Generally, taqiyya is regarded as the act of maintaining secrecy or mystifying one's beliefs when one's life or property is threatened.[7][8] The practice of concealing one's beliefs has existed since the early days of Islam; early Muslims did so to avoid persecution or violence by non-Muslim governments or individuals.[9][10]
The use of taqiyya has varied in recent history, especially between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. Sunni Muslims gained political supremacy over time and therefore only occasionally found the need to practice taqiyya. On the other hand, Shia Muslims, as well as Sufi Muslims developed taqiyya as a method of self-preservation and protection in hostile environments.[11]
A related term is kitmān (lit.'action of covering' or 'dissimulation'), which has a more specific meaning of dissimulation by silence or omission.[12][13] This practice is emphasized in Shi'ism whereby adherents are permitted to conceal their beliefs when under threat of persecution or compulsion.[3][14]
Taqiyya was initially practiced under duress by some of Muhammad's companions.[15] Later, it became important for Sufis, but even more so for Shias, who often experienced persecution as a religious minority.[14][16] In Shia theology, taqiyya is permissible in situations where life or property are at risk and whereby no danger to religion would occur.[14]Taqiyya has also been politically legitimised in Twelver Shi'ism, to maintain unity among Muslims and fraternity among Shia clerics.[17][18]
^ abR. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ... denotes dispensing with the ordinances of religion in cases of constraint of preaching.".
^ abJohn L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "Taqiyah". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-512558-0. Precautionary denial of religious belief in the face of potential persecution. Stressed by Shia Muslims, who have been subject to periodic persecution by the Sunni majority.
^Paul E. Walker (2009). "Taqīyah". The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-530513-5. Taqīyah is the precautionary dissimulation of religious belief and practice in the face of persecution.
^ibn ʻUmar Taftāzānī, Masʻūd. A Commentary on the Creed of Islam: Saʻd Al-Dīn Al-Taftāzānī on the Creed of Najm Al-Dīn Al-Nasafī. No. 43. Columbia University Press, 1950.
^Cite error: The named reference EI2-syn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Virani47 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcMomen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. p. 183. ISBN978-0-300-03531-5. Religious dissimulation (Taqiyya) ... while maintaining mental reservation is considered lawful in Shi'ism in situations where there is overwhelming danger of loss of life or property and where no danger to religioun would occur thereby. ... Living as a minority among a frequently-hostile Sunni majority, the condition of most Shi'is until the rise of the Safavid dynasty, made such a doctrine important to Shi'is
^R. Strothmann-[Moktar Djebli]. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "Taḳiyya", Vol. 10, p. 135. Quote: "Taḳiyya is above all of special significance for the Shī'a ... The peculiar fate of the Shī'a, that of a suppressed minority with occasional open but not always unheroic rebellions, gave them even more than the Khāridjites occasions and examples for extreme taḳiyya and its very opposite"
^Maréchal, Brigitte; Zemni, Sami, eds. (29 May 2013). The Dynamics of Sunni-Shia Relationships: Doctrine, Transnationalism, Intellectuals and the Media. Hurst Publishers. p. 76. ISBN978-1-84904-217-8.
^Gerhard Böwering; Patricia Crone; Mahan Mirza (2013). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (illustrated ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 136. ISBN978-0-691-13484-0.