Taqiyya

  Sloss Peak, Alabama - photo by David Sullivan

 by Scott Sturman

“He eats pork.  He parties.  He does normal things,” remarked  Brittany Smith, friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, as reported in the April 23, 2013 edition of the Wall Street Journal.  This comment should come as no surprise.  The practice of taqiyya is a historical Muslim tactic of hiding one’s true beliefs and blending into society in order to escape harm.  Nowadays taqiyya has morphed from a vehicle of personal protection to a weapon brandished against the unsuspecting.


Twenty years ago I first came across the term taqiyya in Edward Rice’s biography of Captain Sir Richard Burton, not the actor, but the 19th century explorer, linguist and intellectual.  Burton, who spoke twenty nine languages, translated the Arabian Nights into English, and searched for the source of the Nile, became the second non Muslim European to join the haji to Mecca, when in 1853 disguised as a pilgrim participated in an act forbidden to non believers.  As an Infidel, he utilized taqiyya to mask his persona in Arabia, where his hosts would have taken a dim view of his presence.

The act of taqiyya permits Muslims to shield their true beliefs in order to protect themselves from harm.  Traditionally, taqiyya was used by the Shia sect of Islam, who was persecuted by the far more numerous Sunnis.  Although the term taqiyya is not found in Sunni law, the practice of concealing ones beliefs in dangerous circumstances is common to both sects of Islam, for the Qur'an holds believers blameless who keep their true beliefs secret under perilous circumstances.  In Islamic jurisprudence the term justifies deceit when believers interact with non believers.


Often Muslim scholars deny taqiyya exists by making the argument that those unfamiliar with the nuances of the Arabic culture and language often misinterpret sectarian text with its multiple levels of meaning.  Indeed, to the non Muslim it is difficult to understand reams of scripture which seems ambiguously written and fraught with contradictory proscriptions.  So intricate are these works that Qur'anic scholars can spend a lifetime pondering their subtleties.  I am reminded of an observation found in the New Yorker Magazine, when a reputed Islamic scholar in the holy city of Qom was asked how long he had been studying Islam. He replied, “Only thirty five years.  My entire life has been immersed in the holy Qur’an, and I have not yet begun to master it.”

Complexity aside, the purpose of religion encourages the fellowship of man and establishes personal standards to achieve this goal.  The KKK and Aryan Brotherhood can surround themselves with crosses and purport to be among the Christian fold, but the claim is so absurd that there is no support for this contention within the Christian community.  Salafist Islamic clerics likewise preach treachery, hate, and violence and violate even the most basic principles of what constitutes of legitimate religion.  They are no more Muslim than the KKK or Aryan Brotherhood are Christian, yet for the most part, the press and moderate Muslims consider jihadists above public criticism.  The blood on their hands is somehow different than other mass murderers. 

The Boston tragedy reminds us the media has had enough fun excoriating western religion and culture, and it's time to pursue Islamic fundamentalists with equal venom.  But since the Columbia School of Journalism awards the Pulitzer Prize, I wouldn't hold my breath.  

 Avalanche Tibet - photo by JoAnn Sturman