Taqqiya

Submitted by Derek (Spain), Feb 14, 2009 at 12:55

... Taqqiyah is a Shi'ite concept and ranks from the time when Shi'ites were under severe persecution by Sunnites after the death of the prophet and in the turmoil that incurred deciding who would follow his heritage. As a result followers of Shi'ia were considered heretics and Taqqiya was deemed permissible. It applies solely to hiding one's faith when under persecution.
It was practiced by Muslims (Sunnis) forcibly converted to Christianity after Spain fell back to the Christian kings. Under a different name it was also practiced by those Sephardim jews forcibly converted.

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