'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' The Exalted said: "Let not the believers take the disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. And whoever does that has nothing to do with Allah, except that you guard yourselves against them in a precaution. And Allah warns you of Himself. And to Allah is the final destination." This prohibition regarding taking allies is only in what a person shows outwardly. As for taking them in his heart and intention, no believer would do that. The ones being prohibited here have already established faith for themselves. Thus, the prohibition is merely about showing kindness to the disbelievers and inclining towards them. The wording of the verse is general for all times. People have differed regarding the reason for this verse. Ibn Abbas said: Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, Ibn Abi al-Haqiq, and Qays ibn Zayd had secretly conspired with a group of the Ansar to mislead them from their religion. So, Rifa'ah ibn al-Mundhir ibn Zubair, Abdullah ibn Jubair, and Sa'd ibn Khaythamah said to those people: 'Avoid those Jews and beware of their secret dealings.' But those people insisted on allying with the Jews, so the verse was revealed regarding that. Some said: The verse was revealed concerning the story of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah and his letter to the people of Mecca. The verse is general regarding all of this, and it includes the action of Abu Lubabah in his gesture to his throat when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, sent him to negotiate with Banu Qurayzah. As for the torture of Banu al-Mughira to Ammar, it was revealed regarding what the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, permitted for Ammar: "Except for one who is forced while his heart is secure in faith." (An-Nahl: 106). And His saying, the Exalted: "instead of" indicates that the thing to which it is added is absent and removed, not being part of the first matter at all. In the example: "And it was commanded instead of Ubaidah the Wadhim," as if it does not reach the thing to which it is added. Al-Zajjaj arranged it: the opposition to honor from the thing that is 'instead of.' And in what he said, there is consideration. His saying: "has nothing to do with Allah in anything" means: in anything that is pleasing in perfection and correctness. This is as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever deceives us is not one of us." And in the speech, there is an omission of an addition, the estimation of which is: 'he has nothing to do with drawing closer to Allah or seeking favor.' His saying "in anything" is in the position of accusative as a state from the pronoun in His saying (has nothing to do with Allah). Then Allah permitted the showing of taking them as allies on the condition of precaution. As for concealing it, it is not correct for a believer to be characterized by it in any state. The majority of people read "taqatan," its origin is wuqayah - on the pattern of fu'alah - with the 'fa' being pronounced and the 'ayn' being opened. They replaced the 'waw' with a 'ta' like 'tujah' and 'tuka' so it became 'tuqayah' then the 'ya' was turned into an 'alif' due to its movement and the opening of what precedes it, thus it came as 'taqatan.' Abu Ali said: It is permissible that 'taqatan' is like 'rumaat' as a state from "you guard yourselves" and it is a plural of the active participle even if no active participle has been used from it, and it is permissible that it is a plural of taqi and 'fa'il' is made like 'fa'il.'

(p-193) Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, Humayd ibn Qays, Ya'qub al-Hadrami, Mujahid, Qatadah, Al-Dahhak, Abu Rajea, Al-Jahdari, and Abu Haywah read "taqiyyatan" - with a فتح (fatha) on the تاء (ta) and a تشديد (shaddah) on the ياء (ya) - in the form of فَعِيلَة (fa'ila). Similarly, Al-Mufaddal narrated from Asim. Al-Kisai tilted the قاف (qaf) in "tuqaatan" in both instances, and Hamzah tilted in this verse but did not tilt in his saying: ﴿Haqq tuqatihi﴾ [Al-Imran: 102]. The rest of the reciters opened the قاف (qaf) except that Nafi' would read it between the فتح (fatha) and the كسر (kasra).

Qatadah went to say that the meaning of the verse: ﴿Except that you fear from them a taqiyyah﴾ is in the context of maintaining family ties, meaning: blame. So, it is as if the verse for him permits kindness to relatives among the disbelievers. The majority of the interpreters went to say that the meaning of the verse is: except that you fear from them a fear, and this is the meaning of taqiyyah. The scholars differed on whom taqiyyah applies to, and by what means it occurs, and what it permits. As for whom taqiyyah applies to; it is every able oppressor who coerces by his oppression, and this includes disbelievers if they dominate, the oppression of leaders, and the plunderers, and the people of status in the cities. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: and the husband of a woman may coerce her.

As for by what means taqiyyah occurs and what its ruling is; that is by fear of killing, and by fear for one's limbs, and by being beaten with a whip, and by other forms of torture. If something is done to a person from this or he fears it with a strong fear; then he is coerced and has the ruling of taqiyyah. Imprisonment is coercion, and binding is coercion, and threats and warnings are coercion, and enmity from the people of status is taqiyyah. All of these depend on the state of the coerced and the matter he is coerced into. How many people is imprisonment not coercion for them, and likewise, a great man is coerced by imprisonment and beating without causing death to make him disbelieve; this cannot be imagined as his taqiyyah due to the severity of what is demanded of him, and the matters of coercion are of the type that the understanding of the situation enters into.

As for what is permissible, the scholars have agreed on its permissibility for the sayings with the tongue; from disbelief and what is less than it, and from selling, gifting, and divorce, and the utterance of all of this, and from politeness and dealing. Ibn Mas'ud said: There is no speech that can protect me from two lashes from a ruler except that I would speak it. People have differed regarding actions. A group of scholars, among them Al-Hasan, Makhlud, and Masruq, said: The coerced person does everything that he is compelled to do from what Allah has prohibited, and he saves himself by that. Masruq said: If he does not act until he dies, he enters the Fire. Many scholars, among them Sahnun, said: Rather, if he does not act until he dies, he is rewarded, and leaving that which is permissible is better than using it. It has been narrated that Umar ibn Al-Khattab said about a man called Nahid ibn Al-Harith, who was captured by the Persians, and he was offered to drink wine and eat pork and was threatened with fire, but he did not act, so they threw him into it. This reached Umar, and he said: What was upon Nahid to eat? A large number of scholars said: Taqiyya is only permissible for sayings, but as for actions, no. This has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, Al-Rabi, and Al-Dahhak, and it has been narrated from Sahnun. Al-Hasan said regarding a man who was told: Prostrate to an idol or we will kill you, he said: If the idol is facing the Qibla, let him prostrate and make his intention for Allah. But if it is not facing the Qibla, then no, even if they kill him. Ibn Habib said: This is a good saying.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: What prevents him from making his intention for Allah even if it is not facing the Qibla? In the Book of Allah: 'Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah' [Al-Baqarah: 115]. And in the Shari'ah, it is permissible to pray voluntarily for the traveler to a place other than the Qibla. These are the principles of the issue of Taqiyya, and as for the branching of its issues, it is many and does not require brevity to gather them.

And His saying, the Exalted: 'And Allah warns you of Himself'... to the end of the verse, is a warning, a reminder, and an admonition regarding the Hereafter. And His saying, the Exalted: 'Himself' is a substitute for Him, and this is an address based on what is understood by humans. The self in this context refers back to the essence, and in the speech, there is an omission of a genitive because the warning is indeed from punishment and retribution and the like. Ibn Abbas and Al-Hasan said: And Allah warns you of His punishment.