Tafsir of Al Imran 3:28

Having established that the giving of dominion and honor is from Allah, the Exalted, and that He is "Capable of all things," the Exalted warns the believers that it is not fitting for them to take the enemies of Allah as allies due to kinship, pre-Islamic friendship, or the like, nor to seek support through them, because He, the Exalted, is the Bestower of honor and the Absolute Power. He says: "Let not the believers take the disbelievers as allies."

Ibn Abbas stated: Al-Hajjaj bin ‘Amr, Kahmas bin Abi al-Haqiq, and Qays bin Zayd—all of whom were Jews—were maintaining secret relations with certain members of the Ansar to lead them away from their religion. Rifa‘ah bin al-Mundhir, ‘Abdullah bin Jubayr, and Sa‘d bin Khaythamah said to those men: "Avoid these Jews and beware of their company and secret relations, lest they lead you away from your religion." However, those men insisted on maintaining their relations and proximity with them, so Allah revealed this verse.

Al-Kalbi said: It was revealed regarding the hypocrites, ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy and his companions, who were befriending the Jews and the polytheists, bringing them news, and hoping for their victory over the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). So Allah, the Exalted, revealed this verse, forbidding the believers from their actions.

Ad-Dahhak narrated from Ibn Abbas that it was revealed regarding ‘Ubadah bin as-Samit al-Ansari, who was a veteran of Badr and a leader. He had allies among the Jews. When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) went out on the day of the Confederates (Al-Ahzab), ‘Ubadah said: "O Prophet of Allah, I have five hundred Jews with me, and I have thought that they should go out with me so that I may seek support through them against the enemy." Thus, Allah, the Exalted, revealed: "Let not..." and so on.

The verb is jussive (majzum) by the prohibitive la. Al-Kisa’i permitted the nominative (rafa‘) as a declarative statement, the meaning of which is also prohibition. It is transitive to two objects, though it is permissible for it to be transitive to one, with awliya’ (allies) being the second object or a circumstantial state (hal). It is the plural of wali, meaning those who are close (from al-wali, which is closeness). The intent is that they should not regard affairs that existed between them during the Age of Ignorance; rather, it is fitting that they regard what they are upon now, which Islam requires of legally binding love and hatred. We qualified it as such because when they said: "Love due to kinship or old/new friendship is beyond choice, excused, and falls from the degree of consideration," we hold that muwalat (alliances) encompasses seeking their assistance in war, as some have maintained. We hold, and it is the view of the majority, that it is permissible to seek their help and compensate them; however, help should only be sought from them for fighting the polytheists, not the rebels, as they have explicitly stated. As for what is narrated from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) set out for Badr, and a polytheist man followed him who was known for boldness and bravery. The companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) rejoiced when they saw him, but the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to him: 'Go back, for I will not seek the help of a polytheist,'" this is abrogated by the fact that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sought the help of the Banu Qaynuqa‘ Jews and compensated them, and sought the help of Safwan bin Umayyah at Hawazin.

Some have stated that seeking help is permitted on the condition of necessity and trust; without these, it is not allowed. The report of ‘Aishah is interpreted accordingly, as is what Ad-Dahhak narrated from Ibn Abbas regarding the reason for the revelation. By this, one reconciles the evidence for prohibition and the evidence for permission. Furthermore, some researchers have stated that the prohibited seeking of help is that of the lowly seeking it from the mighty; however, if it is a case of the mighty seeking it from the lowly, it is permitted. Examples of this include taking disbelievers as slaves and servants, and marrying women of the People of the Scripture among them; this is a sound position, as is not hidden.

Some have used the verse as evidence that it is not permissible to appoint them as laborers nor to employ them in government affairs or otherwise. Likewise, they included in the prohibited muwalat (alliances) greetings, showing reverence, addressing them by their kunya (patronymic), and honoring them in gatherings. In the fatawa of the scholar Ibn Hajar, it is stated that it is permissible to stand in a gathering for the Ahl al-Dhimmah (protected non-Muslims), counting this as a matter of kindness and benevolence permitted by the Almighty's saying: "Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly." Perhaps the correct view is that everything which custom considers reverence and which Muslims perceive as muwalat is prohibited, even with the Ahl al-Dhimmah, especially if it casts something into the hearts of the weak among the believers. I do not see standing for the Ahl al-Dhimmah in a gathering as anything but a forbidden act, for its indication of reverence is strong, and I do not see it as benevolence, as is not hidden.

"Instead of the believers" (min duni al-mu’minin) is a circumstantial state (hal) from the subject, meaning: surpassing the believers to the disbelievers, whether exclusively or jointly. There is no concept (mafhum) for this prepositional phrase, either because it was revealed regarding specific people who allied with the disbelievers rather than the believers—so it is clarifying an existing reality—or because its mention is to indicate that those who are most worthy of alliance are the believers, and that in alliance with them, there is sufficiency to avoid alliance with the disbelievers. The fact that this nuance implies that one should say "while believers exist" instead of "instead of the believers" is within the scope of prohibition, and that it is an indication that their alliance cannot coexist with the alliance of the believers, is extremely subtle.

It has been said: The prepositional phrase is a descriptor (sifah) for awliya’ (allies). Others said: It relates to the verb ittikhadh (taking), and min (from) is for the beginning of the limit (ibtida’ al-ghayah), meaning: do not begin the alliance from a place other than the place of the believers.

"And whoever does that" (i.e., the taking, and expressing it with the verb is, as the Shaykh al-Islam said, for brevity or to avoid the indecency of mentioning it). Man (whoever) is a conditional particle, and yaf‘al (does) is the condition, and its response follows.

"Has nothing to do with Allah"—the speech implies the omission of a genitive (mudaf), meaning: nothing to do with His alliance or His religion. The first prepositional phrase is a hal from "nothing" (shay’), and the second is the predicate of laysa. The tanwin on "nothing" (shay’) is for belittlement—that is, he is not in anything that can correctly be called by the name of alliance or religion, because the alliance of opposites is something that hardly enters the tent of occurrence. Therefore, it has been said: "You love my enemy and then claim that I am your friend; the stupidity is not absent from you." It is also said: "If you ally with your friend's enemy, then you have shown enmity to him," and the discussion ends. This clause is parenthetical.

His saying, the Exalted: "Except that you take precautions"—the form of address is shifted to the third person. This is an elliptical exception from the most general of conditions, and the governor of it is the prohibitive verb, while considering the address, meaning: Do not take them as allies in any condition, except for the condition of your taking precautions. It has been said: It is an elliptical exception from the object of li-ajlihi (the reason for the action), meaning: The believer does not take the disbeliever as an ally for any reason, except for taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation).

"Against them" (minhum)—meaning from their direction. Min is for the beginning of the limit, relating to an omitted phrase that became a hal from His saying, the Exalted, tuqatan (precautions), because it is an adjective for an indefinite noun that preceded it. Tuqah (precautions) refers to what one is taking precautions against, and it can mean ittiqahu (to fear Him/it), which is common. On the first interpretation, it would be the object of tattaqu, and on the second, an absolute object (maf‘ul mutlaq) for it. Minhum relates to it, and it becomes transitive via min because it carries the meaning of fear; and "fear" becomes transitive via min, as in: "And if a woman fears from her husband..." and "Whoever fears from the testator an injustice." The genitive construction is in the place of one of the objects, and the other object is omitted because it is known, i.e., "evil and the like." The origin of tuqah is wuqyah, with a damma on the waw and a movable ya after the qaf with a fatha; then the waw with the damma was changed to a ta’ (as in tujah), and the movable ya was changed to an alif because it was movable and the letter before it was open. Its measure is fu‘lah, like tukhmah and tu’dah. It is not regular (qiyas) among the verbal nouns; rather, the regular is ittiqa’ or iqtida’. Abu al-Raja’ and Qatadah read it as taqiyyah with a doubled ya, and its measure is fa‘ilah, with the ta’ also being a replacement for the waw.

The verse is evidence for the legitimacy of taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation). They have defined it as the protection of one's soul, honor, or wealth from the evil of enemies. Enemies are of two types: The first is he whose enmity is based on religious difference, such as the disbeliever and the Muslim; the second is he whose enmity is based on worldly interests, such as wealth, property, dominion, and authority. From here, taqiyya becomes two parts:

Regarding the first part, the legal ruling is that every believer who falls into a place where he cannot manifest his religion due to exposure to opponents, it is obligatory for him to migrate to a place where he can manifest his religion. It is not permissible for him at all to remain there, hide his religion, and cling to the excuse of weakness, for the earth of Allah, the Exalted, is vast. Yes, if he is among those who have a legal excuse for abandoning migration, such as children, women, the blind, the imprisoned, and those whom the opponents threaten with death or the killing of children, fathers, or mothers—a threat with which it is deemed likely that the threatened act will be carried out, whether this killing is by beheading, withholding food, or the like—then it is permissible for him to remain with the opponent and agree with them to the extent of necessity, while he must strive for a stratagem to escape and flee with his religion. If the threat is only regarding the loss of a benefit or the occurrence of hardship that he can bear, such as imprisonment with food or minor, non-lethal beating, it is not permissible for him to agree with them. Even in the case where it is permitted, agreeing with them is a concession (rukhsah), and manifesting his school of thought is a firm resolve (‘azimimah). If his soul perishes for that, he is definitely a martyr. What proves that it is a concession is what is narrated from Al-Hasan that Musaylimah the Liar took two men from the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). He said to one of them: "Do you testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Do you testify that I am the messenger of Allah?" He said: "Yes." Then he called for the other and said to him: "Do you testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Do you testify that I am the messenger of Allah?" He said: "I am deaf," and he said it three times, each time answering with "I am deaf," so he struck off his head. This reached the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said: "As for this killed one, he has passed on his truthfulness and certainty, and has taken his merit, so congratulations to him. As for the other, Allah, the Exalted, has granted him a concession, so do not blame him for it."

Regarding the second part, scholars have differed in the obligation of migration and its absence. Some said: It is obligatory because of the Almighty's saying: "And do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," and by the evidence of the prohibition against wasting wealth. Others said: It is not obligatory if the migration from that location is for one of the worldly interests and no deficiency in religion returns to the one who abandons it, due to the unity of the creed, and the powerful enemy does not approach the believer with evil simply because he is a believer. Some said: The truth is that migration here may also be obligatory if he fears the destruction of his soul, his relatives, or the violation of his honor through excess, but it is not an act of worship or devotion such that reward is contingent upon it. Its obligation is for the sake of a purely worldly interest for that emigrant, not for the reform of religion, so that reward is contingent upon it. Not every obligation is rewarded, for the truth is that not every obligation is an act of worship; rather, many obligations have no reward contingent upon them, such as eating during extreme starvation, guarding against known or suspected harms during illness, and avoiding the consumption of poisons while in good health, and other similar things. This migration is of this category; it is not like the migration to Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to be deserving of the reward of the Hereafter by the grace of Allah, the Exalted.

Some counted the reconciliation of disbelievers, philosophers, and oppressors, softening speech to them, smiling in their faces, being relaxed with them, and giving them something to fend off their harm, cut their tongues, and protect one’s honor, as a form of taqiyya. This is not counted as part of the prohibited muwalat; rather, it is a Sunnah and a legitimate, prescribed matter. Al-Daylami narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he said: "Allah, the Exalted, commanded me to reconcile with people as He commanded me to establish the obligatory duties." In one narration: "I was sent with reconciliation." In Al-Jami‘: "A riding party will come to you who are hateful; when they come to you, welcome them." Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated: "The head of wisdom after faith in Allah, the Exalted, is the reconciliation of people." In a narration of Al-Bayhaqi: "The head of wisdom is reconciliation." Al-Tabarani brought out: "Reconciling people is charity," and in a narration of his: "Whatever the believer protects his honor with, it is charity." Ibn ‘Adi and Ibn ‘Asakir brought out: "Whoever lives while reconciling dies a martyr; protect your honor with your wealth, and let one of you be diplomatic with his tongue regarding his religion."

On the authority of Buraydah, from ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: "A man asked for permission to enter upon the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) while I was with him. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: 'A miserable son of the tribe, or brother of the tribe,' then he gave him permission, and he softened his speech to him. When he left, I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, you said what you said, then you softened your speech to him.' He said: 'O ‘Aishah, among the worst of people are those whom people leave or avoid due to fear of their obscenity.'" In Al-Bukhari, from Abu al-Darda’: "We surely frown in the faces of some people while our hearts curse them." In the narration of Al-Kashmihani: "While our hearts loathe them." In a narration of Ibn Abi al-Dunya and Ibrahim al-Harami, with the addition: "And we laugh at them," and other such hadiths. However, reconciliation should not reach the point where religion is tarnished, forbidden acts are committed, and suspicions arise.

Beyond this verification, there are two sayings for two disparate groups of people: the Khawarij and the Shi‘a. As for the Khawarij, they went to the view that taqiyya is not permissible under any circumstances, and that wealth, the preservation of the soul, and honor are not to be regarded in exchange for religion at all. They have strange strictures in this chapter, among them that if someone were praying and a thief or an angry person came to steal or take his dangerous wealth, he should not cut the prayer; rather, it is forbidden for him to cut it. They attacked Buraydah al-Aslami, a companion of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), because he would guard his horse during his prayer so that it would not run away. It is not hidden that this school of thought is extremely negligent.

As for the Shi‘a, their speech is discordant in this position. Some of them said: It is permissible in all speech when necessary, and sometimes it is obligatory in it, as a kind of gentleness and reform; and it is not permissible in actions such as killing a believer, nor in what is known or likely to be corruption in religion. Al-Mufid said: "It may be obligatory at times, and it may be better at a time than abandoning it, and abandoning it may be better than doing it." Abu Ja‘far al-Tusi said: "The apparent meaning of the narrations indicates that it is obligatory when there is fear for the soul." Others said: "It is obligatory when there is fear for wealth as well, and recommended to protect honor, until it is prescribed for one who meets with the Ahl al-Sunnah to agree with them in their prayer, fasting, and everything else they believe in." They narrated from some of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt: "Whoever prays behind a pure Sunni, it is as if he prayed behind a prophet." There is disagreement among them regarding the obligation to repeat that prayer, and likewise in the obligation to make up the fast for one who broke it out of taqiyya when breaking the fast is not allowed—there are two sayings. There is also disagreement regarding the superiority of taqiyya from a Sunni over the protection of the Shi‘a school from criticism, and many of them have leaned toward superiority. Some of them went to the view of the permissibility, and even the obligation, of manifesting disbelief for the slightest fear or greed; it is not hidden that this is extreme in its degree. They interpreted most of the actions of the Imams—which align with the Sunni school and for which proof exists—as a rejection of the Shi‘a school on taqiyya, and they made this a fundamental principle among them, upon which they established their religion. It is what is common now among them, even attributing that to the prophets (peace be upon them), and their main goal in that is to invalidate the Caliphate of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them), but Allah, the Exalted, forbids that.

In their books are things that invalidate the position that the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (may Allah honor his countenance), and his sons (may Allah be pleased with them) were people of taqiyya, and it even invalidates the virtue they claimed for it. In the book Nahj al-Balaghah, which is the most authentic book after the Book of Allah in their estimation, the Commander (may Allah honor his countenance) said: "The sign of faith is your preferring truthfulness where it harms you over falsehood where it benefits you." Where is this from their interpretation of the Almighty's saying: "Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most taqi (righteous) among you" as "the one among you with the most taqiyya"? It also says in it that he (may Allah honor his countenance) said: "I, by Allah, if I met them alone while they filled the whole earth, I would not care nor feel lonely, and I am from their misguidance that they are in, and the guidance that I am upon, on insight from myself and certainty from my Lord, and awaiting the meeting with Allah, the Exalted, and the good reward of His."

In this is evidence that the Commander did not fear while he was alone from the war of the enemies, even when they were a crowd. Such a person cannot be imagined to do anything that involves the destruction of religion. Al-‘Ayyashi narrated from Zurarah bin A‘yan from Abu Bakr bin Hazm that he said: "A man performed ablution and wiped over his socks, then entered the mosque. Ali (may Allah honor his countenance) came and struck him on the neck and said: 'Woe to you, do you pray while you are not in a state of ablution?' He said: '‘Umar ordered me.' He took his hand and went to him, then said: 'Look at what he says about you,' and raised his voice at ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). ‘Umar said: 'I ordered him to do that.' So look at how he raised his voice and denied, and did not practice taqiyya."

Al-Rawandi, the commentator of Nahj al-Balaghah and the believer of the Shi‘a, narrated from Salman al-Farsi that it reached Ali regarding ‘Umar that he mentioned his followers, so he met him in some of the paths of the orchards of Medina, and in Ali's hand was a bow. He said: "O ‘Umar, it reached me regarding you your mentioning of my followers." He said: "Take it easy on your bald head." He said: "Ali, you are right here," then he threw the bow on the ground, and it was a serpent like a camel with its mouth agape, and it had approached towards ‘Umar to swallow him. ‘Umar said: "Allah, Allah, the Exalted, O Abu al-Hasan, I will not repeat anything after this," so he began to supplicate. He struck the serpent with his hand, and it returned to the bow as it was, and ‘Umar went to his house. Salman said: "When it was night, Ali called me and said: 'Go to ‘Umar, for wealth has been brought to him from the direction of the East, and he has intended to hide it. So say to him: Ali says to you: Bring out what was brought to you from the East and distribute it to those who deserve it, and do not hide it, for I advise you.'" Salman said: "So I went to him and delivered the message. He said: 'Tell me about the affair of your companion, from where did he know?' I said: 'Is such a thing hidden from him?' He said: 'O Salman, accept from me what I say to you: Ali is but a magician, and I am certain about you. The correct thing is to leave him and become one of us.' I said: 'It is not as you say, but he has inherited from the secrets of prophecy what you have seen from him, and he has more than this.' He said: 'Go back to him and say: Hearing and obeying your command.' So I went back to Ali, and he said: 'Shall I tell you what happened between you two?' I said: 'You are more knowledgeable than me,' and he spoke of what happened between us, then said: 'The terror of the serpent is in his heart until he dies.'" In this narration is also a striking down of taqiyya, for the owner of this bow, his bow is sufficient for him and does not force him to marry his daughter, Umm Kulthum, to ‘Umar out of fear and taqiyya.

Al-Kulayni narrated from Mu‘adh bin Kathir from Abu ‘Abdullah that he said: "Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sent down to His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) a book. Gabriel said: 'O Muhammad, this is your testament to the select ones.' He said: 'Who are the select ones, O Gabriel?' He said: 'Ali bin Abi Talib and his children.' The book had seals of gold. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) handed it to Ali and ordered him to break a seal from it and act according to what was in it. Then he handed it to Al-Hasan, who broke a seal from it and acted according to what was in it. Then he handed it to Al-Husayn, who broke a seal and found in it: 'Go out with your people to martyrdom, for there is no martyrdom for them except with you, and buy yourself for Allah, the Exalted.' So he did. Then he handed it to Ali bin al-Husayn, who broke a seal and found in it: 'Bow down, be silent, stay in your house, and worship your Lord until certainty comes to you.' So he did. Then he handed it to his son Muhammad bin Ali, who broke a seal and found in it: 'Speak to people, give them legal opinions, spread the sciences of your household, verify your righteous fathers, and do not fear anyone but Allah, the Exalted, for there is no way for anyone over you.' Then he handed it to Ja‘far al-Sadiq, who broke a seal and found in it: 'Speak to people, give them legal opinions, do not fear anyone but Allah, and spread the sciences of your household, and verify your righteous fathers, for you are in a protection and safety.' So he did. Then he handed it to Musa, and so on to the Mahdi." He also narrated it through another path from Mu‘adh from Abu ‘Abdullah, and in the fifth seal: "Speak the truth in security and fear, and do not fear anyone but Allah." This narration is also explicit that those noble ones, their religion is not taqiyya as the Shi‘a claim.

Sulaym bin Qays al-Hilali, the Shi‘i, narrated from a long report that the Commander of the Faithful said: "When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed away and people inclined towards Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and pledged allegiance to him, Fatima was pregnant, and she took the hand of Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn. She did not leave anyone from the people of Badr and the people of priority from the Muhajirun and the Ansar without pleading with them by Allah and calling them to my support, but no one from all the people responded to me except four: Al-Zubayr, Salman, Abu Dharr, and Al-Miqdad." This indicates that taqiyya was not obligatory on the Imam, because this action, in the eyes of those who pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), contains what it contains.

In the book of Aban bin ‘Ayyash, it says that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Qunfudh to Ali when people pledged allegiance to him and Ali did not pledge allegiance. He said: "Go to Ali and say to him: Answer the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)." He went and conveyed it to him. He said to him: "How quick you are to lie against the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and apostatize. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not appoint anyone as successor except me." It also says that when ‘Umar was angered by Ali, he ignited a fire at Ali's door and burned it, then entered. Fatima met him and cried: "O my father, O Messenger of Allah!" ‘Umar raised the sword while it was in its sheath and struck her blessed side with it, and raised the whip and struck her breast with it. She cried: "O my father!" Ali grabbed ‘Umar by the collar and shook him and struck his nose and neck. It also says in it that ‘Umar said to Ali: "Pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)." He said: "What if I do not do that?" He said: "Then by Allah, the Exalted, I will strike off your head." He said: "You lied, by Allah, O son of Sahhak! You are not capable of that; you are more lowly and weaker than that." These narrations explicitly show that taqiyya is stages away from that Imam, as there is no meaning to this arguing and mutual insulting while taqiyya is obligatory.

Muhammad bin Sinan narrated that the Commander of the Faithful said to ‘Umar: "O deceived one, I see you in the world as a dead man by a wound from the servant of Umm Ma‘mar; you judge him unjustly, so he kills you, and he enters Paradise by that, despite you." It is also narrated that he said to ‘Umar one time: "For you and your companion, whose position you took, there is a violation and crucifixion. You will be taken out of the neighborhood of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and crucified on a dry tree, and it will sprout leaves. By that, those who allied with you will be tempted. Then the fire that was ignited for Ibrahim will be brought, and the fire of Jarjis, Daniel, and every prophet and truthful one will come, and you will be crucified in it, and you will burn and become ash. Then a wind will come and blow you into the sea completely." So look, by Allah, the Exalted, whoever narrates these lies about the Imam (may Allah honor his countenance), is it fitting for him to say that taqiyya is attributed to him? Glory be to Allah, the Exalted! This is the most amazing of wonders and the incurable disease.

Among what refutes their statement also is that taqiyya is only for fear, and fear is of two types: First, fear for the soul, which is negated regarding the honorable Imams for two reasons: One, that their natural death is by their choice, as Al-Kulayni proved this issue in Al-Kafi and devoted a chapter to it, and all the Imami scholars agreed upon it. Two, that the Imams have knowledge of what was and what will be, so they know their appointed times, the ways of their death, and its times in detail and specificity. So before its time, they do not fear for themselves and practice taqiyya in their religion and deceive the common believers. The second type is fear of hardship, physical harm, reviling, cursing, and the violation of honor. There is no doubt that bearing these things and being patient with them is the duty of the righteous. They used to bear the affliction always in obeying the commands of Allah, the Exalted, and they perhaps met the tyrannical sultans, and the noble prophetic household is more entitled to bear hardships in supporting the religion of their grandfather (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Also, if taqiyya were obligatory, the Imam of the Imams would not have stopped pledging allegiance to the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) for six months. What prevented him from performing the obligation at the first moment?

Among what refutes their statement in attributing taqiyya to the prophets (peace be upon them) in the sense they intended is the Almighty's saying regarding them: "Those who convey the messages of Allah and fear Him and do not fear anyone but Allah, and sufficient is Allah as Accountant," and the saying of the Almighty to His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people," and other such verses. Yes, if they intended by taqiyya the reconciliation we indicated, then there is a face to attributing it to the prophets and Imams, and this is one of two interpretations for what ‘Abd bin Humayd brought out from Al-Hasan that he said: "Taqiyya is permissible until the Day of Resurrection." The second is to take taqiyya in its apparent meaning, and its being permissible is only according to the detail we mentioned.

Some people have made obligatory a type of taqiyya specific to the elite believers, which is the preservation of divine secrets from disclosure to others, which leads to total corruption. So you see them, whenever they are asked about a secret, they make it vague and speak words which, if presented to the general public, or even to their scholars, they would not understand. They pour it into molds from which the intent is not understood except by those who have sipped from their cup or whose heart’s surroundings have been perfumed by the fragrance of the amber of their breaths. Even though this led to the misguidance of many people and resulted in attacking those elite masters, until many of them were accused of heresy and those who heard their speech issued fatwas for their killing, yet what is verified is that they saw this rather than what results from disclosure of the corruptions that cover the earth. Some evil is easier than other evil. Hiding secrets from those not worthy of them involves the loss of great good and is a cause for painful punishment. It may be said: This is not from the chapter of taqiyya in anything, except that the people spoke what overflowed on their tongues and appeared on their public display, and the meanings were for them such that expression fell short of them, and none would hover around its sanctuary except through allusion. Whoever followed their path and followed in their footsteps in stripping away, they understood what they said and the verification of what they leaned towards. This is taken from what Al-Sha‘rani (may his secret be sanctified) mentioned in Al-Durar al-Manthurah in clarifying the essence of the famous sciences, the text of which is: "As for the essence of the science of Sufism which the people wrote their treatises on, it is the result of acting according to the Book and the Sunnah. Whoever acts according to what he knows speaks as they spoke, and all that they said becomes some of what he has, because the more the servant ascends in the door of propriety with Allah, the Exalted, the more his speech becomes refined for the understandings, until some of them said to his Shaykh: 'The speech of my brother so-and-so is too refined for my understanding,' so he said: 'Because you have two shirts and he has one shirt, so he is in a higher rank than you.' This is what called the jurists and their like from the people of the veil to call the science of Sufism the science of the interior (batin), and it is not interior, for the interior is only the knowledge of Allah, the Exalted. As for everything the creation knew, in their different classes, it is from the knowledge of the exterior, because it appeared to the creation. So know that."

Based on this, the denial of the people is not in its proper place.

"And Allah warns you of Himself"—that is, the punishment of Himself, as Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said. In it is a great threat indicating the extremity of the prohibited thing in ugliness, as He attached the warning to Himself. Attributing the "self" to Him, the Exalted, in the meaning he intended is permissible without analogy (mushakalah), according to the correct view. It is said: The "self" means the essence, and its permission at that time without analogy is something that is not disputed among the predecessors. Some of the later scholars have explicitly denied the permissibility if it is intended as the essence, unless by way of analogy.

"And to Allah is the destination"—that is, the return. The manifestation in the place of the pronoun is for the cultivation of awe and the introduction of terror. It is said: The speech implies the omission of a genitive, meaning: to His judgment or His recompense, and it is not necessary. The clause is a footer confirming the content of what came before it and verifying its occurrence inevitably.