ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Completion of Argument Is Taqiyyah hypocrisy? (First published in ‘Al-Jawwad’, July 1955) After ‘Bada’, the Rizwan editor has raised some objections over Taqiyyah (dissimulation), which are as follows: Taqiyyah Taqayyah is one of the best worship acts for the Shias. The foundation of their religion stands on Taqiyyah itself. Taqiyyah means to lie.

It is narrated on page 488 of Usul al-Kafi that Imam Muhammad Baqir (as) said, “Taqiyyah is my religion, the religion of my forefathers, (God forbid), one who does not have Taqiyyah has no faith.” It is narrated on page 483 of Usul al-Kafi that, “Taqiyyah is from the religion of God.” Shia gentlemen should tell us that if Taqiyyah had been actually religion or a part of religion why didn’t Imam Husain resort to Taqiyyah and pay allegiance to Yazid?

The Imam cut off the roots of Taqiyyah in the battle of Kerbala. He gave away his head but did not pay allegiance even for the sake of Taqiyyah. He made it clear from his behavior that ‘a religion based on Taqiyyah is not mine’.” The quintessence of this objection is concealed in this statement: ‘Taqiyyah means to tell lies’.

I have mentioned in the discussion of ‘Bada’ that the religion of these gentlemen is based on dictionary but the editor of Rizwan could not even remain firm on this simple formula of his ancestors because at least some knowledge is required for referring to a dictionary too. The actual root of word much be known for finding the meaning of an Arabic word. One should know the difference between adjective and a conjunction in Persian.

And in order to achieve this proficiency, precious time is wasted. Hence it is wiser to leave all this useless study for others and start a religious magazine and to publish in it whatever comes to the mind under the intoxication of lawful and clean drink of Nabidh[^1] and consequently assure for oneself a life of luxury. Maulana Syed Mahmud Ahmad Rizvi has done exactly this. In any case, a word can have two types of meanings, literal or terminological.

For the literal meaning the spoken language of the people whose mother tongue it is, would be the final authority. While for the terminological connotation, the word shall be accepted of those who have coined this term. What would you call a person who defines a word in such a way that neither the people of the language nor the ones who have coined the term can understand? You yourself can suggest.