التقية

Ahmad Amin, in Duha al-Islam, presents dissimulation (taqiyya) as a complementary part of the Shi'i teachings, to which they enjoined one another, and which for them is the secret system in their affairs. ²

If an imam wished to rise against the caliph, he would devise a system and measures and inform his companions, who would conceal it and show obedience until the plans were complete. If they sensed harm from an unbeliever or a Sunni, they would manage it and show agreement. Al-Kulayni relates from Abu Abd Allah: "Nine tenths of religion lie in dissimulation, and there is no religion for one who has no dissimulation." ³

They interpreted the acts of the imams by it: they counted Ali's silence toward Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman as dissimulation, and the reconciliation of al-Hasan with Mu'awiya as dissimulation. It became a cause of loading speech with hidden meanings and an inner sense understood only by the elect. The Kharijites, on the other side, held that dissimulation is not permitted at all. ⁴

The people of the Sunna: for them dissimulation is a licence of necessity to preserve the self, not a permanent secret system. They confine it to outward courtesy in the face of a fearful harm, and they reject making it a pillar of religion. ³

The academic view (Ahmad Amin): dissimulation was employed as a secret system for the call and the revolt, and their history was built upon it: a hidden imam sends missionaries to the cities who take the oath of allegiance and ask for secrecy until the revolt ripens. ³

The Twelver Imamiyya: dissimulation is part of our religion and the religion of our fathers, and it is a complementary part of the teachings. In al-Kafi, the previous saying is related from Abu Abd Allah. ³