Taqiyya

World Magazine reports,"WikiIslam defines taqiyya as "sanctified hypocrisy." That's generous. At least a half dozen verses of the Quran instruct Muslims to practice deception, or to lie, when it serves the purposes of Islam. Taqiyya means "guard," as in guarding oneself against unbelievers, which can include lying to them or deceiving them. "We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them," according to authority Abu Al-Darda. In one passage (Sura 16: 106) Allah allows Muslims to go so far as to deny their faith when under "compulsion," as long their heart remains "firm in Faith."
The practice is so deeply embedded in Arab culture and the Muslim world that one has to wonder how Western leaders can negotiate with leaders like Ahmadinejad, steeped in taqiyya. "You go quickly to the bottom line, or the heart of the matter, or you ask for my gut reaction," a Pakistani friend once told me, "while we prefer to beat around the bush, to talk in circles, to redirect."
Daniel Shayesteh recently told me, "A Muslim cannot be a real Muslim if he does not use taqiyya." Shayesteh knows: Born in Iran, by age 9 he could recite the entire Quran in Arabic (Iranians speak Farsi, and just a fraction outside the clerics know Arabic). As a young man he joined Hezbollah and plotted against Westerners, but during an encounter with Iranian Christians in Turkey he became one. He says Iranian leaders are using taqiyya not only against the West but as a crowd-control device among their own people when they believe their religion is threatened.
In another prominent example a year ago, two members of Hamas pledged their support for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas over Hamas figures. They did it to win release from prison, which only Abbas could negotiate. Later, as one senior Hamas leader explained, "A Muslim is permitted to say things that oppose his beliefs in order to prevent damages or to be saved from death."
Examples are turning up in the West too, as so-called moderate Muslim groups put a gloss on the teaching of controversial topics like jihad. "
I believe one can therefore only trust a Muslim as far as you know their personal integrity. Friendship is the key. Is your friend as bad as this?