Abstract
This study provides an outline of the religious doctrine of taqiyya or dissimulation in Sunni Islam, drawing on Qur’ānic commentaries, hadīth compilations, legal manuals, and ethical treatises. Moriscos and the North African jurists who advised them had access to discussions of taqiyya and the closely connected legal dispensation of coercion ( ikrāh ) through these sources, many of which were wellknown in al-Andalus before the Reconquista, and some of which continued to be popular afterwards. Attention to this material helps one to interpret the 1504 fatwā of Ibn Abī Jum’a al-Wahrānī to the Moriscos and in particular his discussion of blasphemy under coercion.
Highlights
Este trabajo ofrece un resumen de la doctrina religiosa de taqiyya o disimulación en el islam sunní, recurriendo a comentarios del Qur,an, compendios de hadit, obras de ley islámica y tratados de principios éticos
This study investigates the theoretical background of Morisco dissimulation through examination of the well-known legal responsum issued by Ibn Abi Jum,a al-Maghrawi alWahrani for the Moriscos of Granada in 910/1504 as well as other Islamic texts that would have been accessible in Spain and North Africa, arguing that taqiyya forms part of standard Sunni doctrine, overlapping to a large extent with the related legal dispensation of ikrah “coercion, duress, compulsion”
Ibn Abi Jum,a’s fatwa may be interpreted as endorsing taqiyya despite the fact that the term itself does not appear in the text
Summary
Literally “fear, caution” is an Islamic legal dispensation (rukhsa) allowing dissimulation in cases of danger. The Qur,anic verses at which commentaries regularly discuss taqiyya or closely related matters are three: Q 3:28, which uses the cognate terms ittaqu and tuqah or taqiyya and refers to dissimulation; Q 16:106, which assesses the status of a believer who blasphemes under coercion; and Q 40:28, which depicts a relative of Pharaoh who was a true believer but concealed the fact In her investigation of aljamiado translations of the Qur’an, Consuelo López-Morillas provides a picture of the tradition of tafsir that provided the background for the Moriscos’ interpretation of the text. 671/1272-73) al-Jami‛ li-ahkam al-Qur,an.[36] The key phrase wa-qalbuhu mutma,inn bi-l-iman “while his heart is still at peace in belief” appears in many Sunni legal discussions of both taqiyya and coercion and, noticeably, in Ibn Abi Jum,a’s fatwa. Given the salience of this passage in the Qur’an, it is difficult to claim that Sunni Muslims would be unaware of the concept of dissimulation; it is presumably because of this passage that the term kitman “concealment” comes to be used as an occasional synonym of taqiyya in Islamic legal literature
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