War Is Deception

You will have heard by now about the plot by a gang of British Muslims to blow up seven passenger airliners in one go, in what would have been the worst act of Islamic terrorism since 9/11. They planned to do all this "in the name of Islam" (but I thought Islam had nothing to do with terrorism!).

But what is most interesting about this story to me is the fact that the plotters "hoped to hoodwink airport security officers by putting pornographic magazines and condoms in their hand luggage to indicate that they could not be Muslim zealots".

This is important. Muhammad himself said, "War is deception." (Bukhari v.4, b.56, no.3030, and others) That is, one of the most important tools Muslims can make use of when waging war is deception of the enemy in order to make him let down his guard. This led to the doctrine of taqiyya, or religious deception, which was largely development by the Shi'ites, but the basis for which is grounded in sources that Sunnis consider sacred and reliable. We've seen it in action before. In the days prior to 9/11 the hijackers were seen at strip clubs and bars, which may have been an attempt to appear to onlookers as if they were not strict Muslims.

Non-Muslims should be aware of things like this. The terrorists didn't get away with it this time, but until we have a better understanding of important Islamic concepts such as religious deception, they always have a chance. And similarly, Muslims themselves should be finding ways to deal with this. But you can be sure that they probably won't.