Taqiyya

For the cap worn for religious or cultural purposes, see Taqiyah (cap). For the building, see takya. For sufi lodges, see tariqa.

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In Islam, Taqiyya (Arabic: تقیة, romanized: taqiyyah, lit. 'prudence')[1][2] is a dissimulation and secrecy of religious belief and practice.[1][3][4][5]

Generally, taqiyya is regarded as the action of maintaining secrecy or mystifying one's beliefs. Hiding one's beliefs in non-Muslim nations has been practiced since the early days of Islam and early Muslims used it to avoid torture or getting killed by non-Muslims and tyrants with authority, it used to be acknowledged by Muslims of virtually all persuasions.[6][7]

The use of taqiyya has varied in recent history, especially between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Sunni Muslims gained political supremacy over time and therefore only occasionally found the need to practice taqiyya. On the other hand, Shia Muslims, as well as Sufi Muslims developed taqiyya as a method of self-preservation and protection in hostile environments.[8]

A related term is kitmān (lit. "action of covering, dissimulation"), which has a more specific meaning of dissimulation by silence or omission.[9][10] This practice is emphasized in Shi'ism whereby adherents are permitted to conceal their beliefs when under threat of persecution or compulsion.[3][11]

Taqiyya was initially practiced under duress by some of Muhammad's companions.[12] Later, it became important for Sufis, but even more so for Shias, who often experienced persecution as a religious minority.[11][13] In Shia theology, taqiyya is permissible in situations where life or property are at risk and whereby no danger to religion would occur.[11] Taqiyya has also been politically legitimised in Twelver Shi'ism, to maintain unity among Muslims and fraternity among Shia clerics.[14][15]

  1. ^ a b R. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ... denotes dispensing with the ordinances of religion in cases of constraint of preaching.".
  2. ^ Stewart, Devin (8 January 2014). "Dissimulation in Sunni Islam and Morisco Taqiyya". Al-Qanṭara. 34 (2): 439–490. doi:10.3989/alqantara.2013.016.
  3. ^ a b John L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "Taqiyah". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195125580. Precautionary denial of religious belief in the face of potential persecution. Stressed by Shia Muslims, who have been subject to periodic persecution by the Sunni majority.
  4. ^ Paul E. Walker (2009). "Taqīyah". The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195305135. Taqīyah is the precautionary dissimulation of religious belief and practice in the face of persecution.
  5. ^ Stewart, Devin. "Islam in Spain after the Reconquista". Teaching Materials. The Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  6. ^ ibn ʻUmar Taftāzānī, Masʻūd. A Commentary on the Creed of Islam: Saʻd Al-Dīn Al-Taftāzānī on the Creed of Najm Al-Dīn Al-Nasafī. No. 43. Columbia University Press, 1950.
  7. ^ Virani, Shafique (1 January 2020). "Surviving Persecution: Ismailism and Taqiyyah after the Mongol Invasions". Sufis and Their Opponents in the Persianate World: 209.
  8. ^ Virani, Shafique (1 January 2020). "Surviving Persecution: Ismailism and Taqiyya after the Mongol Invasions". Sufis and Their Opponents in the Persianate World: 210.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference EI2-syn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Virani47 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b c Momen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-300-03531-5. Religious dissimulation (Taqiyya) ... while maintaining mental reservation is considered lawful in Shi'ism in situations where there is overwhelming danger of loss of life or property and where no danger to religioun would occur thereby. ... Living as a minority among a frequently-hostile Sunni majority, the condition of most Shi'is until the rise of the Safavid dynasty, made such a doctrine important to Shi'is
  12. ^ "Takiyya". Encyclopedia of Islam. Edition II. 10: 134–5. 2000.
  13. ^ R. Strothmann-[Moktar Djebli]. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Taḳiyya", Vol. 10, p. 135. Quote: "Taḳiyya is above all of special significance for the Shī'a ... The peculiar fate of the Shī'a, that of a suppressed minority with occasional open but not always unheroic rebellions, gave them even more than the Khāridjites occasions and examples for extreme taḳiyya and its very opposite"
  14. ^ Maréchal, Brigitte; Zemni, Sami, eds. (29 May 2013). The Dynamics of Sunni-Shia Relationships: Doctrine, Transnationalism, Intellectuals and the Media. Hurst Publishers. p. 76. ISBN 9781849042178.
  15. ^ Gerhard Böwering; Patricia Crone; Mahan Mirza (2013). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (illustrated ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780691134840.