The Islamic Antichrist (23 page)

UNDERSTANDING DISHONESTY AND DECEIT IN ISLAM

T
he following discussion
is so very important for two reasons. First, because of the prominence of deception in the last days, and second, because of the grave implications that deception for the cause of Islam has for the spread of Islam in the West.

When people first become curious and wish to begin learning about Islam, it is imperative that they first understand the degree to which lying is not only permitted, but actually fostered and even, at times, commanded in Islam. When a Christian wishes to teach others about Christianity, it is simply understood that honesty will be an essential aspect of that sharing. Westerners, however, have a hard time relating to the fact that purposeful exaggerations, covering of the truth, and occasionally outright lying form a core part of the religion of Islam. Specific doctrines and traditions foster a culture of dishonesty within Islam. Now, of course, some verses and traditions in Islam do discourage lying: “And cover not truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth when ye know [what it is]” (Sura 2:42; Yusuf Ali). But for many Muslims, it is the exceptions to the rule that have actually become the rule itself.

DECEPTION AND JIHAD

In order to understand how a religion can rationalize and justify lying, we must first briefly revisit the concept of jihad and the goals of Islam. We have already discussed this in the last chapter, but will point out again that Islam essentially views jihad as a
struggle to bring all things into submission to Allah and Islam. The battlefields that jihad is fought on can be viewed on a spectrum. On one side of the spectrum is the personal inner struggle fought by every Muslim who wishes to overcome his or her own personal weaknesses or inner demons. As we move across the spectrum there is the need to wage jihad to cause other individuals to submit to Islam. This is, of course, what Christianity calls evangelism. In Islam it is called
dawah
. Flowing on down the spectrum, there is the imperative for Islam to take over local, and eventually national, governments. This is the point, unfortunately, where the true face—the violent face—of Islam is often revealed and where jihad usually begins to get bloody. This reality is seen throughout the world today. So while many people in the West think of jihad as simply fighting against non-Muslim governments and nations, the concept in Islam actually includes all aspects of life. So, in the Muslim mind, even the struggle to convert non-Muslims to Islam is part of jihad. Evangelism in Islam is more than just “sharing the good news,”
it is war
. With this in mind, it is vital that we note Muhammad’s famous saying that “war is deception.”
¹
Thus, when dealing with non-Muslims, Islam encourages Muslims to use an aggressive jihad/wartime mentality defined by deception. Indeed, until non-Muslims come to realize the degree to which this mentality plays out when dealing with Muslims, it will be only too easy to lose touch with a healthy sense of objectivity. When dealing with someone who is purposefully deceptive, trusting individuals—as so many in the West are these days—are like sheep led to the slaughter.

This mentality of
evangelism as jihad
finds its support in Islam under the category of two specific doctrines called
kithman
and
taqiya
.

KITHMAN
: HIDING THE TRUTH

Kithman
is a command to deliberately conceal one’s beliefs. Primarily practiced by the minority Shi’a Muslims, this doctrine
is articulated by Imam Jafar Sadiq, the sixth imam of Shi’a Islam:

One who exposes something from our religion is like one who intentionally kills us.
²

You belong to a religion that whosoever conceals it, Allah will honor him and whosoever reveals it, Allah will disgrace him.
³

So Shi’a Muslims are commanded to hide what they truly believe in order to mislead outsiders as to the true nature of their religion. One cannot help but to immediately think of Jesus’ words when He told His followers never to hide their religion:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14–16)

But instead, Shi’a Muslims “belong to a religion that whosoever conceals it, Allah will honor him and whosoever reveals it, Allah will disgrace him.” That is the doctrine of
kithman
. To most Westerners, this concept is unimaginable and completely contrary to reason. If you have something good, then share it. If you have something to hide, then I probably don’t want it anyway.

There is essentially no difference between the doctrine of
kithman
and the doctrine of
taqiya. Taqiya
is defined by one Shi’a Muslim commentator thusly:

The word “
al-Taqiyya
” literally means: “Concealing or disguising one’s beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of imminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury.” A one-word translation would be “Dissimulation.”
⁴

This same commentator, however, in an article in
A Shiite Encyclopedia
, goes on to state that “the true spirit of ‘
al-Taqiyya
’
is better embodied in the single word ‘diplomacy.’” Indeed diplomacy is quite a “diplomatic” definition.

The doctrines of
kithman
and
taqiya
are often said to be strictly Shi’a doctrines, and Sunni Muslims deny that either doctrine is part of their tradition. Unfortunately, this is merely another deception. Next, we will run through some of the Sunni traditions that prove the universal application of
taqiya
within Islam.

TAQIYA
: FOUNDATION FOR DECEPTION

The Qur’an teaches that Muslims may deny their faith in order to protect themselves. Muslims who deny their faith will receive forgiveness as long as their true faith was not really shaken (i.e., their denial was a lie in the purest sense) and only if their denial of faith was for the purpose of avoiding harm (primarily while living among non-Muslims).

Anyone who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters unbelief, except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith—but such as open their breast to unbelief, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful penalty.” (Sura 16:106)

Sunni scholar Ibn Kathir elaborates on the meaning of this verse in his classic commentary on the Qur’an:

This refers to a group of people who were oppressed in Mecca and whose position with their own people was weak, so they went along with them when they were tried by them…. Allah tells them that after this, meaning after their giving in [to the non-Muslims by denying their faith] when put to the test, he will forgive them and show mercy to them when they are resurrected.
⁵

As long as a Muslim lives in a country where Islam exists as a minority, in “a weakened state,” then deceptiveness is allowed. When challenged by non-Muslims to blaspheme Allah, they “went along with them.”

The nonbelievers arrested ‘Ammar Ibn Yasir and tortured him until he uttered foul words about the Prophet [Muhammad], and praised their gods and idols; and when they released him, he went straight to the Prophet. The Prophet said: “Is there something on your mind?” ‘Ammar Ibn Yasir said: “Bad news! They would not release me until I defamed you and praised their gods!” The Prophet said: “How do you find your heart to be?” ‘Ammar answered: “Comfortable with faith.” So the Prophet said: “Then if they come back for you, then do the same thing all over again.” Allah at that moment revealed the verse: “…except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith…”
⁶
(Surah 16:106)

So Muhammad actually encouraged Muslims to lie and blaspheme and deny their beliefs if that would protect them, as long as they remained “comfortable with faith.” Ibn Abbas, the most renowned and trusted narrator of tradition in the sight of the Sunnis, confirms this notion. “
Taqiyya
is [merely] the uttering of the tongue, while the heart is comfortable with faith.”
⁷

This stands, of course, in direct contrast to the attitude of millions of Christians throughout history who have refused to renounce Christ and have accepted instead death and martyrdom.

The Qur’an also commands Muslims not to befriend non-Muslims—again, unless doing so can help protect the Muslim from harm:

Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except that you guard yourselves fully against them. (Surah 3:28)

Ibn Kathir again comments that:

Allah prohibited his believing servants from becoming supporters of the disbelievers, or to take them as comrades with whom they develop friendships…. Allah warned against such behavior when he said, “O you who believe! Take not my enemies and your enemies as friends, showing affection towards them. And whosoever of you does that, then indeed he has gone astray from the straight path.” And, “O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as friends; they are but friends of each other. And whoever befriends them, then surely, he is one of them.” Allah said next, “Unless you indeed fear a danger from them,” meaning, except those [Muslims] who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly,
but never inwardly
. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ad-Darda’ said, “
We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them
.”
⁸
(emphasis mine)

Ibn Kathir then goes on to utterly destroy the notion that
taqiya
is for Shi’a Muslims only when he says, “
Taqiya
is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.”

We see that
taqiya
is indeed a doctrine for all Muslims that allows them to deny any aspect of their faith in order to protect themselves from harm. The problem, however, is that in practice, the definition of harm has come to include a mere harming of one’s reputation as a representative of Islam. Thus Muslims may deny or misrepresent any aspect of their faith in order to help correct the negative image of Islam in non-Muslim countries. Ibn Taymiyah, the renowned Muslim philosopher, validates this point very strongly in his book titled
The Sword on the Neck of the Accuser of Muhammad
:

Believers when in a weakened stage in a non-Muslim country should forgive and be patient with People of the Book [i.e., Jews and Christians] when they insult Allah and his prophet by any means. Believers should lie to People of the Book to protect their lives
and their religion
.
⁹
(emphasis mine)

DECEPTION JUSTIFIED TO GAIN WEALTH

Despite Ibn Taymiyah, however, many will make the claim (possibly as a deception tactic itself) that Muslims should use
taqiya
only to protect life. Far from it. Muhammad even allowed lying for the sake of gaining wealth:

After the conquest of the city of Khaybar by the Muslims, the Prophet was approached by Hajaj Ibn ‘Aalat and told: “O Prophet of Allah: I have in Mecca some excess wealth and some relatives, and I would like to have them back; am I excused if I badmouth you to escape persecution?” The Prophet excused him and said: “Say whatever you have to say.”
¹⁰

The “any end justifies the means” approach to life and religion that Muhammad displays shines through clearly here. And there are numerous other examples of Muhammad encouraging his followers to lie as a means to achieve the end goal of the furtherance of Islam.

DECEPTION JUSTIFIED TO MURDER THE ENEMIES OF ISLAM

Allah’s Apostle said, “Who is willing to kill Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His Apostle?” Thereupon Muhammad bin Maslama got up saying, “O Allah’s Apostle! Would you like that I kill him?” The Prophet said, “Yes.” Muhammad bin Maslama said, “Then allow me to say a [false] thing [i.e., to deceive Kab].” The Prophet said, “You may say it.”
¹¹

Abdullah Al-Araby, a Middle-Eastern-born authority on Islam, in an article entitled
Lying in Islam
, details another story of Muhammad’s permissiveness toward lying to achieve the death of his enemies. This time the victim’s name was Shaaban Ibn Khalid al-Hazly:

It was rumored that Shaaban was gathering an army to wage war on Mohammed. Mohammed retaliated by ordering Abdullah Ibn Anis to kill Shaaban. The would-be killer asked the prophet’s permission to lie. Mohammed agreed and then ordered the killer to lie by stating that he was a member of the Khazaa clan. When Shaaban saw Abdullah coming, he asked him, “From what tribe are you?” Abdullah answered, “From Khazaa.” He then added, “I have heard that you are gathering an army to fight Mohammed and I came to join you.” Abdullah started walking with Shaaban telling him how Mohammed came to them with the heretical teachings of Islam, and complained how Mohammed badmouthed the Arab patriarchs and ruined the Arabs’ hopes. They continued in conversation until they arrived at Shaaban’s tent. Shaaban’s companions departed and Shaaban invited Abdullah to come inside and rest. Abdullah sat there until the atmosphere was quiet and he sensed that everyone was asleep. Abdullah severed Shaaban’s head and carried it to Mohammed as a trophy. When Mohammed sighted Abdullah, he jubilantly shouted, “Your face has been triumphant [
Aflaha al-wajho
].” Abdullah returned the greeting by saying, “It is your face, Apostle of Allah, who has been triumphant. [
Aflaha wajhoka, ye rasoul Allah
].”
¹²