Is it considered a sin to lie about past sin

Question

First of all I wanna say I really love reading your articles and appreciate your hard work you really help a ton of Muslims through their lives. May Allah Grant you guys jannah Al firdous, inshallah! I wanna ask a question... Let's say there's a 10 years old girl that was on the internet and found a video about sexual and bad stories and watched a couple of videos like that and knew how babies are made. Did she commit a sin by knowing this at such a young age? How does she repent? If it is a sin: what if the time comes where her mother will explain to her how babies are and asks "Do you know how babies are made?" If she said yes then the mother will say how and she'll have to expose her sin, but if she said no does that mean she committed lying?

Answer 1

As she didn't reach puberty at that time, she is not accountable for her sins.

But it is actually sinful to reveal one's past sins to anyone, and lying, in this case, is permitted if it guarantees everyone's right. But it is more preferable to take an indirect approach in stating the lie, so s/he wouldn't be lying explicitly, like saying sentences that s/he means by it something when they may appear to others that they mean another thing.

Allah Mighty said in Surah An-Nahl (16) — Verse 105:

In Arabic (the exact wording):

إِنَّمَا يَفْتَرِي الْكَذِبَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ

In English (in what it means):

They only invent falsehood who do not believe in the verses of Allah, and it is those who are the liars.

Dodging the question is also a way to avoid lying, which is not a characteristic of Muslims anyway, and we shouldn't use it as a means of solving our life problems, so she could have said:

• Well, I would like to know.

You asked if what she did is considered a sin. It would be considered a sin if she has reached the age of puberty.

In such cases, repenting is what one has to do in order to gain Allah forgiving. And it has four main conditions to be valid. This animated Youtube video explains repenting to Allah.

Allah Mighty said in Surah Al-Tahrim (66) — Verse (8):

In Arabic (the exact wording):

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّـهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِي اللَّـهُ النَّبِيَّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

In English (in what it means):

O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent.

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Source

For reading about the signs of puberty, see here

For reading further about repenting, see here

For reading further about the lying sin, see here