Etan Kohlberg's Historical Approach to Taqīyya (Dissimulation): Criticism and Examination of Incorrect Interpretations

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor of the Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran. Tehran

2 Assistant Professor of Department of Culture and Education, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Culture and Communication, Imam Sadiq (AS) University

3 Associate Professor of Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Meybod University,

Abstract

Among the favorite topics between Orientalists is the controversial issue of Taqīyya between Shi'a and Sunni. Etan Kohlberg, a renowned scholar who research about Shi'a, has addressed this topic in two articles. His discussion includes a range of narrative and historical issues, such as the position of Taqīyya among the fundamentals of belief in the Imamiyya School and the impact of this doctrine on Shi'a hadiths, such as the concealment of teachings and contradiction of narrations. Kohlberg analyzes that the sanctity of employing Taqīyya in some religious practices stems from the Shi'a Imams' sense of discrimination seeking. This descriptive-analytical article aims to focus on Etan Kohlberg's first article while incorporating some content from his second article to provide a comprehensive discussion on the topic of Taqīyya. Firstly, criticisms of Kohlberg's descriptive approach from opponents are reviewed and subsequently challenged. Overall, it is concluded that, contrary to Kohlberg's opinion, there is no contradiction in the Imamiyya approach to the principle of Taqīyya. Compliance or non-compliance with Taqīyya is dependent on the circumstances and is contingent upon the benefits and harms, which Kohlberg has overlooked.

Keywords

References

  1. Sources

    Holy Quran

    1. Akhlaghi, M. (2009 AD/1388 SH). "Shia Taqīyya in the Works of Orientalists." Proceedings of the First International Conference on Shiism and Orientalists Studies. Qom: Anjuman-e Tarikh Pazhohan. Pp. 141-168.
    2. al-Āndulusī, H. (1999 AD/1420 AH). al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ fī al-Tafsīr. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
    3. Albāni, M. (1990 AD/1411 AH). Ḍaʻīf Sunan al-Tirmidhī. Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami.
    4. al-Tafsīr al-Mansūb ilal Imām al-ʻAskarī. (1988 AD/1409 AH). Qom: Imam Mahdi (AS) School.
    5. Ālūsī, M. (1994 AD/1415 AH). Ruūul Maʻānī. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah.
    6. ʻAmīdī, Th. (1995 AD/1374 SH). Wāqiʻ al-Taqīyya ʻIndal Madhāhib wa al-Firaqil Islāmiyya. Qom: Markaz al-Ghadir.
    7. ʻĀmilī, M. (1998 AD/1419 AH). Dhikrī al-Shīʻa. Qom: Al al-Bayt Institute.
    8. Astarābādī, M. (2003 AD/1382 SH). al-Barāhīn al-Qātiʻah. Qom: Maktab al-I'lam al-Islami.
    9. Astarābādī, M. (2005 AD/1426 AH). al-Fawāʼid al-Madanīyyah al-Shawāhid al-Makkīyyah. Qom: Dftar Intisharat-e Islami.
    10. ʻAṭārudī, A. (1993 AD/1414 AH). The Subject Index at the End of Nahj al-Balagha. Qom: Nahj al-Balagha Foundation.
    11. ʻAyyāshī, M. (2001 AD/1380 SH). Kitāb al-Tafsīr. Tehran: Chaphkhaneh Ilmiyyah.
    12. Baḥrānī, H. (1995 AD/1374 SH). al-Burḥān fī Tafsīr al-Quran. Qom: Beʻthah Institute.
    13. Barqī, A. (1992 AD/1371 SH). al-Maḥāsin. Qom: Dar al-Kotob al-Islamiyyah.
    14. Biyhaqī, A. (n.d.). al-Sunan al-Kubrā. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
    15. Bukhārī, M. (1980 AD/1401 AH). al-Jāmiʻ al-Ṣaḥīḥ. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
    16. Clarke, L. (2005). The Rise and Decline of Taqiyya in Twelver Shi'ism. (Todd Lawson. Ed.). Published in "Reason and inspiration in Islam." London: I.B Publisher in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies.
    17. Daftary, F. (1995). The Ismaailis: Their History and Doctrines. Cambridge.
    18. Dhahabī, M. (n.d). Mīzān al-Iʻtidāl. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifa.
    19. Farāhīdī, Kh. (1989 AD/1410 AH). Kitāb al-ʻAyn. Qom: Hijrat Publishings.
    20. Fiqh al-Riḍa. (1985 AD/1406 AH). Mashhad: Al al-Bayt Institute.
    21. Gerami, M. (2004 AD/1383 SH). Understanding the Quran. Qom: Minhaj Cultural Institute.
    22. Ḥillī, H. (1992 AD/1413 AH). Mukhtalif al-Shiʻa. Qom: Dafater Intesharat Islamia.
    23. Ḥillī, J. (1986 AD/1407 AH). al-Muʻtabar fī Sharḥ al-Mukhtaṣar. Qom: Sayyid al-Shuhada (AS) Institute.
    24. Ḥillī, R. (1987 AD/1408 AH). al-ʻAdad al-Qawīyya li Dafʻil Makhāwiful Yawmīyya. Qom: Mar'ashe Najafi Library.
    25. Ḥurrr ʻĀmilī, M. (1988 AD/1409 AH). Wasāʼil al-Shīʻa. Qom: Āl-albayt Foundation.
    26. Ḥuwayzī, A. (1994 AD/1415 AH). Tafsīr Nūr al-Thaqalayn. Qom: Intisharat Ismailiyyan.
    27. Ibn Abī Shaybah, A. (1898 AD/1409 AH). Muṣannaf. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
    28. Ibn ʻAtīyyah al-Āndulusī. (2001 AD/1422 AH). al-Muḥarrar al-Wajīz. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah.
    29. Ibn Bābwayh, M. (1993 AD/1414 AH). al-Iʻtiqādāt. Qom: al-Motamar al-Alami Lil Shaykh al-Mofid.
    30. ________ . (2019 AD/1398 SH). al-Tawhīd. Qom: Jamiʼa Modarresin Publications.
    31. Ibn Ḥazm, A. (n.d.). al-Aḥkām. Cairo: Matbaʻat al-ʻAsimah.
    32. Ibn Jawzī, A. (2007 AD/1386 SH). al-Mawḍūʻāt. Medina: al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah.
    33. Ibn Manẓūr, M. (1993 AD/1414 AH). Lisān al-ʻArab. Beirut: Dar Sader.
    34. Ibn Taymīyyah, A. (1942 AD/1321 SH). Minhāj al-Sunnah al-Nabawīyyah. Egypt: Matba'at Bulaq.
    35. Jaṣṣās, A. (1984 AD/1405 AH). Aḥkām al-Qur'an. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi.
    36. Jurjānī, Ḍ. (1996 AD/1375 Sh). Rasāʼil Fārsī. Tehran: Mirath Maktub Publishing.
    37. Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʼ, M. (1992 AD/1413 AH). Aṣl al-Shīʻa wa Uṣūluhā. Beirut: al-Aʻlami Institute.
    38. Kohlberg, E. (1975). "Some Imāmī Shiʿi Views on Taqiyya". Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 95, no. 3.
    39. Kohlberg, E. (2020). "Taqiyya in Shiʿi Theology and Religion. " Published in Shiʿi Islam: Texts and Studies. 1. Brill.
    40. Kulaynī, M. (1986 AD/1407 AH). al-Kāfī. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub.
    41. Lahiji, H. (1996 AD/1375 SH). Persian Letters. Tehran: Mirath Maktub Publishing.
    42. Lalani, A. (2003). Early Shi'i Thought: The Teachings of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir. London: The Institute of Ismaili Studies.
    43. Ma'arif, M. (1997 AD/1376 SH). Research on the History of Shia Hadith. Tehran: Zarih Institute.
    44. Ma'arif, M; Tabatabai-Nejad, S; Mirhosseini, Y. (2003 AD/1382 SH). "A Narratological and Theological Critique of Etan Kohlberg's View on Taqīyya in Shia Imamiyya". Journal of Hadith Sciences. Vol. 18, no. 69, pp. 155-180.
    45. Majlisī, M. (1982 AD/1403 AH). Biḥār al-Anwār. Beirut: al-Wafa' Institute.
    46. ________ . (1983 AD/1404 AH). Mirʼātul ʻUqūl. Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-Islamiyyah.
    47. Mazlumi, R. (1982 AD/1403 AH). Research on the latest Divine Book. Tehran: Nashr-e Afagh.
    48. Mīlānī, A. (2000 AD/1421 AH). Tazwij Umm Kulthūm min ʻUmar. Qom: Markaz al-Abhath al-Aqaidiyyah.
    49. (n.d). Ibṭāl mā Istadalla bihī li Imāmihī Abībakr. Qom: (n.n.).
    50. Miqdād Sīwarī. (1982 AD/1403 AH). Naḍdul Qawāʻid al-Fiqhīyyah. Qom: Kitabkhaneh Marashi Najafi.
    51. Motahhari, M. (1990 AD/1369 SH). Ten Discourses. Qom: Sadra Publications.
    52. Mufīd, M. (1992 AD/1413 AH). al-Masāʻil al-Sarwīyya. Qom: al-Muʻtamar al-Alami lil Shaykh al-Mufid.
    53. ________ . (1992 AD/1413 AH). Awāʼil al-Maqālāt. Qom: al-Muʻtamar al-Alami lil Shaykh al-Mufid.
    54. ________ . (1992 AD/1413 AH). Taṣḥīḥ al-Iʻtiqādāt al-Imamīyya. Qom: Al-Muʻtamar al-ʻĀlamī lil Shaykh al-Mufīd.
    55. Nūrī, Ḥ. (1987 AD/1408 AH). Mustadrak al-Wasāʼil. Qom: Al al-Bayt Institute.
    56. Qifārī, N. (1994 AD/1415 AH). Uṣūl Madhhab al-Shīʻa al-Imāmīyya. (n.p.): (n.n.).
    57. Qurṭubī, M. (1985 AD/1364 SH). al-Jāmiʻ li Aḥkām al-Qurān. Tehran: Naser Khosrow.
    58. Rāghib Iṣfahānī, H. (1991 AD/1412 AH). al- Mufradāt. Damascus: Dar al-Ilm.
    59. Rashīd Riḍā, M. (n.d). Tafsīr al-Manār. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifa.
    60. Sachedina, A. (2010). "Prudential Concealment in Shi'ite Islam: A Strategy of Survival or a Principle. "Common Knowledge. Vol. 16, no.2.
    61. Ṣafarī, N. (2002 AD/1381 SH). The Role of Taqīyya in Deduction. Qom: Bustan-e Kitab.
    62. Ṣaffār, M. H. (1983 AD/1404 AH). Baṣāʼir al-Darajāt. Qom: Ayatullah al-Marashi Library.
    63. Sarakhsī, Sh. (n.d). al-Mubsūṭ. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifa.
    64. Sayyid Murtaḍā (1984 AD/1405 AH). Rasāʼil. Qom: Dar al-Quran al-Karim.
    65. Sayyid Raḍī (n.d). Nahj al-Balāgha. (Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ. Ed). Qom: Dar al-Hijrah.
    66. Shahristānī, M. (n.d). al-Milal wa al-Niḥal. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifa.
    67. Sözer, H. (2014). Managing Invisibility, Dissimulation and Identity Maintenance among Alevi Bulgarian Turks. Brill.
    68. Subḥānī, J. (2002 AD/1381 SH). al-Inṣāf. Qom: Foundation of Imam al-Sadiq (AS).
    69. Suyūṭī, J. (n.d). al-Durr al-Manthūr. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifa.
    70. Tirmidhī, M. (1982 AD/1403 AH). Sunan. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
    71. Ṭūsī, M. (1984 AD/1363 SH). al-Istibṣār. Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-Islamiyyah.
    72. ________ . (1985 AD/1364 SH). Tahdhīb al-Aḥkām. Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-Islamiyyah.
    73. ________ . (1993 AD/1414 AH). al-Amālī. Qom: Dar al-Thaqafah.
    74. Yaʻqūbī, A. (n.d). Tārīkh. Beirut: Dar Sader.
    75. Zamakhsharī, M. (1986 AD/1407 AH). al-Kashshāf. Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al-Arabi.
Hadith Studies and Researches
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
January 2024
Pages 39-72

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 02 December 2023
  • Accept Date: 04 December 2023
  • First Publish Date: 22 December 2023
  • Publish Date: 22 December 2023

Share

How to cite

Statistics