I declare them [the ancestors] far above that! For they—may Allah the Almighty sanctify them—were the most knowledgeable and guided in the most knowledgeable and guided of their age in both the Outward and Inward religious sciences. For this reason, they followed the path of the Messengers by establishing [the Outward], urging others toward it, and striving in it through word and deed. They have many poetic and prose works on this subject, and they adopted the Etiquette of Dissimulation (Adab al-Taqiya); for "he who has no Dissimulation has no religion." This was done for the sake of teaching, discipline, and concealment, not for the sake of religious adherence to or belief in the Outward forms. If some of our contemporary scholars establish these forms as a matter of [actual] piety rather than Dissimulation, it is perhaps because they were raised upon them and their souls became accustomed to them without taking into account the ultimate purpose and justification for their establishment.

A story between a learned Sheikh, Sheikh Eid, and the Beloved (Al-Habib) regarding Taqiyya.

I witnessed one of these prominent figures performing the Prayer of the Qibla [the formal Islamic prayer] in the presence of my father, Sheikh Eid al-Salih, and a gathering of the believers—may Allah sanctify them all. After he turned from his prayer, my father asked him about the reason for establishing it among the believers. He answered: "Because it is an obligation from Allah and His Messenger."

My father replied: