The Qur'an:
Qur'an (16:106) - Establishes that there are circumstances that can "compel" a Muslim to tell a lie.
Qur'an (3:28) - This verse tells Muslims not to take those outside the faith as friends, unless it is to "guard themselves."
Qur'an (9:3) - "...Allah and His Messenger are free from liability to the idolaters..." The dissolution of oaths with the pagans who remained at Mecca following its capture. They did nothing wrong, but were evicted anyway.
Qur'an (40:28) - A man is introduced as a believer, but one who must "hide his faith" among those who are not believers.
Qur'an (2:225) - "Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts" The context of this remark is marriage, which explains why Sharia allows spouses to lie to each other for the greater good.
Qur'an (66:2) - "Allah has already ordained for you, (O men), the dissolution of your oaths"
Qur'an (3:54) - "And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers." The Arabic word used here for scheme (or plot) is makara, which literally means deceit. If Allah is deceitful toward unbelievers, then there is little basis for denying that Muslims are allowed to do the same. (See also 8:30 and 10:21)
Taken collectively these verses are interpreted to mean that there are circumstances when a Muslim may be "compelled" to deceive others for a greater purpose.
From the Hadith:
Bukhari
(52:269) - "The Prophet said, 'War is deceit.'" The context of this
is thought to be the murder of Usayr ibn Zarim and his thirty unarmed men by
Muhammad's men after he "guaranteed" them safe passage (see Additional Notes
below).
Bukhari
(49:857) - "He who makes peace between the people by inventing good
information or saying good things, is not a liar." Lying is permitted when
the end justifies the means.
Bukhari
(84:64-65) - Speaking from a position of power at the time, Ali confirms
that lying is permissible in order to deceive an "enemy."
Muslim
(32:6303) - "...he did not hear that exemption was granted in anything
what the people speak as lie but in three cases: in battle, for bringing
reconciliation amongst persons and the narration of the words of the husband to
his wife, and the narration of the words of a wife to her husband (in a twisted
form in order to bring reconciliation between them)."
Bukhari
(50:369) - Recounts the murder of a poet, Ka'b bin al-Ashraf, at Muhammad's
insistence. The men who volunteered for the assassination used dishonesty to
gain Ka'b's trust, pretending that they had turned against Muhammad. This drew
the victim out of his fortress, whereupon he was brutally slaughtered despite
putting up a ferocious struggle for his life.
From Islamic Law:
Reliance of the Traveler (p. 746 -
8.2) - "Speaking is a means to achieve objectives. If a praiseworthy
aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to
accomplish through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible
to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible
to lie if attaining the goal is permissible (N:i.e. when the purpose of lying is
to circumvent someone who is preventing one from doing something permissible),
and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory... it is religiously
precautionary in all cases to employ words that give a misleading
impression...
"One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to
those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the
truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie.
Additional Notes:
Muslims are allowed to lie to unbelievers in order to defeat
them. The two forms are:
Taqiyya - Saying something that isn't true.
Kitman - Lying by omission. An example would
be when Muslim apologists quote only a fragment of verse 5:32
(that if anyone kills "it shall be as if he had killed all mankind")
while neglecting to mention that the rest of the verse (and the next) mandate
murder in undefined cases of "corruption" and "mischief."
Though not called Taqiyya by name, Muhammad clearly
used deception when he signed a 10-year treaty with the Meccans that allowed him
access to their city while he secretly prepared his own forces for a takeover.
The unsuspecting residents were conquered in easy fashion after he broke the
treaty two years later, and some of the people in the city who had trusted him
at his word were executed.
Another example of lying is when Muhammad used deception to
trick his personal enemies into letting down their guard and exposing themselves
to slaughter by pretending to seek peace. This happened in the case of Ka'b bin
al-Ashraf (as previously noted) and again later against Usayr ibn Zarim, a
surviving leader of the Banu Nadir tribe, which had been evicted from their home
in Medina by the Muslims.
At the time, Usayr ibn Zarim was attempting to gather an
armed force against the Muslims from among a tribe allied with the Quraish
(against which Muhammad had already declared war). Muhammad's "emissaries" went
to ibn Zarim and persuaded him to leave his safe haven on the pretext of meeting
with the prophet of Islam in Medina to discuss peace. Once vulnerable, the
leader and his thirty companions were massacred by the Muslims with ease,
belying the probability that they were mostly unarmed, having been given a
guarantee of safe passage (Ibn Ishaq 981).
Such was the reputation of Muslims for lying and then killing
that even those who "accepted Islam" did not feel entirely safe. The fate of
the Jadhima is tragic evidence for this. When Muslim "missionaries" approached
their tribe one of the members insisted that they would be slaughtered even
though they had already "converted" to Islam to avoid just such a demise.
However, the others were convinced that they could trust the Muslim leader's
promise that they would not be harmed if they simply offered no resistance.
(After convincing the skeptic to lay down his arms, the unarmed men of the tribe
were quickly tied up and beheaded - Ibn Ishaq 834 & 837).
Today's Muslims often try to justify Muhammad's murder of
poets and others who criticized him at Medina by saying that they broke a treaty
by their actions. Yet, these same apologists place little value on treaties
broken by Muslims. From Muhammad to Saddam Hussein, promises made to non-Muslim
are distinctly non-binding in the Muslim mindset.
Leaders in the Arab world routinely say one thing to
English-speaking audiences and then something entirely different to their own
people in Arabic. Yassir Arafat was famous for telling Western newspapers about
his desire for peace with Israel, then turning right around and whipping
Palestinians into a hateful and violent frenzy against Jews.
The 9/11 hijackers practiced deception by going into bars and
drinking alcohol, thus throwing off potential suspicion that they were
fundamentalists plotting jihad. This effort worked so well, in fact, that even
weeks after 9/11, John Walsh, the host of a popular American television show,
said that their bar trips were evidence of 'hypocrisy.'
The transmission from Flight 93 records the hijackers telling
their doomed passengers that there is "a bomb on board" but that everyone will
"be safe" as long as "their demands are met." Obviously none of these things
were true, but these men, who were so intensely devoted to Islam that they were
willing to "slay and be slain for the cause of Allah" (as the Qur'an puts it)
saw nothing wrong with employing Taqiyya in order to facilitate their
mission of mass murder.
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) insists that it
"has not now or ever been involved with the Muslim Brotherhood, or supported
any covert, illegal, or terrorist activity or organization." In fact, it
was created by the Muslim Brotherhood and has bankrolled Hamas. At least nine
founders or board members of ISNA have been accused by prosecutors of supporting
terrorism.
Prior to engineering several deadly terror plots, such as the
Fort Hood massacre and the attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, American
cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was regularly sought out by NPR, PBS and even government
leaders to expound on the peaceful nature of Islam.
The near absence of Qur'anic verse and reliable Hadith that
encourage truthfulness is somewhat surprising, given that many Muslims are
convinced that their religion teaches honesty. In fact, it is because of this
ingrained belief that many Muslims are quite honest. When lying is addressed in
the Qur'an, it is nearly always in reference to the "lies against Allah" -
referring to the Jews and Christians who rejected Muhammad's claim to being a
prophet.
Finally, the circumstances by which Muhammad allowed a
believer to lie to a non-spouse are limited to those that either advance the
cause of Islam or enable a Muslim to avoid harm to his well-being (and
presumably that of other Muslims as well). Although this should be kept very
much in mind when dealing with matters of global security, such as Iran's
nuclear intentions, it is not grounds for assuming that the Muslim
one might personally encounter on the street or in the workplace is any less
honest than anyone else.
US to accept civilian nuke program in Iran'
President Obama signals Iran that US would endorse nuclear program if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backs upclaim that Islamic Republic won't purse atom bomb, US paper reports
Yitzhak Benhorin
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has signaled Tehran that the Washington would accept an civilian nuclear program inIran if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can back up his recent claim that his nation “will never pursue nuclear weapons,” the Washington Post reported Friday.
According to the report, the verbal message was sent through Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met with Khamenei last week. A few days prior to leaving for the trip, Erdogan held a two-hour meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit in Seoul, in which they discussed what the Turkish leader would tell Khamenei about the nuclear issue.
Related articles:
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote that Obama advised Tehran, via Edrogan, that time is running out for a peaceful agreement. Obama didn’t specify whether Iran would be allowed to enrich uranium domestically. The issue evidently is to be discussed during the talks between the Islamic Republic and the West, which are slated start on April 13 at a venue yet to be decided.
Words into actions
Edrogan is said to have agreed with Obama that the primary challenge faced by the negotiators is turning Khamenei’s public rhetoric into a serious and verifiable commitment not to build a bomb.
Erdogan reportedly conveyed Obama’s message to Khamenei when he met the Iranian leader on Thursday. Erdogan also met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other senior Iranian officials during his visit.
Western diplomats remain skeptic about the success of the diplomatic path, especially in light of the recent disagreement over the venue for the upcoming negotiations. According to the report, Istanbul was expected to host the talks, but the Iranians last weekend balked and suggested instead to meet in Iraq or China.
Meanwhile, the US pressed on with sanctions that aim to deprive Tehran of revenue needed to develop its nuclear program. |
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