Bismillāh
إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ
Excepting someone who is compelled [to recant his faith] while his heart is at rest in it.
Sūrat al-Nahl, No. 16, Āyat 106
The above verse states that there is a great punishment for those who disbelieve in Allah after affirming belief. However, an important exception is made to what would have otherwise been an unconditional condemnation of apostacy: one who is compelled and apparently recounts belief out of necessity, while his heart remains faithful.
The key word here is ukriha, a passive verb from the root k-r-h, meaning to be compelled or coerced against one’s will. It is from the same root that the word ikrāh is derived, meaning compulsion or duress, such as in the famous verse Q 2:256:
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ
there is no compulsion in religion
The word mutma’inn is also important, it means a sense of stillness and tranquility. There is a beautiful contrast here of the outward turbulence and duress as opposed to the undisturbed stillness of the heart.
Among the earliest converts to Islam in Makkah was a family with almost no tribal protection: Yāsir, his wife Sumayyah, and their son ‘Ammār. They had no clan to shield them the way Abū Tālib shielded the Prophet (s) or powerful relatives shielded other early companions from the Quraysh of Makkah.
The book al-Kāmil of Ibn Athīr narrates the following account about ‘Ammār:
[The polytheists] used to take ‘Ammār, his father, and his mother out to al-Abtah when the ground became scorching hot, and they would torture them with the heat of the blazing sand. The Prophet (s) passed by them and said: Patience, O family of Yasir, for your appointed meeting is Paradise.
Yāsir died under torture, and his wife Sumayyah spoke harshly to Abu Jahl, so he stabbed her in the heart with a spear he had in his hands, and she died. They were the first martyrs in Islam.
They intensified the torture on ‘Ammār, sometimes with extreme heat, sometimes by placing rocks on his chest, and other times by submerging him [in water]. They said: “We will not leave you until you curse Muhammad and speak well of al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzā.” So, he did [what they demanded], and they released him.
He came to the Prophet (s) weeping. The Prophet (s) said: What happened to you? He said: “Evil, O Messenger of God, such and such happened.” He said: How do you find your heart? He said: “I find it at peace with faith.” He said: O ‘Ammār, if they return [to forcing you], then do it again. Then God Almighty revealed [the verse]: except one who is compelled while his heart is at peace with faith (Q 16:106).
This verse is proof for the concept of taqiyyah as means of preserving life and continuing faith. The Arabic word taqiyyah literally means to exercise restraint, but Islamically it is a term meaning to dissimulate and hide one’s beliefs to protect oneself. When a group of Muslims are in a place with no option but to stay there and develop their faith, there is no problem in performing taqiyyah even if it entails that they make themselves appear to be disbelievers.
Taqiyyah is not an excuse for hypocrisy or moral cowardice. Nor should it be seen as a surrender in the face of fear. Rather, its true philosophy lies in being a wise means for believers to preserve their lives and their faith when resistance serves no purpose. It prevents them from needlessly squandering what they have. For the Shī‘ah, who have largely lived under oppression and in fear throughout our history, it is a fundamental strategy for survival. As Imam al-Sādiq (a) famously said: taqiyyah is my religion and the religion of my forefathers.
In these difficult times, we pray that God guides us, so we know how and when to appropriately do taqiyyah.
Source: ‘Allāmah Muhammad Husayn Tabātabā’ī, Tafsīr al-Mīzān.