Page 440 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger

Bigotry:
The Dark Danger

Another Misunderstood Concept:

Taqiyya (Dissimulation)

Taqiyya means "concealing, precaution, guarding." The
concept appears as follows in the Qur'an:

Those who reject God after having had

faith – except for someone forced to do it
whose heart remains at rest in its faith – but
as for those whose breasts become dilated

with disbelief, anger from God will come

down on them... (Qur'an, 16:106)

This verse is describing a very special state of affairs; it is per-
missible for someone to say that he denies God or conceal his faith
on a temporary basis even though he actually believes in order to
escape oppression. Dissimulation has no other meaning in the

Qur'an.
Yet some people with a badly distorted understanding of Islam

apply dissimulation in a very different way, and it is also understood
very differently by some opponents of Islam. Some people with a
superstitious understanding of Islam seek to use dissimulation as a
tactic meant to govern their entire lives, and are easily able to resort
to non-Islamic practices even when their lives are not in danger and

pretend, thanks to the relevant false hadiths involved, to treat people
they actually regard as enemies as friends instead.

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