First Time Use Of Taqiyyah :i

[Mithrandir]

Salams, Everyone.
 

Hey guys, how have you all been? So, it's been two weeks since I became Shia(I was a Naqshbandi Sunni before), and boy has it been spiritually rewarding. Today, however, I had to resort to something that I had hoped to avoid. Nevertheless, it has helped me understand the troubles faced by the Shia communities elsewhere. If you've had similar taqiyyah experiences, please share them.

I belong to the elite of Bangladesh, and therefore have rarely experienced real fear. I attend Jum'a at the local mosque--which as you might've guessed is Sunni--and prayed nafila of dhur while others prayed salat'al jum'a. Now, I already knew that praying according to the Jafari method was going to draw attention, but I didn't think much of it. I used to pray like the malikis before, and people never bugged me at all. Today, however was different.

 

After I finished Dhuhur-'Asr--before I even had time to breathe--an entire herd of madrassah students in their twenties surrounded me. This alone scared me, for indeed, attracting an alim's attention was akin to being called a heretic--or even worse in the Shia's case, a kafir. These young men unleashed a barrage of questions in my direction. My initial response ,of course, was to simply identify myself as a maliki.  That wasn't enough for them. They went on to ask me the intricacies of Maliki Fiqh. It was a bit difficult making up genuine lies on the spot, especially lying about why "Malikis" prostrate on a small piece of wood( i don't have a mohr). Throughout the exchange, however, I was genuinely afraid. All it would take for them to know I'm a rafidha, was to spot a chink in my armor of lies.
I knew about the financial background of these madrassah students(it's a sorrowful tale for the most part) and have witnessed for myself that they can resort to violent zealotry to feel good about themselves. Mentally, I kept asking Alllah(swt) to grant me Imam Ali's courage. Thankfully, they believed me and in turn gave me an entire lecture on the Hanafi fiqh. 

 

After I mentally heaved a huge sigh of relief, I decided to milk a little a information out of them. Plastering a dumb expression on my face, I asked them about this Masjid's attitude towards Sufism, Wahabism and the Deobandi school I'd heard so much about. They took a midway stance between sufism and wahabism, saying that there have been genuine saints(haqqani pirs) but most of them are charlatans. They even went on to say that Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab wasn't too bad of a person(subhanAllah!). They promptly informed me that this masjid( which is also an Islamic research centre) was Deobandi. Images of the Taliban flashed through my mind.

 

We went on to talk about Bissho Iztema--the second largest congregation of Muslims in the world(after Hajj)--which takes place twice every year in Bangladesh. I tactfully asked if the Shia attend it. One of them sniffed and said, "Naaaaaaaa, Shia ra toh Kafir!" which translates to "Noooooooo waaaaay, those Shias are kafirs!". I giggled mentally and soon realized that this masjid was a breeding ground for sunni extremism. They also believed that all Shias share the same belief as the Ghorabiyyah(that Jibreel made a mistake). As the conversation neared its end, one of them grew attached to me. He insisted on giving me an entire tour of the Madrassah(it's a pretty big place) and I complied. He asked me to have lunch with him, but I politely refused. This man, had he known my true aqeeda, would have unleashed a mob of zealots on me. Of that, I have no doubt.

Anyways, practicing taqiyyah for the first time actually allowed me to see the wisdom behind Imam Jafar as-Sadiq's(a.s) statement: Taqiyyah is 9/10 of the religion. I also acquired useful information about the masjid and its alims. When I told my mum about this incident, she nearly had a fit. Again she mocked me for leaving sunnism, and asked me to start praying like hanafis again. I've given up on my parents entirely--they want to follow the fatwas of Lady Fatima Zahra's(a.s.) killer, they're free to do so. I only wish to serve my Imams. For now, I'll bare the brunt of their insults and mockery. 

Please pray so that I have the strength to go through social hardships that are part-and-parcel of being Shia. Also, what should i do if I fear physical harassment on Jum'a day, ie if I pray like a Jafari? And am I obligated to obey my parents regarding something that is OK in sunni law but is prohibited by the scholars of the School of Ahlul Bayt?

If I have offended anyone, I apologize. That was not my intention. If you've ever been through something similar, please share them here.
la fata illa 'Ali wa la saif illa Dhulfiqar.

 

[Hameedeh]

Replies should be vague, not write too much to reveal your true identity.

[Khalilallah]

I am not in Taqiyah but I did play dumb with a Sunni, I think he was a Salafi, and asked him if he could tell me some things about what shias believe, and pretty much all the rubbish Salafi lies we hear and laugh about came flooding out his mouth.