by Jane Bate and Bryan Hermansdorfer, ©2022
(Apr. 13, 2022) — [See previous installments in this series here. – Ed.]
Regarding taqiyya, the sanctioned deception of non-Muslims, there are several types, though the term taqiyya is commonly used to cover all of them. Typically, taqiyya is used to paint Islam as beneficent. An example might be to tell a non-Muslim that lying is not condoned by Islam, or that Islam does not allow the beating of one’s wife.
The second form of taqiyya is kitman, which means to lie by omission. An oft-used and well-known example of kitman is to quote only part of Quran 5:32-5:33: “We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone slew a person…..it would be as if he slew the whole people.” It sounds like they’re against killing, doesn’t it? Yet, in verse 5:33 we are told: “The punishment for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger [Muslims] …..is execution, or crucifixion,…..” Hmm.
The third form of taqiyya is tawriya. Tawriya entails saying one thing when it’s likely that the listener will interpret your words differently. An example given by Raymond Ibrahim is: When answering the phone for a family member who does not want to talk to the caller, the person answering says, “He’s not here,” meaning, “He’s not in the room I’m in, though he may be elsewhere in the house.”
Muruna is the fourth form of taqiyya, meaning ‘to blend in,’ and Huma Abedin furnished us with some terrific examples. By marrying a Jew, Anthony Weiner, she appeared to be at peace with those of the Jewish faith regardless of the centuries-old Muslim hatred of Jews. Huma also dressed to fit in with American non-Muslims. This despite the fact that the Abedin family (including Huma) is deeply involved in the Muslim Brotherhood, which upholds the Islamic values expressed in the trilogy. Oh, what a tangled web they weave!