No Taqiyya in Islam?

In the comments section of a recent post, Kim said: "There's no such thing as Taqiyya in Islam."

I find myself absolutely baffled that so many Muslims are willing to deny the clear teachings of Islam, and to go against Muhammad and his companions on so many issues.

Consider Qur'an 3:28, which reads:

Let not the believers take disbelievers for their friends in preference to believers. Whoso doeth that hath no connection with Allah unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them, taking (as it were) security. Allah biddeth you beware (only) of Himself. Unto Allah is the journeying.

Here the Qur'an commands Muslims not to be friends with unbelievers instead of believers, unless Muslims need to guard themselves from the unbelievers. What does this mean? Obviously, it means that Muslims aren't supposed to be friendly towards non-Muslims, but if Muslims are outnumbered and need to guard themselves from non-Muslims, they may pretend to be friendly.

But don't take my infidelicious word for it. Muhammad's companions and Islam's greatest commentators interpreted Surah 3:28 in exactly the same way. Ibn Kathir writes:

Allah prohibited His believing servants from becoming supporters of the disbelievers, or to take them as comrades with whom they develop friendships, rather than the believers. Allah warned against such behavior when He said, "And whoever does that, will never be helped by Allah in any way," meaning, whoever commits this act that Allah has prohibited, then Allah will discard him. Similarly, Allah said, "O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies as friends, showing affection towards them," until, "And whosoever of you does that, then indeed he has gone astray from the straight path" ﴿60:1﴾. Allah said, "O you who believe! Take not for friends disbelievers instead of believers. Do you wish to offer Allah a manifest proof against yourselves" ﴿4:144﴾, 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" ﴿5:51﴾.

Allah said, after mentioning the fact that the faithful believers gave their support to the faithful believers among the Muhajirin, Ansar and Bedouins, "And those who disbelieve are allies of one another, (and) if you do not behave the same, there will be Fitnah and oppression on the earth, and a great mischief and corruption: ﴿8:73﴾.

Allah said next, "unless you indeed fear a danger from them" meaning, except those believers 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." Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, "The Tuqyah is allowed until the Day of Resurrection." Allah said, "And Allah warns you against Himself," meaning, He warns you against His anger and the severe torment He prepared for those who give their support to His enemies, and those who have enmity with His friends, "And to Allah is the final return" meaning, the return is to Him and He will reward or punish each person according to their deeds.

So Muhammad's companions Abu ad-Darda and al-Hasan both disagree with Kim. Al-Hasan even says that Taqiyya is allowed until the Day of Resurrection! Didn't anyone bother to tell Muhammad's companions that there is no Taqiyya in Islam?

Perhaps we'll find a different interpretation in Tafsir Jalalayn:

Let not the believers take the disbelievers as patrons, rather than, that is, instead of, the believers — for whoever does that, that is, [whoever] takes them as patrons, does not belong to, the religion of, God in anyway — unless you protect yourselves against them, as a safeguard (tuqātan, ‘as a safeguard’, is the verbal noun from taqiyyatan), that is to say, [unless] you fear something, in which case you may show patronage to them through words, but not in your hearts: this was before the hegemony of Islam and [the dispensation] applies to any individual residing in a land with no say in it. God warns you, He instills fear in you, of His Self, [warning] that He may be wrathful with you if you take them as patrons; and to God is the journey’s end, the return, and He will requite you.

Hmmm. Here we have the same interpretation as that found in Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Jalal even points out that the word used is the verbal noun form of taqiyyatan (taqiyya!). This is quite strange, since there is no taqiyya in Islam.

Surely someone must agree with Westernized Muslims. Let's turn to Muhammad's companion Ibn Abbas to dispel the myths of Abu ad-Darda, al-Hasan, Ibn Kathir, and Jalal:

(Let not the believers take) the believers ought not to take [the hypocrites:] 'Abdullah Ibn Ubayy and his companions [and] (disbelievers) the Jews (for their friends) so as to become mighty and honourable (in preference to believers) who are sincere. (Whoso doeth that) seeking might and honour [by taking the hypocrites and disbelievers as friends] (hath no connection with Allah) has no honour, mercy or protection from Allah (unless (it be) that ye but guard yourselves against them) save yourselves from them, (taking (as it were) security) saving yourselves from them by speaking in a friendly way towards them with, while your hearts dislikes this. (Allah bideth you beware (only) of Himself) regarding the shunning of unlawful killing, unlawful sex, unlawful property, consuming intoxicants, false testimony and associating partners with Allah. (Unto Allah is the journeying) the return after death.

Darn! Ibn Abbas gives the same interpretation as everyone else. It seems that none of Muhammad's companions correctly understood the verse, and that Islam's greatest commentators couldn't understand it either. It's a good thing that we now have Westernized Muslims who know that when Allah allows Muslims to use taqiyya in 3:28, he really means, "There's no taqiyya in Islam." I feel much better knowing that after nearly 1400 years, someone finally understands Islam.