In the hands of Islamophobes and pro-Israel flunkies, 'taqiyya' has served as a useful term to dismiss not only criticism, but the growing avalanche of inconvenient facts.
The most important part of this essay is the first paragraph. As a practicing Muslim all of my life, I only heard about taqqia here in the west from non Muslims. This is not a word that gets taught to Muslims nowadays because the type of prosecution that justifies hiding one identify does not exist in today’s world, perhaps with the exception of some anti religious practices in communist countries.
It’s very important to add that in the Muslim faith, it is strictly forbidden to attack a non combatant, scholars largely agrees that if you obtain a visa to visit or live in a country that’s a peace contract that should prevent you from doing harm and similarly a non Muslim obtaining a visa to visit a Muslim country peacefully should never be attacked,
In a nut shell, the BS about sleeper cells has nothing to do with the Muslim faith because a muslim living among non Muslims should never engage in any form of violence except in self defense.
For whatever reason, I never thought that Muslims in Spain had the convert, leave or die option that Queen Isabella gave to her Jewish subjects, even to her personal doctor, who was Jewish. The Jews were offered sanctuary by the Ottoman Sultan, the House of Orange in the Netherlands and by their friends and neighbors who sought safety in the North African lands of their origins.
When the ABC lslands - Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao - opened up, many Jews moved there where they established the first synagogue in the New World. Others went up to the Dutch commercial colony of Nieu Amsterdam, which we know today as New York. Fortunately they were sufficiently established in British New York when Washington and his men were freezing at Valley Forge to step in, led by Jew Chaim Solomon, who provided heavy, warm clothes so Washington's army didn't freeze to death.
If I remember correctly, over 80 languages were spoken in New Amsterdam and when Peg-Leg Peter Stuyvesant decided to kick out the Jews, the House of Orange, petitioned by the Jewish community in New York, passed the word to Governor Stuyvesant that he was to treat the Jews as proper Dutch citizens and let them stay with safety and equal rights.
Now i'm wondering about the immigration of evicted Muslims from Granada and other beautiful parts of Spain and whether there was a nascent Muslim community in New Amsterdam as well. Could the plague of anti-Muslim bigotry have reached into the heart of this first and long-enduring settlement at the outpouring of the Hudson River and stayed alive for over 400 years?
This is an under-studied issue, IMHO, and a full account may not exist, yet. This is from Wikipedia:
"zThe conquest was followed by a series of edicts (1499–1526) that forced the conversions of Muslims in Castile, Navarre, and Aragon; these same groups were expelled from Habsburg Spain by a series of decrees starting in 1609.[12][13][14] Approximately three million Muslims emigrated or were driven out of Spain between 1492 and 1610."
Great explainer. We have the same idea in Judaism, pikuach nefesh - you can hide your faith if it will keep you from getting killed. We are raised with hero stories about people who died rather than deny their faith though, like during Torquemada's inquisition.
The Orange Cheeto’s Blatant Plan for Election Subversion
Yesterday Cheeto unabashedly claimed that the Nazi party was gerrymandering in Texas so the Nazis would pick up 5 Texas legislative seats in the upcoming 2026 midterms(https://bit.ly/4kJXnyG) The mid decade redraw is pin ootentially illegal but being forced by Cheeto’s DOJ in order to target areas which have sizeable Latino and Black populations
The obvious mockery of the Voting Rights Act is beginning to show Nazi attempts to secure some election wins Cheeto sees the rope tightening around his neck with the Epstein file fiasco….word has it that they will release the client files in the next couple of weeks….and his highly unpopular ICE detention of immigrants in concentration camps Not to mention the loss of health care for 17m Americans and loss of food benefits for another 10m
But get ready folks This is just the beginning of how Cheeto and his Nazi sycophants are going to try to rig the 2026 midterms
Thank you for this piece. I have shared widely. Perhaps one person will open their mind.
The most important part of this essay is the first paragraph. As a practicing Muslim all of my life, I only heard about taqqia here in the west from non Muslims. This is not a word that gets taught to Muslims nowadays because the type of prosecution that justifies hiding one identify does not exist in today’s world, perhaps with the exception of some anti religious practices in communist countries.
It’s very important to add that in the Muslim faith, it is strictly forbidden to attack a non combatant, scholars largely agrees that if you obtain a visa to visit or live in a country that’s a peace contract that should prevent you from doing harm and similarly a non Muslim obtaining a visa to visit a Muslim country peacefully should never be attacked,
In a nut shell, the BS about sleeper cells has nothing to do with the Muslim faith because a muslim living among non Muslims should never engage in any form of violence except in self defense.
For whatever reason, I never thought that Muslims in Spain had the convert, leave or die option that Queen Isabella gave to her Jewish subjects, even to her personal doctor, who was Jewish. The Jews were offered sanctuary by the Ottoman Sultan, the House of Orange in the Netherlands and by their friends and neighbors who sought safety in the North African lands of their origins.
When the ABC lslands - Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao - opened up, many Jews moved there where they established the first synagogue in the New World. Others went up to the Dutch commercial colony of Nieu Amsterdam, which we know today as New York. Fortunately they were sufficiently established in British New York when Washington and his men were freezing at Valley Forge to step in, led by Jew Chaim Solomon, who provided heavy, warm clothes so Washington's army didn't freeze to death.
If I remember correctly, over 80 languages were spoken in New Amsterdam and when Peg-Leg Peter Stuyvesant decided to kick out the Jews, the House of Orange, petitioned by the Jewish community in New York, passed the word to Governor Stuyvesant that he was to treat the Jews as proper Dutch citizens and let them stay with safety and equal rights.
Now i'm wondering about the immigration of evicted Muslims from Granada and other beautiful parts of Spain and whether there was a nascent Muslim community in New Amsterdam as well. Could the plague of anti-Muslim bigotry have reached into the heart of this first and long-enduring settlement at the outpouring of the Hudson River and stayed alive for over 400 years?
This is an under-studied issue, IMHO, and a full account may not exist, yet. This is from Wikipedia:
"zThe conquest was followed by a series of edicts (1499–1526) that forced the conversions of Muslims in Castile, Navarre, and Aragon; these same groups were expelled from Habsburg Spain by a series of decrees starting in 1609.[12][13][14] Approximately three million Muslims emigrated or were driven out of Spain between 1492 and 1610."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista
The idea that those 3,000,000 didn't go to the same places everyone else did, boggles the mind.
Here's another interesting article:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/spain-moriscos-islam-last-remnants-after-reconquista
Great explainer. We have the same idea in Judaism, pikuach nefesh - you can hide your faith if it will keep you from getting killed. We are raised with hero stories about people who died rather than deny their faith though, like during Torquemada's inquisition.
Excellent and well explained article.
The Orange Cheeto’s Blatant Plan for Election Subversion
Yesterday Cheeto unabashedly claimed that the Nazi party was gerrymandering in Texas so the Nazis would pick up 5 Texas legislative seats in the upcoming 2026 midterms(https://bit.ly/4kJXnyG) The mid decade redraw is pin ootentially illegal but being forced by Cheeto’s DOJ in order to target areas which have sizeable Latino and Black populations
The obvious mockery of the Voting Rights Act is beginning to show Nazi attempts to secure some election wins Cheeto sees the rope tightening around his neck with the Epstein file fiasco….word has it that they will release the client files in the next couple of weeks….and his highly unpopular ICE detention of immigrants in concentration camps Not to mention the loss of health care for 17m Americans and loss of food benefits for another 10m
But get ready folks This is just the beginning of how Cheeto and his Nazi sycophants are going to try to rig the 2026 midterms
Thank you. That was a very interesting read. I will read more of your work.
Fascinating. I didn't know about this. Thank you