“Taqiyah” is the Qur’anic doctrine that permits lying or deception. As one might expect, the circumstances in Islam when such is obligatory or permissible are anything but certain. That makes sense because we are not defining truth but untruth, and untruth, deception, is a very slippery slope. Shias, the minority sect of Islam have practiced taqiyah from the very beginning of days. Shias concealed their religion to protect it and/or their lives from elimination by Sunnis, the majority sect of Islam.1)
The classic case defining the practice of taqīyah is that of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, prophet Muhammad’s cousin, whom the Shīʿah hold to have been his sole, chosen successor. Instead of insisting immediately on his God-given right to lead the Muslim community, ʿAlī temporarily acquiesced to the rule of his numerous opponents in the interest of preserving himself and his cause for eventual restoration. ʿAlī swore loyalty to false leaders whom the Shīʿah have otherwise condemned as heretics.2)
The relevant Surahs are:
Surah 3:28, The believers should not make the disbelievers their allies rather than other believers—anyone who does such a thing will isolate himself completely from God—except when you need to protect yourselves from them. God warns you to beware of Him: the Final Return is to God. (Emphasis supplied)
Surah 16:106, Whoever expresses disbelief in God after once believing [will suffer greatly], unless that person is under compulsion while yet remaining at peace in belief in the heart.
Surah 9:3, On the Day of the Great Pilgrimage [there will be] a proclamation from God and His Messenger to all people: ‘God and His Messenger are released from [treaty] obligations to the idolaters.
Surah 2:225, He will not call you to account for oaths you have uttered unintentionally, but He will call you to account for what you mean in your hearts. God is most forgiving and forbearing.
Reliance of the Traveller, the classic manual of Islamic law, states (p. 746, section 8.2),
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 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. … it is religiously precautionary in all cases to employ words that give a misleading impression… 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.
Lying or telling the truth in Islam depends upon which allows one to “attain the goal,” to “achieve the objective.” As quoted in the 1st quote above, taqiyah began with the first leader of Shiism, Ali ibn Abi Talib (“Ali”), Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law who swore loyalty to the first three caliphs of Islam, even though, according to the beliefs of Shiism, these three were illegitimate. In Shiism, the caliph (“Imam”), must be related to Muhammad by blood and the first caliphs of Islam were not. They were elected by “consensus,” not by bloodline, and then by consensus. Since Ali was the only male related by bloodline, he was the only candidate that was legitimate — to Shias. But to others (the majority), Ali was young and inexperienced, so the other companions of Muhammad thought it best not to take a chance on Ali until he was of age. Ali proclaimed loyalty to the first three caliphs (just as Caliph Abu Bakr Baghdadi has required of all groups a part of the Islamic State) until he became the 4th caliph, and, according to Shias, he did so to save bloodline as the basis upon which legitimacy for leadership was the criterion for leadership. Hence, the model for Shias to practice taqiyah is none other than their first Imam, Ali. After Ali’s death and subsequent to the Battle of Karbala in 680 a.d., Shias retroactively made the late Ali their first Imam, thereby usurping and rejecting the first three leaders of Islam. Daniel 7:8 NASB. Read more. Hence, to Sunnis the Shias were thereafter referred to as “rafidah,” “rejectors” of the first three caliphs of Sunnis Islam.
What does it mean to Sunnis when Shias have practiced taqiyah since the very beginning of the divide in Islam? “Opponents of the Shī῾ah, then and now, fully understand this paradox; the practice of taqīyah allows the Shī῾ah to say anything and make any claim; no utterance of theirs is to be trusted.”3
If taqiyah has been practiced from the beginning of Islam what does it say about the god of Islam? Read more. Who is he really? Here is what the Scripture says about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and His only Son, Jesus:
Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, –Tit. 1:1-2 (NASB) (Emphasis supplied)
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. –Heb. 4:15 (NASB) (Emphasis supplied)
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. –Jas. 1:13 (NASB) (Emphasis supplied)
Beginnings are important– in Islam and in the very Beginning. Who told the first lie, “in the beginning”?
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. –Genesis 3:4-6 (NASB)
In the very beginning, the first lie was told by satan, disguised as a serpent (Revelation 12:9 (NASB)). In a later beginning, i.e., Islam, another liar will be revealed.
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. –John 8:44 (NASB) (Emphasis supplied)
The Qur’an denies Jesus to be the Son of God, and groups him as one of the prophets of the Bible. Here is how Scripture defines the “spirit” that denies Jesus as Son of God:
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. –1 Jn. 2:22 (NASB)
The Scripture states that anyone who denies Jesus as the Son of God has made God a liar. How can Allah be God if Scripture states that a central doctrine of Islam results in Allah being a liar?
The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. –1 John 5:10 (NASB) (Emphasis supplied)
Of course, we already knew Allah was a liar. Because the Qur’an is the literal speech of Allah, and Allah even said of himself:
Surah 3:54, The [disbelievers] schemed but God [Allah] also schemed; God [Allah] is the Best of Schemers.
From the beginning, the liar was the serpent, satan. Nothing has changed; perhaps, the disguise, but not the nature. Satan is a liar by nature and taqiyah in Islam is his latest mode of communication. Think of it as fingerprints left behind at a crime scene. Eventually, for the persistent, the identity of the criminal is revealed. What better disguise for satan to use that to identify himself as God? 2 Corinthians 11:4 (NASB).
Jesus come quickly. In the meantime, reveal Allah to be who he is.
Blessings.
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For more information on the Islamic Paradigm as the fulfillment of end-times Scripture, read here.
- Walker, Paul E. . “Taqīyah.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online, http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0784 (accessed 18-Jan-2016 [↩]
- Walker, Paul E. . “Taqīyah.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online, http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0784 (accessed 18-Jan-2016 [↩]
- Walker, Paul E. . “Taqīyah.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online, http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0784 (accessed 18-Jan-2016) [↩]
