سورة آل عمران

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The one who does not practise taqiyyah (precautionary concealment) has no faith at all. Allah has said: إِلاَّ أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقاةً [unless you guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): O son of Nu'man! I narrate a hadith to one of you, and he narrates that hadith from me. By this very act he becomes deserving of my curse and of my dissociation from him (taqiyyah). My father used to say: "What thing causes more delight to the eye than taqiyyah (precautionary concealment)? Taqiyyah is the shield of the believer. Were it not for taqiyyah, Allah would not have been worshipped. And in this verse Allah says: لا یَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْکافِرِینَ أَوْلِیاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ مَنْ یَفْعَلْ ذلِکَ فَلَیْسَ مِنَ اللهِ فِی شَیْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقاةً [Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends rather than the believers; and whoever does that has nothing to do with Allah, unless you guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him) — the argument of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) with some of the Greeks: I command you not to take disbelievers and hypocrites as friends. And if those groups display friendship and unity, do not accept it with the ear of acceptance and approval. For disbelievers never become the friends of the believers, and the believers likewise do not take that group as friends — except when it is out of taqiyyah (precautionary concealment) and necessity, since taqiyyah in the religion of the Master of the Messengers is established and permitted. As in the speech of the Lord of the Worlds there is an indication of it: لا یَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْکافِرِینَ أَوْلِیاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ مَنْ یَفْعَلْ ذلِکَ فَلَیْسَ مِنَ الله فِی شَیْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقاةً [Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends rather than the believers; and whoever does that has nothing to do with Allah, unless you guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully] — the verse; from this sufficient verse guidance becomes clear.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for the permission whose outward differs from its inward: Allah the Exalted forbade the believer from taking a disbeliever as a friend and guardian, and then bestowed a favour upon him by outwardly permitting him, at the time of taqiyya, to fast as the disbeliever fasts, to break his fast as he breaks his, to pray as he prays, to perform his deeds, and to show the disbeliever that he is doing so — and he has been granted a broad allowance in these outward actions. But inwardly, contrary to what he shows outwardly out of fear to the opponents who have gained mastery over the ummah, he must follow the religion of Allah. Allah the Exalted said: لا یَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْکافِرِینَ أَوْلِیاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ مَنْ یَفْعَلْ ذلِکَ فَلَیْسَ مِنَ اللهِ فِی شَیْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقاةً وَ یُحَذِّرُکُمُ اللهُ نَفْسَهُ [Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends rather than the believers; and whoever does that has nothing to do with Allah in anything, unless you guard yourselves against them out of taqiyya (protective caution), and Allah makes you cautious of Himself]. So this is a permission by which Allah, out of mercy, has done good to the believers, so that they may make use of it outwardly at the time of taqiyya. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Indeed Allah loves that His permissions be taken up, just as He loves that His obligations be acted upon.'

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): This verse is a kind of licence and permission, and its outward differs from its inward. Its outward is accepted, but its inward is not acknowledged except at the time of taqiyya (protective dissimulation). For taqiyya is a permission by which the believer outwardly inclines to the religion of the disbeliever and prays his prayer and fasts his fast, because outwardly he fears him and practises taqiyya, while inwardly, contrary to the outward, he adheres to the religion of Allah.

Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him): I command you to practise taqiyya in your religion, for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: لا یَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْکافِرِینَ أَوْلِیاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ مَنْ یَفْعَلْ ذلِکَ فَلَیْسَ مِنَ الله فِی شَیْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقاة [Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends rather than the believers; and whoever does that has nothing to do with Allah in anything, unless you guard yourselves against them out of taqiyya].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): If I were to say that the one who abandons taqiyya is like the one who abandons prayer, I would surely be truthful. And taqiyya applies in everything until it reaches [the shedding of] blood (the lives of others); so when it reaches the shedding of blood, there is no taqiyya. Allah the Exalted has permitted the outward display of friendship with the disbelievers in the state of taqiyya and said: لا یَتَّخِذِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْکافِرِینَ أَوْلِیاءَ مِنْ دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ مَنْ یَفْعَلْ ذلِکَ فَلَیْسَ مِنَ اللهِ فِی شَیْءٍ إِلَّا أَنْ تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقاةً [Let not the believers take the disbelievers as friends rather than the believers; and whoever does that has nothing to do with Allah in anything, unless you guard yourselves against them out of taqiyya].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Taqiyya applies in every matter in which the son of Adam is compelled, and Allah has made it lawful for him.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Taqiyyah (dissimulation) is Allah's shield between Him and His creation.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): یُحَذِّرُکُمُ اللهُ نَفْسَهُ [Allah makes you cautious of Himself]; Ali (peace be upon him) made them fear Him through him.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Ali (peace be upon him) wrote a letter to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and the people of Egypt: To proceed — I enjoin upon you the fear of Allah in that for which you are responsible and to which you are pledged and to which you shall return. For Allah the Exalted says: کُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا کَسَبَتْ رَهِینَة [(Yes) every soul is a pledge for what it has earned] (Muddaththir/38), and He says: وَ یُحَذِّرُکُمُ اللّهُ نَفْسَهُ وَ إِلَی اللّهِ الْمَصِیرُ [And Allah makes you cautious of Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming].