Taqiya Webpage Removed by Sistani Website

[Bolani Muslim]

Salaam Alaikum,

I wanted to show a friend the ruling of taqiya by Ayatullah Sistani. I bookmarked the webpage years ago, but for some reason the link is now broken. Alhamdulillah, Wayback Machine kept it stored.

Question: What are the kinds of Taqiyah (dissimulation) and when is it obligatory?
Answer: There are different types of Taqiyah:
2) Reconciliatory Taqiyah. This type of Taqiyah is done when a person intends to reconcile with the other side or when he intends to soften their hearts. This kind of Taqiyah is permissible but not obligatory.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190109113046/http://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01170/

Reconciliation is the act of making friendly relations; it is the action of making one view or belief compatible with another in order to appease someone and make him surrender to something. This is what also the Arabic word 'mudara' means.[1]
Therefore, reconciliatory Taqiyah is done when a person intends to reconcile with the other side or when he intends to soften their hearts after he has created a practical harmony with them. This kind of Taqiyah is permissible but not obligatory. [3]
https://web.archive.org/web/20170510170851/http://www.islamquest.net/en/archive/question/fa15808
Although the second link is unbroken, I prefer to use Wayback Machine as a backup.


This specific ruling can be considered problematic, since it can mean that Shias are permitted to lie (dissimulate) while discussing with Sunnis and other non-Twelver Islamic groups. This does not mean that the practice is common, in fact, I would argue that most Shias online do not dissimulate. However, the Shia scholars authorizing this behavior is problematic, because it is impossible for us (laymen Shia and non-Shia Muslims) to differentiate between taqiya and non-taqiya.

Dissimulation is quite common unfortunately. This is the reason Shia scholars will claim, for example, that "No Shia theologian has every excommunicated Sunnis," as well as other examples of disinformation. Not only so that Sunnis are duped, but Shias as well. As a Shia, I believed what I was told, when I would read from Sunni websites that "Many Shia scholars believe in xyz (eg. tahrif), but they do not expose it due to taqiya," I believed that these "Wahabi-run" websites were either malicious or misinformed. Upon investigation, I realized that much of the uncomfortable information was actually true. 

On ShiaChat, the ruling caused controversy. Multiple threads were created because of it. It is possible that the heads of the Sistani website noticed the contention and thus decided to delete the webpage as a means to "appeal and appease to the other side."

It is ironic that the webpage about taqiya was removed -because of taqiya-, possibly. 

[MuslimK]

Walaikum Salam,

Interesting find bro.

It is ironic that the webpage about taqiya was removed -because of taqiya-, possibly. 

lol

[Adil]

If in future wayback time machine doesn't have a page saved then also try google cache.

[Shia not Rafidi]

i, with all my efforts of being fair was also in the view that shia are actually mispresented and many of the things sunni websites accuse them of are just misinterpretations.. but slowly i realised that much of the accusations aren't actually accusations bu5 hold truth to some extent (if not wholly).. for example here's what I've noticed while discussing things up with shia at social media etc..
1- every single shia out there, when asked whether they believe in Tahrif, they'll immediately say a Big NO and act like they are free of this sin, would say we believe that Allah has preserved this Mushaf which is in our hands now, will start reprimanding those who say such things about shia and call them Wahabis and blah blah blah , BUT, if you indirectly ask them that whether the Verses of the Holy Quran are correct in order or not, you'll notice they'd start jumping around, would never admit nor deny this and ultimately accuse Sahaba that they didn't place the verses of Holy Quran correctly..
2 - they'd always use "HAZRAT" with the names of Abubakr, Umar, Usman, Ayesha, Hafsa RA (not due to respect but to mock em) until you start a debate with them on Fadk, The Door incident, Ghadir khumm, Caliphate etc..
3 - there's actually a Sahih report which urges them to lie about Ahlebidah (AhleSunnah)..