{"id":298,"date":"2018-05-18T21:06:27","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T21:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/muslimyouthusa\/?p=298"},"modified":"2018-05-18T21:06:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T21:06:27","slug":"the-reality-of-taqiyyah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/muslimyouthusa\/2018\/05\/the-reality-of-taqiyyah.html","title":{"rendered":"The Reality of Taqiyyah"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Nayyar Ahmed Khokhar\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of the most persistent critics of Islam and Muslims in general are constantly on the move to find allegations that can be leveled against the teachings of this peaceful religion. One such allegation is the use of a concept known as \u201cTaqiyya\u201d, which in crude definition is one hiding in plain sight and masquerading as peaceful citizen while harboring malicious intent of harming the very fabric of their country of residence. Personally, I stumbled upon the concept of Taqiyya while having an argument on social media with one such critic. Being raised as an Ahmadi Muslim I had never even heard of such practice to be a part of Islamic teachings..<\/p>\n

Many of my American friends are misled and misinformed by so called Muslim scholars and extremists who believe Taqiyya to be a real teaching practiced by Muslims, especially those who live in the West. Rest assured, Taqiyya has no roots or teachings in Islam as you will discover in this article. Islam is a religion that promotes the ideology of justice that can only be achieved by speaking the truth.<\/p>\n

For a peaceful society to exist, it is essential for truth to prevail giving rise to a civil culture. Free exchange of ideas based on such truth becomes a hallmark of a civilized society. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) encouraged Muslims to speak the truth and to maintain honesty across all facets of life, whether personal, for business or on a state level. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) practised truth and honesty so much so that even before the advent of Islam, per Arab traditions, he was given the titles of \u201cAl-Amin\u201d and \u201cAl-Sadiq\u201d by the leaders of Mecca, which literally means the one who is Truthful and Trustworthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaqiyya\u201d literally means prudence, fear or caution and to further elaborate this practice I will now quote an excerpt from the writing of Qasim Rashid, who is a human rights activist and advocate of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States, \u201c\u2026the Quran requires a Muslim to obey and be loyal to those in his charge. Prophet Muhammad added, \u201cYou should listen to and obey your ruler, even if you [despise him].\u201d While national loyalty does not forbid dissent, that dissent must be expressed legally and peacefully \u2014 never violently. Critics like Robert Spencer claim Islam allows Muslims to engage in\u00a0Taqiyya<\/em>, treachery against non-Muslims. However, the Quran unequivocally forbids lying or hiding the truth and Prophet Muhammad instructed, \u201cIt is obligatory for you to tell the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Holy Quran emphatically rejects lying or practicing Taqiyya<\/em> with the intent of causing harm to another human being. Islam explicitly upholds the sanctity of life and emphasizes to believers that to save one life is as if to save all mankind (Quran 5:33). Hence, such practice is rejected by the Quran and Hadith, and does not represent the overall sentiments of a billion Muslims who are law-abiding and peaceful citizens of their respective countries, and bear no such intent to cause harm to their country of residence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Nayyar Ahmed Khokhar\u00a0 Some of the most persistent critics of Islam and Muslims in general are constantly on the move to find allegations that can be leveled against the teachings of this peaceful religion. One such allegation is the use of a concept known as \u201cTaqiyya\u201d, which in crude definition is one hiding in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":603,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Reality of Taqiyyah - Muslim Youth USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/muslimyouthusa\/2018\/05\/the-reality-of-taqiyyah.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Reality of Taqiyyah - Muslim Youth USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Nayyar Ahmed Khokhar\u00a0 Some of the most persistent critics of Islam and Muslims in general are constantly on the move to find allegations that can be leveled against the teachings of this peaceful religion. One such allegation is the use of a concept known as \u201cTaqiyya\u201d, which in crude definition is one hiding in…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/muslimyouthusa\/2018\/05\/the-reality-of-taqiyyah.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslim Youth USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-18T21:06:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Muslims Writers Guild of America\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Reality of Taqiyyah - Muslim Youth USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/muslimyouthusa\/2018\/05\/the-reality-of-taqiyyah.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Reality of Taqiyyah - Muslim Youth USA","og_description":"by Nayyar Ahmed Khokhar\u00a0 Some of the most persistent critics of Islam and Muslims in general are constantly on the move to find allegations that can be leveled against the teachings of this peaceful religion. 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