Ibrahim quotes a story by Islamic cleric Al-Masri of a "beautiful trick" carried out by a Muslim as an exemplar of proper use of Taqiyya. A contributor fills us in on what that story was.
Thanks to Gravenimage. Below:
For anyone who may have wondered about this, here it is :
Mahmoud Al-Masri:
I'd like to tell you a very nice story. Once there was a Muslim who lived next to a Jew. The Muslim saw in the Jew a measure of goodheartedness - however small - and he wanted to find any way to make him convert to Islam. So he went to him and asked: "Don't you feel the need for Islam? Why don't you become a Muslim?" The Jew said: "The only thing preventing me from becoming a Muslim is that I love drinking alcohol. I would have become a Muslim ages ago, but the only thing stopping me is that I am an alcoholic."
The Muslim devised a plan. He said: "No problem - become a Muslim, and continue to drink." The Muslim didn't meant this, of course, but he said to him: "Become a Muslim, and continue to drink." The Jews said: "Fine." He said: "I proclaim that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." The Muslim said to him: "Now you have become a Muslim. If you drink alcohol, we will carry out the punishment for drinking alcohol on you, and if you renounce Islam, we will kill you." So the man remained a Muslim and never drank alcohol again. This was a nice trick by this good Muslim. ................
[Gravenimage comments]: You may note that Mahmoud Al-Masri seems to believe that the penalty for apostasy in Islam *is death*. But surely that can't be, since so many Muslims have repeatedly assured us that this isn't true at all.
I mean, unless there's something to this "Taqiyya" thing, after all...
Attentive readers may recall that I had some exchanges over at the execrable Loonwatch.com on the issue of the death penalty for apostasy -- my point being that there is clear and unequivocal evidence from all levels of Islamic jurisprudence and practice, that the penalty for apostasy is death. That view is labelled "Islamophobic" by the good folk at Loonwatch. So it seems that Al-Masri is also an Islamophobe. One sees that often amongst pious Muslims and senior spokes-mams.
