Taqiyya in BuzzFeed: “Mohammad Fadel, an expert on Islamic law at the University of Toronto, described taqiyya (and its many alternative spellings) as ‘a doctrine of prudential dissimulation’ that arose from a time when Muslims were minorities in hostile societies. It instructed Muslims that hiding one’s faith could be permissible to escape persecution. It’s more closely associated with the Shiite branch of Islam, whose adherents are themselves often minorities within Muslim societies.”
Fadel leaves out the fact that the Muslims who were “minorities in hostile societies” were Shi’a Muslims in Sunni Muslim societies. He gives a hint of this when he says: “It’s more closely associated with the Shiite branch of Islam, whose adherents are themselves often minorities within Muslim societies.” Only an attentive reader will put together the fact that it was Muslim-on-Muslim persecution, Sunni persecution of Shi’ites, that led the Shi’ites to develop this concept.
As I explain in my book The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran, the concept of taqiyya was formulated during the time of the sixth Imam, Jafar al-Sadiq, in middle of the eighth century, when the Shi’ites were being persecuted by the Sunni caliph al-Mansur. Taqiyya allowed Shi’ites to pretend to be Sunnis in order to protect themselves from Sunnis who were killing Shi’ites. Until the conversion of Persia to Shi’ism, taqiyya was an important element of Shi’ite survival, for Sunnis, in the majority almost everywhere, would not infrequently take it upon themselves to cleanse the land of those whom they referred to as Rafidites, that is, rejecters — those who rejected the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman.
Fadel adds: “The Qur’an permitted Muslims in that situation, who were fleeing death or torture or other bad treatment, to dissemble about their true beliefs. And as long as they were faithful in their hearts, they would not be considered sinful.” But then BuzzFeed adds that Fadel “said taqiyya does not allow for broad deceptions and has no connection to Sharia.” How could something that the Qur’an permits have no connection to Sharia? Sharia is formulated from the Qur’an and Sunnah. Fadel is relying on the ignorance of his audience.
Fadel also glides by the fact that something that is permitted in the Qur’an is not just a Shi’ite thing, but something that applies to all Muslims. The great Islamic scholar Ignaz Goldziher points out that while it was formulated by Shi’ites, “it is accepted as legitimate by other Muslims as well, on the authority of Qur’an 3:28.” Qur’an 3:28 warns believers not to take unbelievers as “friends or helpers,” “unless that you but guard yourselves against them.” This is a foundation of the idea that believers may legitimately deceive unbelievers when under pressure. The word used for “guard” in the Arabic is tuqatan, the verbal noun from taqiyyatan — hence the increasingly familiar term taqiyya.
The Sunni commentator on the Qur’an Ibn Kathir says that the phrase “unless that you but guard yourselves against them” means that “believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers” may “show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ad-Darda’ said, ‘We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.’ Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, ‘The Tuqyah [taqiyya] is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.” Abu Ad-Darda’ was a companion of Muhammad.
Also, there is Muhammad’s statement, “war is deceit.” He also allowed for lying in battle and between a husband and wife. And when he gave permission to one of his followers, Muhammad bin Maslama, to murder one of his critics, Ka’b bin al-Ashraf, he also gave Muhammad bin Maslama permission to lie to Ka’b in order to lure him close enough to be killed. All this matters because Muhammad is the “excellent example of conduct” for Muslims (Qur’an 33:21).
BuzzFeed’s Ishmael N. Daro engages in some taqiyya himself when he says: “Reported hate crimes against Muslims rose by 20% from 2015 to 2016, according to the most recent FBI hate crimes report. That’s higher than for any other group.” He omits the fact that the same report shows that hate crimes against Jews are two times more common than hate crimes against Muslims — yet there is no national hand-wringing about anti-Semitism the way there is about “Islamophobia.” And why not? Also, the “anti-Muslim hate crimes” that turn out to have been faked by Muslims are so numerous as to be commonplace.
Finally, BuzzFeed brings us the imam Omar Suleiman, complaining that “bigoted groups” have supposedly hijacked Google with material that is false about Islam. In reality, it is Suleiman who has hijacked Google with misleading apologetic material about Islam that Google has allowed to take precedence over truthful information.
“‘Taqiyya’: How An Obscure Islamic Concept Became An Obsession Of Anti-Muslim Activists,” by Ishmael N. Daro, BuzzFeed, April 12, 2018:
…Levant was referencing a false interpretation of an obscure Islamic doctrine that has become a bedrock belief among anti-Muslim writers and activists, alt-right trolls, and even by current Trump cabinet member and former presidential candidate Ben Carson. Misinformation about taqiyya continues to surface in search results on Google and spreads widely on other platforms.
There are few Islamic teachings that are as widely misunderstood by non-Muslims as taqiyya; likewise, few other teachings are as frequently invoked to impugn the motives of Muslims, according to Islamic scholars and advocates.
Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he constantly encounters false claims about taqiyya.
“I mean, 99.99% of Muslims don’t even understand what taqiyya is, but every alt-right Twitter troll is an expert on Islamic theology now, which is completely absurd,” he said.
Mohammad Fadel, an expert on Islamic law at the University of Toronto, described taqiyya (and its many alternative spellings) as “a doctrine of prudential dissimulation” that arose from a time when Muslims were minorities in hostile societies. It instructed Muslims that hiding one’s faith could be permissible to escape persecution. It’s more closely associated with the Shiite branch of Islam, whose adherents are themselves often minorities within Muslim societies.
“The Qur’an permitted Muslims in that situation, who were fleeing death or torture or other bad treatment, to dissemble about their true beliefs. And as long as they were faithful in their hearts, they would not be considered sinful,” Fadel told BuzzFeed News.
But this idea has mushroomed, Fadel said, into a false claim that Muslims are permitted, or even commanded, to lie to non-Muslims as part of a larger project to take over Western countries and impose Sharia, or Islamic law. He said taqiyya does not allow for broad deceptions and has no connection to Sharia.
“Unfortunately, it’s really become dogma among the right in North America, really the entire anti-Muslim coalition you see in the West,” Fadel said….
Siddiqi said such misinformation from prominent anti-Muslim activists and politicians is part of a larger trend in American life.
“We can’t deny that there is a massive rise in anti-Islam sentiment and anti-Muslim hate crimes,” he said, adding that while false reports do occur, they are exceedingly rare.
Reported hate crimes against Muslims rose by 20% from 2015 to 2016, according to the most recent FBI hate crimes report. That’s higher than for any other group. A recent BuzzFeed News analysis found that Republican lawmakers in 49 states have publicly attacked Islam, with some sharing “hate-filled social media posts urging violence against Muslims.”
One of the biggest hurdles in countering the widespread impression of Muslims as inherently untrustworthy is technological. There is simply too much negative and false information about Muslims and Islam on the internet, and online platforms are giving those sources greater prominence than others, according to Imam Omar Suleiman, founder of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research in Texas.
“Google definitely has a role to play to not allow for these well-funded, bigoted groups to dominate the conversation on Islam and hijack the search engine,” Suleiman said.
Until recently, most of the top Google search results for Islamic terms like “Sharia” and “jihad” came from anti-Muslim sources. While these websites may have neutral-sounding names like religionofpeace.com or WikiIslam, Suleiman said they present a skewed view of the faith.
Steve says
As usual the truth is close to the surface that a slight brush of a hand sweeps away the obfuscation.
jihad3tracker says
HELLO DBM — Here is “superlatively brilliant” (Robert Spencer’s words) Dr. David Wood, with a brief video tossing in his nickel on the topic:
“What Is Taqiyya?”
Do a web search and it should easily be found. And as always, David cites parts of Islam’s core texts to establish his assertions. With the bonus of his puckish wit.
Emilie Green says
There’s a bit of good news with the appearance of this pro-Islam article from buzzfeed. They see the need to tamp down the ever-widening base of knowledge about Muslim tactics and practices. The truth continues to wreck havoc on Islam.
jihad3tracker says
Yes, excellent point.
Walter Sieruk says
Much of the sly insidious yet subtle stealth jihad is based on the Islamic dogma called Taqiyya .This is the Islamic doctrine the deception is a good thing to do as long as it’s done for the advancement of Islam. In strong contrast to this practice of Taqiyya is the teachings found in the Bible . For the Bible informs its readers in Proverbs 11:18. “The wicked worketh a deceitful work…” Likewise, the very next chapter[12] of the same book of Proverbs it reads in verse 5 “The counsels of the wicked are deceit .” Also further on verse 20 it instructs “Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil…” [K.J.V.]
Infidel says
Slowly and steadily the truth and karma catching up with this violent intolerant ideology…But I still feel it is a trifle too late for the Eu and India.
Infidel says
And Yes, I will not trust a single one of them… Just life experience with these fellows and the cunning deceitful games they play against non-Muslims..
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
This is the reposting of a comment by a very knowledgeable JW commenter; I do not take credit for it. My apologies to the commenter but I did not save their nom-de-plum with the comment. If you are the commenter then please step forward. (I have not verified this information but it seems complete):
Types_of_Taquiya
Islam authorizes Muslims to use SIX DIFFERENT WAYS of deception against the KUFAAR:
1) taqiyya, 2) kitman, 3) tawriya, 4) taysir, 5) darura, 6) muruna
•Taqiyya (Shia) or Muda’rat (Sunni): tactical deceit for the purposes of spreading Islam.
•Kitman: deceit by omission.
•Tawriya: deceit by ambiguity.
•Taysir: deceit through facilitation (not having to observe all the tenets of Sharia).
•Darura: deceit through necessity (to engage in something “Haram” or forbidden).
•Muruna: the temporary suspension of Sharia to make Muslim migrants appear “moderate.”
J D S says
When lying can be tolerated in any religion. yes and even in any society then that religion and or society Is doomed to oblivion.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
The Quranic verses cited by mr spencer never support this concocted concept of “taqiyya “to mean deception. The verses use phrase “yahtumu imanahu(he hides his belief but his heart remains firm), where a believer could hide his belief where he could be killed If he discloses his belief.
Kitman or whole-truth? says
Have you even read any of the muslim brotherhood material that was uncovered by the FBI in the holy land foundation case? When their MB puppets like CAIR get up in front of a camera and lie to the public about the koran and hadith, I think they know exactly what they are doing. While taqiyya was originally muslim-on-muslim hate related, I think it is fair use of the term in the current situation, or do you have a better islamic word for lying to kaffirs in order to suppress critical discussion of islam?
boakai ngombu says
itace, any individual is unable to known with certainty whether or not the heart is “firm” to what one holds dear. However, the Unique God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) works to accomplish this, and; not the allah god of islam (unknowable; the best of all deceivers). In the Holy Spirit does great work.
But, trusting the allah god of islam to provide such steadfastness is suspect, since it is bent on deception, scheming, manipulating TRUTH to further its bloody vengeance activity through all those espousing such trust. it is the tyrant of fear, not trust; it provides no righteous peace in the heart.
boakai ngombu says
excuse … “In this activity the Holy Spirit does great work, using the TRUTHFUL knowledge about Jesus.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
Boakai, Holy spirit is exactly the satan the cursed one. There is no spirit known as holy spirit representing the breath or voice of God. It is a pagan idea from mithraism inspired by the satan.
boakai ngombu says
according to?
Paddy says
Pull the other leg ,Mohammed!
mach37 says
I really love (NOT!) the way Muslims use words like ‘dissimulation’ to soften the blow of what many Arabic words really mean in English. Very few Americans, never mind Englishmen, realize that the synonyms are more truthful: disguise; charade; fakery; sham; deceptive; obscure.
mach37 says
To clarify, I meant those as synonyms for ‘dissimulation.’
Michael Copeland says
This “obscure Islamic doctrine” (per Mohammad Fadel) is not too obscure to feature in the (Sunni) Muslim Brotherhood’s “Explanatory Memorandum”:
“Using deception to mask intended goals”.
dumbledoresarmy says
Muslims ‘behind the lines’ in the Dar al Harb very *clearly* view themselves as “minorities in hostile societies”.
And, therefore… entitled to tell lies, in order to protect Islam.
This bloke should have been asked, very sweetly and gently, whether he regarded the USA as a ‘hostile society’.
And if he said yes, well then.. Q. E. D., he himself must be feeling entitled to deploy the arts of deception to protect himself – and the rest of the Ummah colony inside the USA – from the scrutiny of those that his founding text instructs him to view as Lawful Prey…
Think of the number of whining hijabettes who have been discovered to have told lies about being attacked by eeevil infidels.
Terra Nova says
Mr. Fadel, I am waiting for your next idiotic excuse, out of the times when muslims were threatened .
It is no excuse, because then muslims would know how we are feeling and would act accordingly to it.
I would not trust you or a muslim with a ten foot pole.
Edouardo Dundas says
Pardon my (over)simplification…
But, when is a lie not a lie?
VRWC member77 says
“Reported hate crimes against Muslims rose by 20% from 2015 to 2016, according to the most recent FBI hate crimes report. That’s higher than for any other group.”
Yeah, let’s take a look at a few of these “hate crimes” you TAQIYYA lying immoral kuffar hating pig:
The following are a list of falsely reported “hate” crimes:
21 December 2016: Muslim student at U of Michigan lied in claiming man threatened to light her on fire unless she removed hijab
11 December 2016: A woman who told cops she was called a terrorist and slashed on her cheek in lower Manhattan on Thursday later admitted she made up the story.
26 December 2015: Houston Savoy Mosque, Muslim pleads guilty to mosque arson that Hamas-linked CAIR called “hate incident” Gary Nathaniel Moore, 38 told investigators at the scene that he had attended the mosque for five years, coming five times per day to pray seven days per week, according to court records.12/10/16
27 February 2015: New Jersey Muslim guilty of murder that was initially blamed on “Islamophobia” in August 2011
17 February 2015: Texas Islamic Center fire reported as a hate crime wasn’t one. An arrest was announced at 6 p.m. Monday night at the Houston Fire Department Arson Headquarters in connection with the 13 February 2012 Quba Islamic Institute fire. Darryl Ferguson, age 55 of Houston, has been charged with arson.
14 February 2015: University of Texas-Arlington: Muslim student admits she made up story about being threatened at gunpoint on 13 February 2015
28 December 2014: California: Muslim arrested in mosque vandalism. Asif Mohammad Khan, 28, who is Muslim, was arrested the day of the burglaries and vandalism at the Fresno Digestive Center, 7405 N. Fresno St., and the Islamic Cultural Center near Nees and Maple avenues on 27 December 2014.
2 July 2014: Dearborn: Muslim confesses to burning Qur’ans at Islamic center. Ali Hassan Al-Assadi, 50, of Detroit, also admitted to burning three Qur’ans at the Karbalaa Center on June 10, according to Lt. Doug Topolski of the Dearborn Police Department.
17 April 2014: California: Muslim guilty of killing wife whose murder was blamed on “Islamophobia” in March 2012
Granddaddy says
Islam has embraced deception from the beginning. Just look at how the Quran claims that all the Jewish prophets, including Jesus, were Muslim. It goes all the way back to Adam. So they can smile in your face and say, “Moses was a great prophet. He’s in the Quran” and “Jesus was a great prophet. He’s in the Quran.” And they know they’re being deceptive, because they know that their version of Moses and Jesus and all the rest is not your version. The fact is, Islam is the only religion in the world that embraces deceit and hate and murder in the name of God. I think of it this way: if Jesus said it, would they be arguing about context?
As for Fadel, if he really is the expert they say he is, then he knows he’s lying.