Refusing Taqqiyah

[ADELAZAR]

As-salam alaikum dear brothers and sisters...

This is my first post on this site, so please forgive me of any errors and or ignorance I show of lingo used here or what have you. What is written below here, is not of any real philosophical nature, but more, words from my heart; a heart right now that is very heavy. I realize, given the status of the world right now, from environment to, what I sense as, the general apathy towards everything by humanity, their rudeness, unkindness, and other failings, what I am feeling right now does not qualify as any real problem, it is not truly important in the grand scheme, nor do I wish, through ego, to make it so. I write this because I feel alone, and I desperately need to find some solace. Always, I turn to Allah and the Divine in these times, and then to loved ones, but I need foster stronger ties to the Shia community, my community, and that is why I joined this site today.

I lost a friend. And then several. They didn't die, al hamdulillah. They left my side, because I was discovered to be a Shia Muslim woman and not a follower of Sunni thought. Based on the nation where I have ties to, automatically, yet ignorantly, people assume I must be Sunni. I am not. I never was. And I never will be. I posted a video, the adhan from Karbala, Iraq, complete with the verse for Imam Ali, and the words that Prophet Muhammad, SAW, spoke for Ali that start, "...I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is the Gate...". As you know it is Ramadan, blessed Ramadan, and I posted this video to my Facebook page to truly post something that I found beauty in, something I loved, was moved by, etc. All month I have been posting inspirational and truly wondrous pictures of masjids, people, spiritual music, verses from the Qur'an, adhans from here and there, and even more so, the desperate need for true and strong Shia-Sunni unity; the return of the Ummah. All month long I had been getting positive feedback, from all sorts of people, mostly Sunni though, because most of the Muslims in my area are Sunni, but regardless, perhaps I was hoping that we had reached a point in time where people were more willing to embrace peace, more aware of the need for love in the world and the dismissal of the sinful plague of division. But this night, this past Saturday night, I posted this adhan just before Fajr and fell back asleep, no I am not trying to cheat through the days of Ramadan, I truly didn't feel well, so I rested again. I awoke at 11am-ish and to over 20 notifications on my phone. Many of the Shia friends I have had liked and commented positively on the video. But there was one guy, who ironically, is Iraqi by descent and went on a full blown tirade about the "evil and unauthentic nature" of this adhan and how wayward Shia thought is in general. He even went as far as to say, alarmingly stupidly though, "I would rather be part of the majority than the minority. Would you rather get a 95% (Sunni) on a test, or a 5% (Shia) on a test???" -- Spend no time refuting the percentages, I know they are wrong. You know they are wrong. He is a fool, a buffoon, an idiot. So what bothers me about such a silly, stupid man?

Well...his mother is dying. Dying. And I have been one of the only people holding his hand, comforting him, encouraging him, seriously making dua after dua for him and his family and for her sake, Allah yer7ama, and I am absolutely stunned that in this moment, well for just this post, my posting of this adhan, could have brought out such disgust and resentment in him to FORGET all that I was doing for him, all the conversations, the tender moments (non-sexual please, this was a platonic friendship), the laughs, the tears...and just completely erupt, in a clearly brainwashed manner, bashing and railing against me, my friends, the Shia of today, he even went as far as to insult Imam Hussain and Imam Ali...I was just stunned. And hurt. I had missed much of the conversation due to my sleeping, so when I woke to these things and finally posted something very short and simple, compared to the long responses of Shia friends and his ramblings, I wrote..."I love it (sarcasm). Sunni Muslims fight against the Yazids of today, but then they rail against and hate on the Shia people...thus embracing Yazid. (His name), for the record, majority does not guarantee right or just." I then realized that he had un-friended me.

Again, this is not about the details of the matter, and let me remind you that I know this is not an earth-shattering event, but it did get me thinking, and it very truly is about principle. A friend, a fellow Palestinian (but male) wrote, I am Palestinian and 100% Shia and then he wrote about his dismay over what this Iraqi had written, especially during Ramadan...he then said, "I guess this is where taqqiyah comes from".

No. I refuse. For the sake of Imam Hussain, and Ahlul Bayt, I refuse to hid who I am. I know that from where I sit, this is easy. I live in no real danger, unlike my brothers and sisters in Bahrain for example, but no. I will not hide. I will not deny. I will not be scared or live a double life. I refuse taqqiyah. I refuse to let our people walk like ghosts, sliding through the Muslim, mostly Arab Sunni, world like jinn, never really showing our true selves, hiding our tears during Ashura and renouncing Muhammad's (SAW) family. I refuse. I have suffered many hardships in my life, when I was a child, and from where I sit now, I refuse to cower again. I wish I could, and I want to urge, scream to the heavens, all of my fellow Shia people to never accept living in shadow! We do not deserve this! And moreover, the very name and memory of Imam Hussain does not deserve this! I wrote on the bottom of the post, for all to see, "I will not hide. Live honorably and honestly or die in vain. Never will I hide my true Muslim path!" ...I suspect more people have pulled away from me. And this is why my heart is heavy.

In the face of complete isolation, I will not break, and I dearly hope you do not either. I will not hide. I will not accept taqqiyah. I am who I am. And our path is the glorious path that it is. My brothers and sisters, it is time for us to throw off the cloak of secrecy. These people are meant to be our own (the Sunni) but they refuse our truth. This is injustice. And it must be challenged!

These thoughts and feelings are my own. Much respect and due love to all the Shia in the world suffering at the hands of corrupt governments, oppressive lovers, friends and or families. May Allah shine His light upon you and may we all be free!!!!

[Murtada]

(wasalam)

Had this been 1,000 years ago, you would probably have been plastered to a wall by certain Sunnis. Sister, taqiyya is not a bad thing; it is a command from Allaah (swt) in times when life is in danger. Reading the news, we see there are attacks against the Shi'a of the world; and now against the entirety of Muslims in the US with multiple mosques/Islamic schools/Sikh temples being attacked by armed, non-Muslim, terrorists. We are ordered by Allaah (swt) to protect our lives and to remain silent until the return of the Mahdi (as).

Taqiyya has even been recommended for situations like yours, where there is a lot of contact with non-Shi'i, who would shun you if they found out you were Shi'a.

I think you need to look at the large scheme of things, and not from an emotional perspective of the Shi'a suffering around the world. This will, inevitable, continue until the return.

Fee 'amaanillaah and may Allaah (swt) guide us all.

[tahiraansari]

Salams,

Imam Sadiq a.s. said:

'By Allah , Allah cannot be worshiped with anything more beloved to Him than concealment (Taqiyyah)

Someone asked:

'What is concealment?"

The Imam said:

'Protection'.

(The Scale ofWisdom ~ Rayshahri, pg 1176, #6691 and al Kafi vol 2, pg 219, #11)

Imam Sadiq said:

'Be careful of your religion and protect it thorugh concealment. Because there is no faith for one who does not have a place for concealment.

You are among people as bees among birds ~ if the birds knew what the bees harbor withing them they would not leave any of them without eating them'.

(The Scale ofWisdom ~ Rayshahri, pg 1176, #6690 and al Kafi, vol 2, pg 28, #5)

There is another branch of Taqiyya that requires us to protect the secrets of the Ahlu Bayt a.s. and if we do not, it is as if we have killed the Ahlu Bayt a.s. not with swords but by revealignl their secrets and private speeches. We are only to share their hadith with those whose hearts can bear it.

This has made me think for some time to not even bring hadith to this site as it is so open to the enemies of Ahlu Bayt a.s. and we are warned against doing this!

Listen, listen, listen to Ahlu Bayt a.s. and as they said ~ To not make up Islam in our own imaginations. Dont make decisions without reading not one or two hadith on a topic but 15-20.

_{Imam Sadiq said:}

_{'Whoever does not blieve n the practice of concealing faith (taqiya) is not a folowr or Siite of Imam Ali'.}

_{(Mishkat al Anwar, pg 115, #182)}

[Seif]

What our sister is trying to say is that yes Taqiyya should be applied when we are in danger, but not when we are living in the "free parts of the world".

When we get attacked on our beliefs we should defend ourselves and that is exactly why I agree with Adelazar.

The followers of Ahlulbayt (as) have always been oppressed, but in the 21th century in most parts of the world people can speak freely, so why hide our beliefs?

Because we don't want to insult others? What about Imam Hussein's (as) stance against injustice, corruption and oppression? Was that so that we now can shut up when people insult who we love?

[Hot hot]

My sympathy with you but I don't think so taqqiya is a bad thing or something which should not be practice but I think this should be use when your life is in danger, I knw you love your friend very much but if you want something you have to sacrifice something the funda is simple

Your friend or your religion ? May be this is the test of you from the almighty ? Who knows what's gonna happen in future anyways this site is always there with you if you feel lonely

Iltemas dua

[Hameedeh]

(bismillah)

(salam)

We have people at ShiaChat who are Shia but remain in taqqiyah because their own family would make their lives miserable. Alhamdulillah your situation is good. Welcome to ShiaChat. :)

[Quranist]

if it was a wahabi site they would have banned your avatar....use your freedom wisely :)

[ADELAZAR]

Bismillah ar rahman ar raheem!

Wow! Mshallah! Thank you so much for responding everyone. I am a very shy person and was so worried people would be mean to me, admonish me and be cruel. I am so grateful for all of you! And I love your responses!

I completely agree and please, I, in no way, shape or form am saying that taqqiyah is wrong...I am just saying that it is unfair, and that I do not want to have to live this way because I stand for justice, I stand for freedom, for the right path, that of Imam Hussain and Ahlul Bayt and it is a grand shame that we must live this way.

Al hamdulillah, he is out of my life now, I received all of your great messages and had great conversations with my Mom and Baba and I just want to thank you for all the love.

Allah ma'akum inshAllah!

[Sapphire]

Welcome to SC sister. I can relate to your situation because my family is Sunni and I am a Shia and sometimes things do get difficult. So I avoid all arguments which would lead to problems and I pray in my room alone. You can practice Taqqiyya but you do not have to hide the fact that you are Shia. This is what I do. Initially it was hard for my family to understand this but now they accept me as I am.

[Follower]

A lot of people forget that there are only a few situations where taqiyyah is actually allowed. If anyone is interested, there is a short book about it here.

Alhamdulillah, you wish to practice your faith openly and this is a beautiful thing. It is also a responsibility because people will judge the school of the ahlulbayt (as) through your personality and actions. This means you must take an extra effort to have good akhlaq, strong imaan and sufficient knowledge of religion so that you can answer questions that are put to you and inspire others towards the truth.

Since your life, honor and property are not in danger, alhamdulillah, there is no reason for taqiyyah. Of course the path will have many challenges and people might be hostile towards you, but if you follow the commands and teachings of the Qur'an and the ma'soomeen (as) people will definitely become attracted towards the madhhab. There is no better blessing than to inspire people towards the right path.

[ADELAZAR]

I appreciate your response!

This was again not intended to be a philosophical discussion, which is what I said clearly in the beginning...it is just a shame on a social level! And I know I am not in any real danger...but abandonment is never fun, on any level. And as much as I strongly disagree with Sunni thought and more the history of it all, I do not shame people, I do not strike up discussions about the validity of their faith or how haram they are and blah, blah, blah. It's sick. And what is worse, for me, is the sociopathic-esque inability of them to even recognize that they are doing something wrong!

I am strong in my Lord and al hamdulillah, Islam has only brought Light to my life! I will not let foolishness strip it away!

[AliHussainFaraji]

Wa alaikam as salam

In the face of complete isolation, I will not break, and I dearly hope you do not either. I will not hide. I will not accept taqqiyah. I am who I am. And our path is the glorious path that it is. My brothers and sisters, it is time for us to throw off the cloak of secrecy. These people are meant to be our own (the Sunni) but they refuse our truth. This is injustice. And it must be challenged!

I feel the exact same way. I have been to exclusively Sunni/Wahhabi parts of the Middle East and haven't practiced taqiyyah. I believe taqiyyah is only justified if one's life is in danger. Being steadfast as a (real) Muslim in the face of oppression, isolation, etc. is jihad. I have cut off people who insult real Islam who were somewhat close to me. To me, if someone curses real Islam they are an enemy of Islam and Allah, and I refuse to befriend an enemy of Islam.

May Allah bless you in this life and the next.

[Gypsy]

Thanks for sharing.

I think your confession about you being a Shia was a positive thing. You don't need to be with friends who are not really your friends. If your religion offends them, then they are not the type of people you want to be with. You are better off without the back-stabbing people you have now as your friends.

The Iraqi man does sound like a fool, buffoon and an idiot (as per your words). But didn't you know the type of person he is before your confession?

The only part I disagree in your post is when you say I will not hide, deny and refuse taqiyya. It was completely unnecessary and uncalled for you to pass off judgment about the challenges, hardship and difficulties other Shias face in their lives especially those who have no choice but to hide their belief.

[ADELAZAR]

Thanks for sharing.

I think your confession about you being a Shia was a positive thing. You don't need to be with friends who are not really your friends. If your religion offends them, then they are not the type of people you want to be with. You are better off without the back-stabbing people you have now as your friends.

The Iraqi man does sound like a fool, buffoon and an idiot (as per your words). But didn't you know the type of person he is before your confession?

The only part I disagree in your post is when you say I will not hide, deny and refuse taqiyya. It was completely unnecessary and uncalled for you to pass off judgment about the challenges, hardship and difficulties other Shias face in their lives especially those who have no choice but to hide their belief.

I said my circumstance is not important and that I know life is hard for them. And no I did not know. There was no red flag. There was only a problem when I came out as my true self.

[Hasan0404]

Salam. I am happy you are shia, and a defiant one.

Dont regret on losing someone like you mentioned, coz the situation unveiled his true nature to you.

Allah bless us all.

[ADELAZAR]

Salam. I am happy you are shia, and a defiant one.

Dont regret on losing someone like you mentioned, coz the situation unveiled his true nature to you.

Allah bless us all.

Shukran, khayli mamnoun, thank you!!!!!!! And yes Allah be with us all! Allah ma'ana!!!