Taqiyya Alert!

Robert Spencer's at it again. This time he's saying that Hamas operatives used "taqiyya" to get out of jail. There seem to be two issues here: Spencer's interpretation of taqiyya and Hamas' interpretation of "lying." But then there is also the classical Islamic understanding of "lying."

What happened exactly? Some Hamas operatives were jailed by the Palestinian Authority and they told their captors that they disagreed with Hamas' takeover Gaza. They were then let out of jail. They lied basically to get out of prison. So, some people were questioning if Hamas was having a split in its ranks because these former prisoners said they didn't agree with Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip. So a senior Hamas official went on TV and said that they were simply lying to get out of jail.

“A Muslim is permitted to say things that oppose his beliefs in order to prevent damages or to be saved from death.”

That's what was said by Hamas. What did Spencer say? He said this: "When I point that out, I get called an 'Islamophobe.' I'm told this is a Shi'ite idea that Sunnis shun -- although those who claim this never seem to be aware of the Qur'anic sanction it is given (3:28 and 16:106)."

Qur'anic sanction? Let's look at the verses he mentions.

3: 28. Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah, except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah.

Well, what's the tafsir of this verse? Let's look at the Tafsir al-Jalalayn of Imams al-Mahalli and as-Suyuti:

"Let not the believers take the disbelievers as patrons, rather than, that is, instead of, the believers — for whoever does that, that is, [whoever] takes them as patrons, does not belong to, the religion of, God in anyway — unless you protect yourselves against them, as a safeguard (tuqātan, ‘as a safeguard’, is the verbal noun from taqiyyatan), that is to say, [unless] you fear something, in which case you may show patronage to them through words, but not in your hearts: this was before the hegemony of Islam and [the dispensation] applies to any individual residing in a land with no say in it. God warns you, He instills fear in you, of His Self, [warning] that He may be wrathful with you if you take them as patrons; and to God is the journey’s end, the return, and He will requite you."

Yea, Sunnis sure do practice taqiyya. This doesn't provide dispensation to deceive non-Muslims by portraying themselves as "moderates" so that they can secretly take over a non-Muslim country. Maybe Spencer sees that somewhere in this tafsir, but I don't think most people will. This tafsir specifically says that if a Muslim fears that he or she will be persecuted if they do not speak well of their non-Muslim ruler then they should lie. Why? To preserve their life, duh.

Spencer likes to tell ignorant non-Muslims that CAIR, ISNA, et al., are actually practicing taqiyya to advance their interests in the U.S. and then will one day take over the United States and implement Shariah Law!!! Ahhhhh!

Well, if that were the case then we wouldn't be practicing taqiyya as defined in classical Qur'anic commentary (see above). We would simply be lying manipulators who would be violating the law of the All Mighty Himself. I don't think we're looking to go to hell to make America Shariah compliant. Not a good trade off in my opinion.

Let's now look at the second verse he mentions.

16: 106. Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.

Let's look at al-Wahidi's Asbab an-Nuzul for commentary on this verse and then tafsir from the Jalalayn:

"(Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his belief…) [16:106]. Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “This verse was revealed about ‘Ammar ibn Yasir. The idolaters had taken him away along with his father Yasir, his mother Sumayyah, Suhayb [al-Rumi], Bilal [ibn Rabah], Khabbab [ibn al-Aratt] and Salim [the client of Hudhayfah] and tortured them. As for Sumayyah, she was tied up between two camels and stabbed with a spear in her female organ. She was told: ‘You embraced Islam for the men’, and was then killed. Her husband Yasir was also killed. They were the first two persons who were killed in Islam. As for ‘Ammar, he was coerced to let them hear what they wanted to hear. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was told that ‘Ammar has renounced faith, but he said: ‘Never, ‘Ammar is filled with faith from his head to his toes; faith is admixed with his flesh and blood!’ ‘Ammar then went to see the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, crying. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, wiped his tears with his own hand and said: ‘if they return to you, let hem hear again what you told them’. Then, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Mujahid said: “This verse was revealed about some Meccan who accepted faith. The Muslims of Medina wrote to them urging them to migrate and told them that they did not consider them part of them unless they migrated. And so they left Mecca intending to migrate to Medina. The Quraysh caught up with them on the way and coerced them to renounce their faith. It is about them that this verse was revealed."

Life threating circumstances, not Islamist political tactic.

The Tafsir Jalalayn:

"Whoever disbelieves in God after [having affirmed] his faith — except for him who is compelled, to pronounce [a statement of] unbelief and so pronounces it, while his heart is at rest in faith (man, ‘whoever’, is [either] a subject or a conditional, and so the predicate [of this subject], or the response [to this conditional], is [an implied] lahum wa‘īdun shadīd, ‘there is for them a severe threat [of chastisement]’; this is indicated by [the statement that follows]) — but he who opens up his breast to unbelief, that is, [he who] opens it up and expands it [with unbelief], meaning that his soul is content with it, upon such shall be wrath from God, and there is a great chastisement for them."

Where's the idea that Muslims can parade as "moderates" to deceive non-Muslims in non-Muslim countries so the Muslims can secretly and deceptively take over? It doesn't exist for Sunnis. What the Hamas operatives did could be considered acceptable under Sunni fiqh - I'm not a faqhi, but it is possible that you could free yourself from torture (if it's occurring in Guantanamo, then it's probably occurring in a PA jail) through lying as was the case with these Hamas guys.

I don't like Hamas much, but c'mon Robert, please try harder than this. I'm using your own resources, your crutches and they don't back up your claims. It's pathetic. And Spencer also wants every person he can reach out to to know that "war is deceit." Meaning, Muslims can lie at times of war, but what is he doing here? Robert is simply backing up the claims of radical Muslims by saying that there is a state of war between Muslims and non-Muslims and so Muslims can now lie like crazy.

Uhm, no. In a previous post I posted Shaykh al-Akiki's fatwah where he said a state of war only exists when a Muslim state declares war against another state or is attacked by another state. It doesn't exist if bin Laden declares a bogus fatwah saying to kill all non-Muslims. The classical Islamic position is quite clear on this. There is no vigilantism in Islam.

But Robert insists on taqiyya being practiced by Sunnis: "the circumstances in which lying is permitted according to Islamic law -- including 'in times of war.' Which means now."

What war? What Muslim country is fighting someone? There are only three instances where this could apply and for Muslims living in the West it doesn't apply anyway because they're not involved. Iraq, Afghanistan and the Occupied Territories are the only places in the Muslim world where there is actual fighting and in fact no state authority has said that there is a war occurring - unless your al-Qaeda or the Taliban - and last I checked they don't run any state. Sunni leaders in Iraq have not declared war against America last time I checked. Hamid Karzai, U.S. puppet, has not declared war.

But you know, forget everything I just wrote because I could be lying anyway. In fact, I'm not sure if I believe myself now. But seriously, Spencer demonstrates his xenophobic demeanor quite clearly with this type of crap scholarship. What are you Robert, some kind of islamophobe?