasize its prohibition, as in the hadeeth by Ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, who related that the Prophet said, “Beware of lying, for lying leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to Hellfire, and a man continues to tell lies till he is written before Allah as a liar.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

So you should not resort to it. It is better to resort to Tawriyah instead of openly lying when in need. Tawriyah is saying something which has more than one meaning and intending a meaning different from what the listener is likely to understand.

However, it is forbidden to resort to explicit lying unless it was an obligation in order to repel harm.

For more benefit in this regard, please refer to fatwas 84728 and 88412.

As regards your lie, then if you were able to achieve the purpose without lying, then you are wrong for lying and must repent from it.

We advise you to look for a way to marry again, and you should not deprive yourself of the goodness of marriage and its religious and worldly benefits, among which is to protect yourself from temptation and its causes, and that you have a husband who spends on you and spares you from the need of going out to work.

You should know that it is permissible for a woman to seek to get married with legitimate means and to propose decently to whomever she wishes to marry while observing her hijab and the Islamic etiquette.

For more benefit in this regard, please refer to fatwa 82471.

Allah knows best.