Richard Sudworth has posted a very helpful and brief guide to the issue of taqiyya in relation to interfaith matters. He enunciates well, towards the end why I think it is important: "once doctrines like taqiyya get bandied around without qualification, we can quickly see monsters lurking everywhere. Those of us studying Islam at some level have a huge responsibility as our church members are rightly hungry for knowledge and guidance. This responsibility rests both in our bearing of true witness (in accuracy of scholarship and the weight we give to evidence) and to the pastoral implications for Christians seeking to relate in confidence to Muslims."
My worry is that it could seriously hinder good community relations because it is a view of 'the other' from which there is no return: they can always be dismissed in any apparently good actions or assurances by recourse to 'but they would say that, wouldn't they ...'. And even the denials that such a doctrine is part of the everyday approach would not be sufficient. From that road of distrust, there is no way foraard.
Distinctly Welcoming: Taqiyya - unpacking the truth?:
09 March 2009
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A review of Common Threads
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