Les petits mensonges par gentillesse : est-ce haram ?

Islam's default on lying is strict — the Quran commands 'do not mix the truth with falsehood' (2:42) and requires speech that is 'appropriate' (33:70), and the Prophet's own reputation for truth was the foundation of his prophethood. But the tradition contains an explicit, narrow exception list, preserved in Sahih Muslim 2605: falsehood is permitted in war, in reconciliation between people, and in the tender speech between spouses. The white lie for feelings sits exactly at the intersection of the last two — smoothing a conflict, sparing a wife's feelings about a burnt dinner — and jurists handle it with the care a licensed exception deserves: it is permitted (mubah) where it prevents real harm, discouraged as a habit, and never valid when it enables wrongdoing, conceals a crime, or defrauds — those fall under 2:42 unambiguously. Muslim ethicists also point to the Prophetic alternative: the Prophet was famously truthful AND famously gentle, and his instruction 'speak good or remain silent' provides the third path that covers most white-lie occasions — one can praise the true parts and simply not volunteer the rest. The fatwa literature's summary: the exception exists; treat it like a scalpel.