The point is not to make Islam and its rules a secret which...

The point is not to make Islam and its rules a secret which cannot be divulged to those who do not believe. No, the books of Shi'a and their writings in the fields of jurisprudence (fiqh), law (ahkam) and theological studies, as also their beliefs, are in great abundance in the world, more than any other sect that is sure of its way.

Our belief in taqiyyah has been abused by those who want to degenerate the Shi'a, and they consider it to be one of their weak points, for its seems that they are not satisfied with the necks that fell to the sword in the attempt to finish them off in that age when it was enough to say that someone was a shi'a to assure his death at the hands of the enemies of the Household of the Prophet, from the Umayyids and the' Abbasids up to the Ottomans.

If our attacks wish to say that there is not evidence for taqiyyah in Islam, we can refute this. Firstly we fellow our Imams and are guided by their guidance, and they have ordered us to practise tayqiyyah when it is necessary, and it is to them an integral part of Islam, as we saw from the saying of Imam Sadiq: Whosoever has no taqiyyah has no din.Secondly, it has been commanded in the Qur'an: Not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of his faith.

(16;106) This verse was revealed about 'Ammar ibn Yasir, who took shelter by proclaiming unbelief in order to protect himself from the enemies of Islam. Also Allah has said: And a believing man of Pharaoh's people who hid his faith ...

(40;28) PART FOUR:TEACHINGS FOR THE SHI'A FROM THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE PROPHET Introduction The Imams of the Household knew that power would not return to them in their own lifetimes, and that the Shi'a would remain under the rule of others, and that they would obliged to use force and violence to struggle against this rule.

At the same time, it was natural for them to conceal their religion and the way that they followed, as long as taqiyyah did not cause bloodshed and did not bring them to others or to Islam; thus they endeavored to stay in this sea of troubles, treachery, hatred and vengeance against the Household.

It was necessary, because of this, for the Imams to devote their time to teaching their followers the fundamentals of the Islamic shari'ah in a special way, and to guide them in correct social behaviour so that they might become examples of perfect, just Muslims.