It would be better for you to listen to them and obey them...

It would be better for you to listen to them and obey them even if they be cruel slaves of Abyssinia.” In Seerate Nabawiya of Sayyid Ahmad Dahlan[^6], it is mentioned that when the Quraish infidels of Mecca asked His Eminence, Ali (a.s.), “Where is Muhammad?” He replied: “I don’t know.” Although he knew that the Holy Prophet (S) was hiding in the cave. What was it, if not dissimulation? Let Ahlul Sunnat say it was lying, but the poor Shia can never attribute falsehood to His Eminence, Ali (a.s.).

Similar situation is described in Tarikh Khamis[^7] when the infidels asked Abu Bakr about the Prophet, Abu Bakr said: “He is a guide, leading the way.” No doubt that in this situation, Abu Bakr had also adopted dissimulation. In Seeratul Halabiyah[^8], Halabi says that wherever the infidels are dominant and Muslims are weak they should not curse the idols of infidels and this order continues till now.

According to Seerate Muhammadiya[^9] and Sahih Bukhari[^10] the Holy Prophet (S) stayed in Mecca for fifteen years and preached for only four or five years secretly and in fear, because the infidels rejected the Holy Quran, the Prophet and Allah the Almighty.

That is why, Allah revealed to pray softly, so that polytheists may not hear, but it was not necessary to hide from companions, ‘but you must not pray so loudly that infidels snatch the Quran from you.’ We come to know from the report of Isafur Raghebeen[^11] that when the Holy Prophet (S) prayed, he prayed in a secluded corner. One day, a disbeliever found Saad bin Abi Waqqas praying and he condemned and cursed him. Saad and the polytheist had a fight in which Saad beat up that disbeliever.

Obviously, if they had been cautious as ordered by the Prophet, this would not have happened. According to Tirmidhi[^12], people would first come to Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) for intercession on Judgment Day but Ibrahim (a.s.) would say: “I can’t do anything for you, because I have lied three times in my life.” The fact was that he had to resort to this because of dissimulation. That is why the Holy Prophet (S) stated that such lies were lawful for Prophet Ibrahim (a.s.) by Shariat.

In Sahih Bukhari[^13], it is quoted from Ibn Abbas that the Holy Prophet (S) told Miqdad that to hide belief from infidels was the best action of faith. Such as he was doing in Mecca. It shows that when you feel danger from infidels you should conceal your faith. Undoubtedly, it is the proper occasion for dissimulation.