WHAT ISLAM SAYS ABOUT (UN) TRUTHFULNESS: AN ETHNOPRAGMATIC EXPLORATION OF TRUTH AND LYING IN PAKISTANI CULTURE
Abstract
Despite being a seemingly universal signifier, (un) truthfulness is a cultural concept. It runs the risk of being wrongly interpreted if corresponding cultural systems and moral values are ignored in the meaning-making process. This study explores the concept of (un)truthfulness in Pakistani culture with special reference to Islamic teachings. As the widely recognised and respected moral beliefs in Pakistani society are derived mainly from the religion Islam, it is imperative to explore the religious component of cultural thought surrounding the topics of Truth and lying. Adopting the Ethnopragmatic approach, the study tries to explore the cultural antecedents of some of the Urdu vocabulary items and traces their etymological connection with the Islamic perspective on Truth and Lying. The close correspondence between the lexical items used to denote Truth and lying and the Islamic tenets also reveals that the moral vocabulary in the Urdu language is deeply infused with the dominant religious ideology. The results show that Urdu vocabulary consistently reflects the superior value of Truth as a word of God and the absolute moral prohibition of lying found in Islam. Furthermore, Urdu lexical items also replicate the enduring and sustainable nature of Truth found in Islamic tradition. Contrarily, lying is always considered devoid of ascendency, permanence and sustenance.
Keywords: Truthfulness; Lying; Ethnopragmatics
Metadata Record
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