by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
Stonegate Institute<\/em><\/p>\n Perhaps you have heard of\u00a0taqiyya<\/em><\/a>, the Muslim doctrine that allows lying in certain circumstances, primarily when Muslim minorities live under infidel authority. Now meet\u00a0tawriya<\/em>, a doctrine that allows lying in virtually\u00a0all<\/em>circumstances \u2014 including to fellow Muslims and by swearing to Allah \u2014 provided the liar is creative enough to articulate his deceit in a way that is true to him. (Though\u00a0tawriya<\/em>\u00a0is technically not “new” \u2014 as shall be seen, it has been part of Islamic law and tradition for centuries \u2014 it is certainly new to most non-Muslims, hence the need for this exposition and the word “new” in the title.)<\/p>\n The authoritative\u00a0Hans Wehr Arabic-English Dictionary<\/em>\u00a0defines\u00a0tawriya\u00a0<\/em>as, “hiding, concealment; dissemblance, dissimulation, hypocrisy; equivocation, ambiguity, double-entendre, allusion.” Conjugates of the trilateral root of the word,\u00a0w-r-y<\/em>, appear in the Quran in the context of hiding or concealing something (e.g., 5:31, 7:26).<\/p>\n As a doctrine, “double-entendre” best describes\u00a0tawriya<\/em>‘s function. According to past and present Muslim scholars (several documented below),\u00a0tawriya<\/em>\u00a0is when a speaker says something that means one thing to the listener, though the speaker means something else, and his words technically support this alternate meaning.<\/p>\n For example, if someone declares “I don’t have a penny in my pocket,” most listeners will assume the speaker has no money on him \u2014 though he might have dollar bills, just literally no pennies. Likewise, say a friend asks you, “Do you know where Mike is?” You do, but prefer not to divulge. So you say “No, I don’t know” \u2014 but you keep in mind\u00a0another<\/em>\u00a0Mike, whose whereabouts you really do not know.<\/p>\n All these are legitimate according to Sharia law and do not constitute “lying,” which is otherwise forbidden in Islam, except in three cases: lying in war, lying to one’s spouse, and lying in order to reconcile people. For these, Sharia permits Muslims to lie freely, without the strictures of\u00a0tawriya<\/em>, that is, without the need for creativity.<\/p>\n As for all other instances, in the words of\u00a0Sheikh Muhammad Salih al-Munajid<\/a>(based on scholarly consensus): “Tawriya<\/em>\u00a0is permissible under two conditions: 1) that the words used fit the hidden meaning; 2) that it does not lead to an injustice” (“injustice” as defined by Sharia, of course, not Western standards). Otherwise, it is permissible even for a Muslim to swear when lying throughtawriya<\/em>. Munajid, for example, cites a man who swears to Allah that he can only sleep under a roof (saqf<\/em>); when the man is caught sleeping atop a roof, he exonerates himself by saying “by roof, I meant the open sky.” This is legitimate. “After all,” Munajid adds, “Quran 21:32 refers to the sky as a roof [saqf<\/em>].”<\/p>\n Here is a recent example of\u00a0tawriya<\/em>\u00a0in action: Because it is\u00a0a “great sin<\/a>” for Muslims to acknowledge Christmas,\u00a0this sheikh<\/a>\u00a0counsels Muslims to tell Christians, “I wish you the best,” whereby the latter might “understand it to mean you’re wishing them best in terms of their [Christmas] celebration.” But \u2014 here the wily sheikh giggles as he explains \u2014 “by saying\u00a0I wish you the best<\/em>, you mean in your heart\u00a0I wish you become a Muslim<\/em>.”<\/p>\n As with most Muslim practices,\u00a0tawriya<\/em>\u00a0is traced to Islam’s prophet. After insisting Muslims “need”\u00a0tawriya<\/em>\u00a0because it “saves them from lying,” and thus sinning,\u00a0Sheikh Uthman al-Khamis<\/a>\u00a0adds that Muhammad often used it. Indeed, Muhammad is recorded saying “Allah has commanded me to equivocate among the people inasmuch as he has commanded me to establish [religious] obligations”; and “I have been sent with obfuscation”; and “whoever lives his life in dissimulation dies a martyr” (Sami Mukaram,\u00a0Al Taqiyya Fi Al Islam<\/em>, London: Mu’assisat al-Turath al-Druzi, 2004, p. 30).<\/p>\n More specifically, in a canonical hadith, Muhammad said: “If any of you ever pass gas or soil yourselves during prayers [breaking\u00a0wudu<\/em><\/a>], hold your nose and leave” (Sunan Abu Dawud<\/a>): Holding one’s nose and leaving implies smelling something offensive \u2014 which is true \u2014 though people will think it was someone else who committed the offense.<\/p>\n Following their prophet’s example, many leading Muslim figures have usedtawriya<\/em>, such as\u00a0Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal<\/a>, founder of one of Islam’s four schools of law, practiced in Saudi Arabia. Once when he was conducting class, someone came knocking, asking for one of his students. Imam Ahmed answered, “He’s not here, what would he be doing here?” \u2014 all the time pointing at his hand, as if to say “he’s not in my hand.” The caller, who could not see Ahmed, assumed the student was simply not there.<\/p>\n Also,\u00a0Sufyan al-Thawri<\/a>, another important Muslim thinker, was once brought to Caliph Mahdi who refused to let him leave, until Thawri swore to return. As he was going out, Thawri left his sandals by the door. After a while, he returned, took his sandals and left for good. When the caliph asked about him, he was told that, yes, Thawri had sworn to come back \u2014 and, indeed, he had come back: only to take his sandals and leave.<\/p>\n Lest it seem\u00a0tawriya<\/em>\u00a0is limited to a few colorful anecdotes more befitting theArabian Nights<\/em>\u00a0than the religious law (Sharia) of a billion people, here are some more modern Muslim authorities \u2014\u00a0Sheikh Muhammad Hassan<\/a>, the famous cleric who says Islam\u00a0forbids<\/a>\u00a0Muslims from smiling to infidels, except when advantageous, and\u00a0Dr. Abdullah Shakir<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u2014 justifying it. They both give the example of someone knocking on your door, you do not wish to see them, so a relative answers the door saying, “He’s not here,” and by “here” they mean the immediate room, which is true, since you will be hiding in another room.<\/p>\n