CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN
TAQIYYAH (DISSIMULATION)
According to the Sunnis, the original ruling pertaining to lying [regarding one's religious beliefs] is that it is a prohibited, sinful act and a sign of hypocrisy, except in exceptional circumstances where, for example, it is allowable under duress; when a Muslim's life is gravely jeopardized by the disbelievers. For example, when a Muslim is forced by the disbelievers to deny Islam, he is allowed to say that he do not believe in order to save his live. Allah Almighty says, {"Whoever disbelieves in [i.e. denies] Allah after his belief… except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith…"}1 Even in this case, it is better to persevere silently and refuse to renounce faith even in the face of death.
Allah, in His mercy, out of kindness to the believers, allowed the weak to deny outwardly what they believed in their hearts. This is not meant to be used deceitfully or dishonestly,
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1 Qur'ân (16: 106).
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whether against disbelievers or Muslims. Dissimulation is allowed as a dispensation and is not strictness.2

Besides, it is subject to two conditions:
1). It should only be used in dire necessity.
2). It should only be used against disbelievers, not against Muslims.
However, it is desirable not to resort to dissimulation at all. Believers beware of declaring disbelief, and always try openly to be Muslims, even if this costs them their lives.

The Shia Doctrine of Taqiyyah
The Shias regard dissimulation as permissible, whether out of necessity or convenience.
Further, they make no distinction whatsoever between Muslims and non-Muslims when doing this act. They went further making dissimulation a central feature of their doctrine.
For them, this is not a dispensation, rather strictness. They do not regard it as something to be used only under compulsion, and do not believe that it should only be resorted to in life threatening situations. For the Shias, dissimulation is a means of protecting their system of belief.3 According to them, any Shia who denies this has denied Shiism and Islam.
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2 Dispensation is when what is normally forbidden is made permissible because of necessity or need. While strictness is what Allah initially legislates, of general rulings not concerned with one's circumstances rather than another's, or one individual rather than another. (trans).
3 Khomeini, Al-Hukûmah Al-Islâmiyyah, p. 61.
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Ibn Bâbawayh Al-Qummî said, "Dissimulation is an obligation that cannot be lifted before the return of the Imam.4 Whoever abandons it before the Imam's return has abandoned the religion of Allah, Exalted be He, and the religion of the Shias, and has disobeyed Allah, His Messenger, and the Imams."5
According to Shia scholars, Imam Ja`far As-Sâdiq said, "Nine tenths of faith is dissimulation. Whoever denies it has no faith."6 We even find their Imams deliberately giving incorrect rulings, based on dissimulation. An-Nûbakhtî, for instance, says that `Umar Ibn Rabâh once asked Imam Abû Ja`far [Muhammad Al-Bâqir] a question.
Later, he asked him the same question, but he answered differently. When `Umar Ibn Rabâh asked the Imam why he had contradicted himself, he replied, "The first response was based on dissimulation."7
The Shias regard dissimulation as an act of worship, an integral part of their doctrine, and a means of drawing near to Allah. This is something that no other religion can claim; not the Christians, nor the Jews, and not even the pagan worshipers of idols, all of whom agree that lying is a wicked, sinful act.
Islam requires its followers to be honest, upright, and steadfast. It forbids cowardliness, treachery, and deceit. Besides, dissimulation has a negative psychological effect since it encourages duplicity, for it depends upon a contradiction between what a person says and what he really does, and separates appearance from reality. None of this is compat-
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4 Imam Al-Mahdî, the Twelfth Imam of the Ja`farî Shias, also known as the “Invisible Imam”. See next chapter for a detailed discussion of the role of the Twelfth Imam in Shia doctrine [trans].
5 Ibn Bâbawayh Al-Qummî, Al-I`tiqâdât Al-Imâmîyyah, pp. 114-115.
6 Al-Kulaynî, Al-Usûl Al-Kâfî, 2:217, 223.
7 An-Nubakhtî, Firaq As-Shî`ah, p. 52, Al-Kulaynî, Al-Kâfî, 1:65 on the authority of Imam Ja`far.
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ible with Muslim behavior, which is characterized by honesty, straightforwardness, and firmness. Muslims must not be deceitful or hypocritical and should fear no one while acting in the service of Allah.
The lives of the Imams, who were persecuted and abused for raising the Word of Truth (i.e. Islam) and for standing up for what was right, clearly show that they were the furthest of all people from lying and double-dealing. Al-Husayn and his family faced death for the sake of truth, and Imam Mûsâ Ibn Ja`far went to prison many times for insisting on truth and opposing the Caliph Hârûn Ar-Rashîd.8
While Shia scholars deny that they use dissimulation freely and insist that it is only to be used in times of persecution, their books contradict them. There is a story in the Al-Kâfî about a man who asked Imam Ja`far As-Sâdiq about the meaning of a dream. It happened that Abû Hanîfah was sitting with the Imam Ja`far and Imam Ja`far asked Abû Hanîfah to answer the man's question [interpreting his vision]. When Abû Hanîfah had finished, Imam Ja`far said, "By Allah, Abû Hanifah, that is the answer!"
After Abû Hanîfah left, the man said to Imam Ja`far, "I did not like the answer [interpretation] that lying Sunni gave me."
"He was wrong anyway," Imam Ja`far said.
"But you swore he had the answer."
"Yes. I said he had the answer, the wrong one." Imam Ja`far explained.9
This is obviously a casual use of dissimulation. The above-mentioned tale indicates nothing that could have forced Imam Ja`far to resort to dissimulation. We are not told that Abû Hanîfah held him at sword point, or demanded that anyone accept his
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8  Abbasid caliph, ruled 170/786 to 193/809. Imam Mûsâ Al-Kâzim died in 799 [trans].
9 Al-Kulaynî, Al-Kâfî, Ar-Rawdah, 8:292.
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interpretation of the dream. Once one of the Shia Imams swore oaths that the Shias no longer resort to dissimulation. It was said to him that perhaps his oath had been taken as an act of dissimulation.
This points out that the doctrine of dissimulation has raised doubts about everything the Shias say. Naturally, people could not be blamed for doubting them. The blame must lie with those who made dissimulation an article of faith. They are the ones who have destroyed the Shias' credibility while imagining that by concealing the truth would undermine the confidence of others. Let them speak truthfully and give up dissimulation if they want to be trusted.
A simple illustration of dissimulation is the Shias' use of a small tablet made from the clay of Karbala10 upon which they place their foreheads when prostrating in prayer.
They carry these tablets with them, and always use them when they perform prayer in their own mosques. But when they enter a Sunni mosque, they keep these things hidden and follow the Sunni imam (leader in prayer), and then repeat their prayers when they arrive home.11
Zakâtul-Khums: The Charity of the “Fifth”
THIS is a topic of crucial importance in the survival of Shiism, for the Shias have to give one fifth of their profits to their Imams. This adds up to a large sum of money and provides the Shia Imams with considerable wealth. This calls to mind a verse from the Qur’ân
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10 This is called a qurs [trans].
11 Sheikh Mûsâ Al-Mûsawî mentions this. He was authorized as a mufti and mujtahid (two ranks of the Shia priesthood) by Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hasan Âl Kâshif Al-Ghitâ’ at An-Najaf.
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criticizing priests and monks from the Children of Israel for leading people astray in their pursuit of worldly gain. Allah says, {"O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah…"}12
The Shias support that practice with the verse that reads, {"And know that anything you obtain of war booty – then indeed, for Allah is one fifth of it and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives…"}13 They hold that the share of Allah, His Messenger, and near relatives is due to the Imam who stands in the place of the Messenger of Allah.14 They do not accept that this verse is about war booty. On the other hand, there is no evidence from the biography of the Prophet, or that of `Alî, to support the idea that either of them ever took any portion of people's money for themselves. Nor will we find anything to support this in the chronicles from the time of the Prophet and the Rightly-guided Caliphs. While these chronicles even record the names of tax collectors, they do not mention that any one ordered the collection of any tax called khums from the Muslims.
Even the Shia sources do not mention this.
Muhammad Ibnul-Hasan At-Tûsî, who founded Al-Hawzah Ad-Dîniyyah (the Religious Institute) at An-Najaf in the beginning of the fifth century A.H., and was one of the greatest Shia scholars, has mentioned nothing about this in any of his well-known books on Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), although he has discussed everything else imaginable. This has lead several Shia authorities, including Ahmad Al-Ardabîlî – a faqîh who Shia called Al-Muqaddas i.e. the holy –, to regard the taking of khums as prohibited.
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12 Qur’ân 9: 34
13 Qur’ân 8: 41
14 At-Tubrasî, Majma` Al-Bayân fî Tafsîr Al-Bayân, 4:543.
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But there is another reason behind deeming this practice prohibited; that is the income it generates is enormous, which, in turn, has spoiled the Imams who exploit the generosity and ignorance of ordinary people in an obsessive pursuit of material pleasure.
When we add the income from khums the great sums of money that people donate to the shrines of the Imams and the money that rolls into the pockets of the Shia Sheikhs, their wealth must be truly astonishing.
All these things contribute to the temptations and pleasures of the Shia cult and prevent them from taking a correct position toward their own teachings, the things they allow, and the mistaken doctrines that surround them on all sides. All of this has placed the Shia scholars among the wealthiest of all people. They may lead a life of unfettered indulgence of their material desires. Their sexual appetites are indulged by the women who long for the honor of offering themselves as temporary wives to the Imams and descendants of the Prophet. In this way, ordinary people are thus robbed of their property in the name of the love for the Household of the Prophet. That is why some of Shia scholars ascribe themselves to the Prophet's Household exactly as some of the Sufis do, since this claim is an assured way of earning gains. They should rather be far above caring for robbing people's property and above being a source of burden on them.