From: sadeghi@oxy.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Subject: Taqiyya  and the recent attacks on Shia Muslims.
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 16:08:06 GMT

The subject of "taqiyya" is one of the subjects that is now and then
brought up by a few individuals on the net in order to condemn Shias
and to create hatred among Muslims.   As a reaction to this attempt,
I am re-posting a detailed article which I posted a couple of years
ago about this matter.   You will find in it not only the opinions of
major Shi'i scholars, such as Ayatollah at-Tabatabayi and Aytollah
Khomeini, but also the Sunni position on the issue.  You will also find that
Imam Khomeini's view is the opposite of what was recently claimed in
soc.culture.arabic.   -Behnam Sadeghi
=====================================================================

	   Taqiyya

	   Some time ago, Mr. Omar Stephen M. Dodd (Steve) initiated
	   a discussion in soc.religion.islam about taqiyya, saying
	   that Shias practice "deception." I wasn't going to respond
	   to the original article because I thought it was clear
	   where it came from and what its intentions were.

	   However, brother Abdennour has been repeating the same
	   thing many times in his postings.  I feel compelled to
	   comment on some of the points he raised.  First, he stated
	   that taqiyya is simple lying and therefore not permissible
	   under any circumstances.  Then somebody quoted a
	   commentary from the (Sunni) scholar Mawdudi which justified
	   taqiyya. This prompted Abdennour's new opinion that taqiyya
	   is permissible only if applied against non-Moslems and
	   therefore Shias are in the wrong.  I am not aware on what
	   basis he believes that taqiyya is prohibited when dealing
	   with Moslems. Insha'allah he will elaborate.

	   In any case, in this posting, we'll see what some Shias
	   and non-Shias have to say about taqiyya.

	   I am copying this hadith from Sahih Muslim:

	     Humaid b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Auf reported that his mother
	     Umm Kulthum daughter of 'Uqba b. Abu Mu'ait, and she was
	     one amongst the first emigrants who pledged allegiance to
	     Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him), as saying that
	     she heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as
	     saying: A liar is not one who tries to bring
	     reconciliation amongst people and speaks good (in order to
	     avert dispute), or he conveys good.  Ibn Shihab said he
	     did not hear that exemption was granted in anything what
	     the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for
	     bringing reconciliation amongst persons and the narration
	     of the words of the husband to wife, and the narration of
	     the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted form in
	     order to bring reconciliation between them).

	   The Sunni commentator of my volume of Sahih Muslim, Abdul
	   Hamid Siddiqi, provides the following commentary:

	     Telling of a lie is a grave sin but a Muslim is permitted
	     to tell a lie in some exceptional cases, and this
	     permission is given especially on three occasions: in case
	     of battle for bringing reconciliation amongst the hostile
	     Muslims and for bringing reconciliation between the
	     husband and the wife.  ON THE ANALOGY [QIYAS] OF THESE
	     THREE CASES THE SCHOLARS OF HADITH HAVE POINTED OUT SOME
	     OTHER EXEMPTIONS:	FOR SAVING THE LIFE AND HONOUR OF
	     INNOCENT PERSON FROM THE HIGHHANDEDNESS OF TYRANTS AND
	     OPPRESSORS IF ONE FINDS NO OTHER WAY TO SAVE THEM.

	   Notice that neither the above hadith nor the commentary
	   are concerned with dealing with a non-Moslems only.
	   Also, I should mention that I am not quoting from a Sunni
	   book in order to _prove_ that taqiyya is permissible.
	   (Shias, in addition to using Sunni collections of hadiths, also
           have other collections of hadith.)  My purpose is to show that 
           the difference of opinion between the Sunnis and Shias on the
	   issue of taqiyya is small.

	   In his book, _Shi'ite Islam_ (translated into English by
	   Seyyed Hussein Nasr) , great Shi'i scholar Allamah Sayyid
	   Muhammad Husayn Tabatabyai defines taqiyya as the
	   situation where a person "hides his religion or certain of
	   his religious practices in situations that would cause
	   definite or probable danger as a result of the actions of
	   those who are opposed to his religion or particular
	   religious practices." He goes on to define the nature of
	   the danger:

	   "The exact extent of danger which would make permissible
	   the practice of taqiyah has been debated among different
	   mujtahids of Shi'ism.  In our view, the practice of
	   taqiyah is permitted if there is definite danger facing
	   one's own life or the life of one's family, or the
	   possiblity of the loss of the honor and virtue of one's
	   wife or of other female members of the family, or the
	   danger of the loss of one's material belongings to such an
	   extent as to cause complete destitution and prevent a man
	   from being able to continue to support himself and his
	   family."

	   Tabatabayi cites two verses from the Quran in support of
	   taqiyya.  One is the verse III:28 whose commentary by the
	   sunni scholar Mawdudi in support of taqiyya was already
	   cited by another person in soc.culture.arabic.  In that
	   verse, the phrase tattaqu minhum, by the way, is of the
	   same root as taqiyya.  The second verse is the following:
	   "Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his disbelief--save
	   him who is forced thereto and whose heart is still content
	   with Faith--but whoso findeth ease in disbelief: On them
	   is wrath from Allah..." (Quran, XVI, 106). Tabatabayi
	   explains:

	   "As mentioned in both Sunni and Shi'ite sources this verse
	   was revealed concerning 'Ammar ibn Yasir.  After the
	   migration (hijrah) of the Prophet the infidels of Mecca
	   imprisoned some of the Muslims of that city and tortured
	   them, forcing them to leave Islam and to return to their
	   former religion of idolatry.  Included in this group who
	   were tortured were Ammar and his father and mother.
	   Ammar's parents refused to turn away from Islam and died
	   under torture.  But Ammar, in order to escape torture and
	   death, outwardly left Islam and accepted idol worship,
	   thereby escaping from danger.   Having become free, he
	   left Mecca secretly for Medina.   In Medina he went before
	   the Holy Prophet--upon whom be blessings and peace--and in
	   a state of penitence and distress concerning what he had
	   done asked the Prophet if by acting as he did he had
	   fallen outside the sacred precinct of religion.  The
	   Prophet said that his duty was what he had accomplished.
	   The above verse was then revealed."

	   "The two verses cited above were revealed concerning
	   particular cases but their meaning is such that they
	   embrace all situations in which the outward expression of
	   doctrinal belief and religious practice might bring about
	   a dangerous situation.  Besides these verses, there exist
	   many traditions from the members of the Household of the
	   Prophet ordering taqiyah when there is fear of danger."

	   "Some have criticized Shi'ism by saying that to employ the
	   practice of taqiyah in religion is opposed to the virtues
	   of courage and bravery. the least amount of thought about
	   this accusation will bring to light its invalidity, for
	   taqiyah must be practiced in a situation where man faces a
	   danger which he cannot resist and against which he cannot
	   fight.  Resistance to such a danger and failure to
	   practice taqiyah in such circumstances shows rashness and
	   foolhardiness, not courage and bravery.  The qualities of
	   courage and bravery can be applied only when there is at
	   least the possiblity of success in man's efforts.  But
	   before a definite or probable danger against which there
	   is no possiblity of victory--such as drinking water in
	   which there is probably poison or throwing oneself before
	   a cannon that is being fired or lying down on the tracks
	   before an onrushing train--any action of this kind is
	   nothing but a form of madness contrary to logic and common
	   sense.  Therefore, we can summarize by saying that
	   taqiyah must be practiced only when there is a definite
	   danger which cannot be avoided and against which there is
	   no hope of a successful struggle and victory."

	   The following is from Moojan Momen's _An Introduction to
	   Shi'i Islam:  History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism._
	   When discussing the sixth imam, Imam Ja'far Sadiq, he
	   writes: "The doctrine of taqiyya (religious dissimulation)
	   was also developed at this time.  It served to protect the
	   followers of as-Sadiq at a time when al-Mansur [the
	   caliph] was conducting a brutally oppressive campaigne
	   against 'Alids and their supporters."

	   The following is Imam Khomeini's view on taqiyya, quoted
	   from his _Islamic Government_.  He believes that
	   dissimulation [taqiyya] is permitted only when ones' life
	   is endangered.  But in cases where Islam is in danger, it
	   is not permitted even if it leads to one's death:

	   "The Imams, may peace be upon them, imposed on the
	   jurisprudents very important ordinances and committed them
	   to shouldering and preserving the trust.  It is not right
	   to resort to dissimulation on every issue, small and big.
	   DISSIMULATION WAS LEGISLATED TO PRESERVE ONE'S LIFE OR
	   OTHERS FROM DAMAGE ON SUBSIDIARY ISSUES OF THE LAWS.  But
	   if Islam in its entirety is in danger, then there is no
	   place for dissimulation and for silence.  What do you
	   think a jurisprudent should do if they force him to
	   legislate or innovate?  Do you think that he is permitted
	   to cling to the imam's words "dissimulation is my religion
	   and the religion of my fathers!"  This is no place or
	   situation for dissimulation.  If dissimulation forces on us
	   to jump on the sultan's badwagon then it should not be
	   resorted to EVEN IF SUCH REFRAINMENT LEADS TO THE DEATH OF
	   THE PERSON CONCERNED, unless his jumping on the bandwagon
	   constitutes a real victory for Islam and the Moslems, as
	   in the case of 'Ali ibn Yaqtin and Nasir-al-Din al-Tusi,
	   may God have mercy upon their souls.

	   "Naturally, our jurisprudents since the onset of Islam and
	   until this day have been, as you know, above stooping to
	   this level.	The jurisprudents of the sultans were always
	   from outside our group and always disagreed with us in
	   opinion.  Throughout the ages, our jurisprudents have been
	   exposed to the ugliest forms of cruelty, persecution,
	   annihilation and pursuit everywhere."

	   I think it is rather sad that today, as always, we Moslems
	   are so plagued with internal rivalries and sectarian
	   fanaticism that we do our outmost to magnify even some of
	   the very small and negligible differences (such as
	   taqiyya) that exist among us.

	   Best Regards
	   Behnam Sadeghi

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