Taqiyya
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In Shi'a Islamic tradition, Taqiyya (التقية) is the dissimulation of one’s religious beliefs when one fears for one's life, the lives of one's family members, or for the preservation of the faith. It is most often used in times of persecution or danger.
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Definition
Rules
Taqiyya, like any other Islamic tenet, has guidelines and limits. According to many Shia, Taqiyya can only be legally used by a Muslim verbally when he or she is being wrongly persecuted. The situation may be when no matter whichever course of action an individual chooses he has to commit an evil. In that case, he should select the lesser evil.
When one is guilty and is trying to conceal his or her guilt, in Islam, he is not said to be using taqiyya, he or she is considered a debauchee.
Qur'an
Shi'as justify the practice using the following verse from the Qur'an:
- "Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief, except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith, but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty." Sura 16:106
And the following
- "[Shakir 3:28] Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends (awliyaa) rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) Allah, but you should guard (tattaqoo) yourselves against them, guarding carefully (tuqatan); and Allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming."
According to Shi'a interpretation of these verses, 3:28 is telling that believers should not take unbelievers as Walis rather the believers, those who do it will lose the wilayat (5:55) of God, that is unless they are using taqiya/protecting themselves, and doing so with caution. And God knows what is in your heart, so fear his wrath, for nobody escapes God.
Also:
- (40:28 by Shakir): And a believing man of Firon's people who hid his faith said...
History
612
The first use of Taqiyya historically during the time of Muhammad when Muslims were beginning to be tortured by the Quraishites. Ammar ibn Yasir, a follower of Muhammad, whose friends had been killed for being Muslim by the Quraish, was confronted by a Quraishite. 'Ammar pretended to renounce Islam and thus saved his life. According to the hadith, the prophet Muhammad later gave his permission for him to repeat such an act if he was placed in danger again.
Most Sunnis criticize Ammar for his actions or question the reliability of the story. Sunnis cite the examples of many Muslims who were tortured and murdered merely based on their belief during the time of Muhammad, Umayyad and Abbasids but didn't renounce their faith. For example, Ammar's parents had both been tortured and killed in front of Ammar but didn't renounce the faith. Most Sunnis believe that God decides when someone is going to die. Therefore, for them it's wrong to deny the faith in order to escape torture or death. By contrast, the Shi'a and some Sunnis believe that life is a gift from God and should be preserved. In a life-threatening emergency, the preservation of life takes precedence over anything else, in the same way that it is permissible to eat pig meat during famine.
618
Sa'id ibn Zayd and Fatimah bint al-Khattab where married and both hid their faith from Umar ibn al-Khattab, until Umar found out they where Muslims. Umar also became a Muslim that same day.
2003
Critics of the Argentinian president Carlos Saúl Menem of Syrian descent have dismissed his early conversion to Christianity as taqiyya.
Muslim view
Muslims have a mixed view of the practice.
Sunni view
Although Taqiyya is generally thought of as a Shi'a term, according to principles defined by the great Sunni theologian al-Ghazali, lying, including protection of oneself or others, is permissible under certain circumstances:
- “Speaking is a means to achieve objectives. If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish it through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible..., and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory. ...One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie…” (Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, The Reliance of the Traveller, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Amana publications, 1997, section r8.2, page 745.)
On the other hand, most Sunnis generally assert that the Shi'a doctrine of Taqiyya is an act of hypocrisy that serves to conceal the truth. According to them, Taqiyya constitutes a lack of faith and trust in God because the person who conceals his beliefs to spare himself from danger is fearful of humans, when he should be fearful of God only. Nevertheless, some Sunni Muslims in fifteenth-century Spain went to the extent of eating pork and denying the Prophet in public, while practicing Islam secretly, to save their lives during the Spanish Inquisition. Other Muslims left Spain or were killed for their belief.
Shi'a view
Taqiyya does not constitute a part of either the Shi'a Roots nor Branches of Religion, in the same manner as, for example, the Hijab rules do not.
The practice was a method of self-preservation for the Shi'as who historically were the minority and persecuted by Sunni Muslims. Sunnis would sometimes force Shi'as to curse the House of Ali - believing that no devout Shi'a could commit such an act. Doing so would be a violation of the Branches of Religion named tawalla. As a result of this persecution, the idea of Taqiyya emerged. In other words, if a Shi'a Muslim's life is in danger, he may lie as long as he holds his faith true in his heart.
Similar concept in the Druze religion
The Druze, a Levantine religion influenced by Islam, allow disguising their Druzeness and the simulation of being Muslim or Christian to avoid frequent persecutions by the local majorities.
See also
External links
- Al-Taqiyya/Dissimulation, from Al-Islam.Org (Shi'a site)
- Innovations in Taqiyyah by Mufti of Sipaa Sahaba (Shi'a site).
- http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/creed_of_shia_explained/en/chap7.php (Shi'a site)
- A critical perspective on dissimulation in Islam (Christian site)de:Taqiyya