Raymond Ibrahim
Gatestone Institute, June 9, 2023
“Taqiyya is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it… We can go so far as to say that the practice of taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream.”
The Islamic doctrine of “taqiyya,” dissimulation, permitting Muslims to deceive non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam, is back in the news. In a speech delivered on May 20, 2023, Iran’s Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a report, “set out to explain and clarify the principles and standards of ‘a successful foreign policy’ focusing on three keywords: Honor, wisdom, and expediency.
“Khamenei… used the Islamic concept of ‘Taqiyya’ to describe the regime’s decision to accept the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West. Taqiyya means the permissibility to deny or conceal one’s real beliefs to secure a worthy goal….”
Khamenei’s emphasis on “expediency” as the third principle in foreign policy was particularly notable, as he urged flexibility “in necessary instances” and circumventing “tough barriers” to continue a set course. His mention of “flexibility” was a reference to his famous phrase of “heroic flexibility” in 2013, when he signaled his permission for nuclear talks to begin.
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