The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the CrusadesSpecifically, he taught thatlying was permissible in battle.^2 Thus wereborn
two enduring Islamic principles: the permissibility of politicalassassinat ion
for the honor of the Proph et and his relig ion and an allow ance for the
practice of deception in wartime. The doctrines of religious deception(taqiyya
andkitman) are most often identifi ed with Shi'ite Islam and are ostensibly
rejected by Sunnis (over 85 percent of Muslims worldwide) because they were
sanctioned by the Prophet. However, they can still he found in traditions that
Sunni Muslims consider most reliable.
Also, religio us decepti on (practi ced on hapless unbeli evers) is taught by
the Qur 'an its elf , tel lin g Mus lim s: "Le t not the bel iev ers tak e for frie nds
or help ers unbe liev ers rath er than beli evers. If any do that , inn othing will
there be help from Allah; except by way of precautio n, that ye may guard
yourselvesfrom them" (Qur'an 3:28). In other words, don't make friends with
unbelievers except to "guard yourselves from them: Pretend tobetheir friends
so that you canstrengthen yourself against
them.
The dist ingu ishe d Qu'ra nic comm enta tor Ibn Kathir expl ains that ,in this
verse, "Allah prohibited His believing servants from becomingsuppor ters of
the disbel iever s, or to take them as comrad es with whom they develop
friendships, rather than the believers," However, exemptedfrom this rule were
"those believe rs who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the
disbeli evers. In this case, such believe rs are allowed to show friendship to
the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly,
When Shi'ite Muslims were persecuted by Sunnis, they developed the
doct rine of taqi yya, or conc ealm ent: The y coul d lie abou t what the y
beli eved, denyi ng aspe cts of their faith that were offe nsive to Sunni s..This
pract ice is sanc tion ed by the Qur' an warn ing Musl ims that thos e who
forsak e Islam will be consigne d to Hell—except those forced to do so, but
who remain true Muslims inwardl y: "Any one who, after accepting faith in
Allah, utters unbelief—exceptundercompulsion, his heartremainin g firm in
fait h—but such as open thei r brea st to unbe lief , on them is wrath from
Allah. and theirs will be a dreadful penalty" (Qur'an