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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqiyyah When Taqiyyah is Not Allowed Question 12 If Taqiyyah is allowed by Islam, then why did not Imam Husain (as) resort to it? Why did he sacrifice his all on the altar of truth instead of taking refuge in taqiyyah **?** Taqiyyah is based on the principle of opting for the lesser evil. Telling a lie is not as big a sin as destroying a life. Therefore, lie is preferable to putting oneself in danger of life.

By the same reasoning, if there is likelihood that one's taqiyyah may destroy the belief of other believers, and then taqiyyah is forbidden to such a person. Take for example the case of Imam Husain (as). The character of Yazid is well known and we need not go into its details here. Such a person demands allegiance from Imam Husain (as), the grandson of the Holy Prophet of Islam and symbol of Islamic values and religious uprightness.

Yazid had written to his governor of Madina to demand allegiance from Imam; and, if Imam refused, then the governor was to send his head to Damascus. So Imam Husain (as) was well aware of the consequences of his rejection of that demand. Still, he knew that if he did swear allegiance to Yazid, Muslims would think that Yazid was the rightful successor of the Holy Prophet (saw), and thus all the debaucheries of Yazid would become a part of Islam.

In short, Islam would have been completely disfigured if Imam Husain (as) had accepted Yazid as the legal Khalifah of the Holy Prophet. Thus we come to the conclusion that if someone is of such a status that if he, resorted to taqiyyah , others would be misled into un-Islamic tenets and beliefs, then the basic principle demands that he should sacrifice his life but save others from going astray. One or more lives are not as important as one or more people's Faith and spiritual deliverance.

In the end, it should be reiterated that taqiyyah is not an specialty of the Shi'as. Every sect of Islam accepts the principle. Quotations from Sahih Bukhari and Sunni Commentaries of the Qur’an have been given in this article. Imam Shafi'i allowed taqiyyah even from the Muslims as well as from the infidels. And all great scholars of Sunni sect, without any exception, have written that taqiyyah is valid up to the Day of Judgment. Those interested.

in detailed references should see ` Fulk- un-Najut ' of Maulana Ali Muhammad and Maulana Amirud-Deen (Lahore, Pakistan) where scores of references have been given from page 89 to page 116.