The Mercy of Taqiyyah

Taqiyyah is a controversial subject in the eyes of many kuffar. Many of them (no thanks to uninformed critics of Islam) tend to conflate the Shi’ite conceptualization of it with Sunnism’s and use it as an excuse to brand Muslims living in their lands as fifth columns. Muslim apologists have worked hard to clarify this misunderstanding, but kuffar who willingly choose to plug their ears and refuse to listen and instead believe in fanciful conspiracy theories such as widespread secret coordination amongst millions of Muslims willing to strike at any moment (an operation the NSA, CIA, and FBI continuously fail to uncover for some reason!) will always remain stubborn.

But keeping the controversy of taqiyyah in religious discourse aside, how many of us have expressed gratitude to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) for this very merciful concession? Could not have Allah simply commanded that we force ourselves to die or suffer excruciating torture for the sake of not committing kufr? Does Allah not deserve our thanks and praise for this very merciful and caring concession? He sure does, just as He does for all the other concessions He has mercifully given us.

Compared to, say, a religion like Christianity, Islam is very open-minded and appreciative of people’s circumstances. This is a unique feature of Islam. Islam is unique in that its concessions are explicitly laid out in scriptural texts and are not merely deduced speculatively.

When I read the Qur’an, and I come across an ayah such as:

يريد الله بكم اليسر ولا يريد بكم العسر

Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship [2:185]

And others similar to it, I take a pause and say, “I love you so much Allah.” It comes out of me naturally because I cannot help control my emotions that the Creator of the Universe could be so kind and merciful to an insignificant creature like myself.

At the same time, I get angry and sad because some people misuse this ayah to transgress the limits set by Allah. These very people who are not appreciative of Allah's concessions are hungry for more, so hungry that in their own delusion, they serve their desires with concocted religious concessions in the name of Allah. This is the epitome of greed and ungratefulness. May Allah protect us from this and enable us to continue being grateful to Him. Ameen.