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1. Tafseer Fakhr Al-Razi, vol. 1 p. 436, 437, printed in Egypt, 1308 Hijra.
2. (Shura: 194)
3. (Baqara:97)
4. Nahj Al-Sa-adah, vol. 1 p. 188, printed in Beirut; Usool Al-Kaafi, vol. 8, p. 67, 2nd print, 1389 Hijra, Tehran.
5. Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 11 p. 42, 2nd print, Beirut, 1403 Hijra.
6. For further information of numerous narrations from the Shia point of view, stating the honorable prophets seal of prophecy, refer toMafaheem al-Quran by Jaffar Subhani.
7. The mentioned narrations has countless references of which we shall point to a few:
a. Saheeh al-Bukhari, vol. 6 p. 3 printed in Egypt, Bab Ghazawat Tabuk.
b. Sahih Muslim, vol. 7, p. 120, printed in Egypt, Bab Fazael Ali (p)
c. Sunan Ibn Majah, vol 1, p. 55, 1st print, Bab fazael Ashab Al-Nabi (p).
d. Mustadrak Al-Hakim, vol. 3, p. 109, printed in Beirut.
e. Masnad Ahmad vol. 1 p. 170, 177, 179, 182, 184, 185 and vol. 3 p. 32.
f. Sahih Al-Tirmidhi, vol. 5 p. 21 printed in Beirut, bab Manaqib Ali Ibn Abi Talib (p)
g. Al-Manaqib (Ibn Maqazili) p. 27, printed in Beirut, 1403 Hijrat.
h. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 37, p. 254, 2nd print, Beirut, 1403 Hijra.
i. Ma-ani al-Akhbar (Sadooq) p. 74, printed in Beirut, 1399 Hijra.
j. Kanz Al-Fawaed, vol. 2 p. 168, printed in Beirut, 1405 Hijrat.
What is the criterion for Taqiyya (precautionary concealment)?
ANSWER:
Taqiyya is the concealment of the inner belief of ones faith and convictions before the opposers for the purpose of preventing the worldly, spiritual and religious losses, and it is one of the legal duties of every Muslim, having its roots from the Holy Quran.
Taqiyya from the Quranic point of view.
The holy Quran had many verses in this regard that we shall mention a few of them:
a. Let not the believers take the disbelievers for their friends rather than believers; and whosoever does this, he shall have nothing of the guardianship of Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully,.1.
This verse clearly testifies to the reality that friendship with the non-believers is not permissible except with the intention of taqiyya, protecting the self and preventing dangers. Only in such a circumstance, can he apparently show friendship and agreement with them,
b. He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, he is not compelled, while his heart is at rest on account of his faith, but he who opens his breast to disbelief- on such is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.2
The interpreters mentioned the following regarding the cause of revelation of this verse,
One day, Ammar bin Yasir and his parents were persecuted by the infidels, and the non-believers forced them to give up Islam and admit of infidelity and polytheism. Ammars associates all witnessed to the oneness of Allah and the message of the Honorable Prophet of Islam, thus due to this, a group of them attained martyrdom and the rest died under torture by the enemies of Islam, however, Ammar, inspite of his inner wish, did Taqiyya and apparently replied them with the tongue of the infidel and got free.
Later on, when he approached the messenger of Allah in a state of penitence, he was very anxious of what he had uttered and thus the prophet consoled him. After which, the mentioned verse was revealed in this regard.3
Considering this verse, and the opinion of the commentator of the verse, it becomes evident that concealing ones inner belief for the purpose of protecting ones soul and also preventing any spiritual or material loss, was also experienced right at the time of the holy Prophet and is therefore accepted by Islam.
Taqiyya From The Shia Point Of View:
Right from the period of theUmmayid and Abbasid governments along the lines of history, they had combats against the Shia and were prepared to kill them under the slightest provocation4, the Shia resumed to Taqiyyaaccording to the command of the Holy Quran. They concealed their true beliefs thus saving both their own lives as well as the lives of their brothers in those difficult circumstances.
It is clear that in that atmosphere of oppression and suffocation, there was no other way imaginable other than that of Taqiyya for the freedom from the deluge of oppression that was threatening the Shia of destruction. Thus in the case where the oppressing kings and their stooges did not happen to have any enmity with the Shia and didnt make their merciless killing as the vignette for their governments, there was perfect reason for the Taqiyya of Shias.
It is necessary to mention that Taqiyya is not exclusive to the Shias only, rather other Muslims also resorted to Taqiyya before the blood-shedding enmity that opposed all the Muslim sects (as the Kharijites and the opposing governments who committed any forbidden act) when could not confront them, thus concealing their inner belief in order to protect their lives.
Therefore, if all the members of the Islamic society had understanding with each other in their jurisprudential sects, and lived with unity and harmony with each other, there remained no reason to adoptTaqiyya among the Muslims.
Result:
of the sum of what has transpired, the result is as follows:
taqiyya has a quranic root, the prophets companions practice, and the honorable prophets approval is a clear evidence of its occurrence and permissibility right from the early period of islam. the motive of the shias taqiyya was preventing the merciless massacre against the shia and the storms of oppression which threatened this sect of destruction. taqiyya is not exclusive to the shia, but also exists among other muslims. taqiyyais not restricted to precautionary concealment before the infidels and concealing the islamic beliefs, however, the criterion has a broader meaning which is the protecting the muslims life. it is necessary a matter, to conceal the inner beliefs before any blood-shedding enemy whom they dont have the ability to resist and before whom the conditions for combat are not prepared. in the case of mutual understanding among the members of the islamic society, there remain no grounds for taqiyya among the muslims.
a. al-imran: 28.
b. nahl : 106.
c. refer to al-manthoor, (wirtten by jalal al-deen al-soyuti) vol. 4, p. 131, printed in beirut.
d. for further information on the merciless massacres against the shia by the umayyad and abbasids kings refer to: maqatil al-talebiyyen (written by abul-faraj al-ameeni) and al-shia wal-hakimoon (written by muhammed jawad muqniyah)
in the islamic republic constitution of the islamic state, why do you the shias consider the jaffari sect as the countrys official sect?
answer:
there is no doubt to the fact that all the islamic sects, from the islamic republics point of view, are greatly respected, however, the islamic jurisprudential sects (such as the jafari, maliki, shafe-e, hanbali, hanafi and ) dont share the same thoughts and have many differences amongst them when going on further to expound the peoples individual and social duties.
on the other hand, for the purpose of compiling the civil laws and the organization of regulations in the society, there is an extreme need for the harmony and concordness of the mentioned regulations.
thus one can only consider a single islamic sect for the organizing of the social regulations in a special area due to the fact that in the case of variety of sources of legislation, one can never compile a set of harmonious and concord rules and regulations.
therefore, it is suitable to determine only one of the islamic jurisprudential sect that has an accurate criterion, as the source of the social rules and regulations, in order to prevent any chaos and discord in the countrys laws; thus making the way smooth for the compilation of a chain of harmonious and concord regulations in the civil, social and economic grounds.
the criterion for choosing the jaffari sect:
yet another question is raised here and that is what is the criterion for choosing the jaffari sect among all the islamic jurisprudential sects as the source for regulating the countrys rules and regulations?
the answer to this question is quite clear and that is because of the fact that approximately all the people in iran are muslims who declare the jaffari sect as their belief and the expounder of their social and individual and moral duties. thus, it becomes clear that choosing the jaffari sect in the islamic constitution is but natural and in perfect accordance with all the logical as well as legal criterions.
respect and position of the other islamic sects:
in the constitution of the islamic republic, the jaffari sect is declared as the official sect, whereas the other sects that include shafe-e, hanbali, hanafi, maliki and zaidi are also respected, and the followers of these sects are free to follow their principles according to their respective sects in the following fields:
performing religious ceremonies practicing their own religious teachings and education. performing their personal works. special religious regulations such as in: marriage, divorce, inheritance, wills etc.
furthermore, in the territories where each of the mentioned sects are a majority, the local regulations are all in the limits of the councils authorities and is in accordance to that particular sect, at the same time, the rights of the followers of the other sects are also respected.
now in order to provide further clarification on this matter, let us go on and present the twelfth rule of the first section from this constitution of the islamic republic to this regard:
the official religion is obviously islam and the jaffari ithna ashri sect. this rule is unchangeable. other islamic sects including the hanafi, shafe-ee, maliki, hanbali and zaidi, who maintain perfect respect and the followers of these sects are free to apply their own regulations in performing religious ceremonies, religious teaching and education, other privileged conditions (marriage, divorce, inheritance, wills) and the related litigations have officially, in courts and in any territory where the followers of these sects are in majority. the local regulations in the limits of the council authorities are according to the sect, with the protection of the rights of the followers from other sects.
in the light of this rule, the respect and position of all the islamic sects becomes clear from the viewpoint of the islamic republic constitution.
do the shia consider the prayer of witr midnight prayer as being obligatory?
answer:
the witr is one of the supererogatory night-prayers, and its performance is recommendary for all the muslims and the followers of the messenger of allah. however, the shia jurisprudents, in the light of the book and the tradition, have mentioned certain specific matters as the characteristics of the honorable prophet, one of which being the watr prayer that was made obligatory for him
allama hilli in the book, tathkirat al-fuqaha mentions about seventy things to being unique and exclusive to the prophet (p), it starts by mentioning,
as for the duties obligatory only toward him and not the others in his nation are:
a. brushing of the teeth. b. al-witr prayer.
sacrificing of an animal on the day of sacrifice.
it was narrated from the holy prophet that:
three things are obligatory upon me and not upon you: tooth-brushing, watr-prayer and sacrificing.1
thus, the witr prayer according to the shia point of view is only obligatory upon the honored prophet (p) and is reccomandary for the other muslims.
1.tadhkirat al-fuqaha, vol. 2, kitab al-nikah, fourth introduction.
does the belief in the super-natural power of gods friends cause polytheism?
answer:
it is quite clear that whenever a human requests something from someone, it is because of his ability of performing that particular thing.
this ability is in the framework of natural and material powers, such as asking a person for a glass of water. sometimes this ability is an unseen power that is beyond the material and natural framework. such a persons belief in such a super natural power, in case of its dependence, is just as the belief in a natural and material power to humans, in the same manner can god also can also grant supernatural ability to some of his pious slaves.
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