“... If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it.

            “’When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if the goal is permissible, and it is obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory.

            “’When, for example, one is concealing a Muslim from an oppressor who asks where he is, it is obligatory to lie about him being hidden.

            “’Or when a person deposits an article with one for safekeeping and an oppressor wanting to appropriate it inquires about it, it is obligatory to lie about having concealed it, for if one informs him about the article and he then seizes it, one is financially liable (to the owner) to cover the article’s cost.

            “’Whether the purpose [of telling a lie] is war, settling a disagreement, or gaining sympathy of a victim legally entitled to retaliate against one, so that he will forbear to do so, it is not unlawful to lie when any of these aims can be obtained through lying.’”

                                    “(a)  Islamic scholars elaborate on this point.

            “’Believers [Muslims] in a weakened stage in a non-Muslim country should forgive and be patient with people of the book [being Christians and Jews] when they insult Allah and His prophet by any means.  Believers [Muslims] should lie to people of the book [Christians and Jews] to protect their lives and their religion [of Islam].’  [see note  16]

                                    “(b)  This [above] passage has implications for

press reporting, meetings and a wide range of activities where open-source intelligence collection is practiced [by U.S. intelligence analysts].  [See also this passage, from an Islamic scholar]:

            “’As a subterfuge, they [Muslims] may deny Islam to escape punishment from non-believers who are their captors.  (Precedence:  Amar Ben Yasser, hostage of the Quraysh Tribe).’  [see note  17]

                                    “(c)  This [above] passage has implications [for

U.S. intelligence analysts] for assessing source-reporting.  [See also this next passage, from an Islamic scholar]:

            “’[Muslims may deny Islam as]… a subterfuge to gain acceptance by non-believers for the purposes of cover for assassination and covert operations (Precedence:  Muhammad sent Abed Allah Bin Anis to penetrate Shabban Bin Kalad Al-Handi’s army and kill him.)’   [see note  18]

                                    “(d)  This [above] passage has implications for

[ U.S. intelligence analysts and] criminal investigations, security programs, analytical work and other general research.

                                    “(6)  Giving a Misleading Impression.  Giving a misleading impression is a preferable alternative to lying, and may serve as one of several motivations and enablers for the problematic translations of Arabic texts into English.

                                                “(a)  With disturbing regularity, English versions of Arabic texts are consistently demilitarized and rendered more pacifistic for non-Muslim or Western consumption.  For the [ U.S. intelligence] analyst, this means double-checking which is more easily said than done.

                                                “(b)  The guidance contained in Reliance of the Traveler is specific.

            “’Giving a misleading impression is among the most important topics, being frequently met with and often abused.  It befits us to examine the matter closely, and whoever learns of it should reflect upon it and apply it.  [see note  19]

            “’Giving a misleading impression means to utter an _expression that ostensibly implies one meaning, while intending a different meaning the _expression may also have, one that contradicts the ostensive purport.  It is a kind of deception.’ [see note  20]

            “’…It often takes the form of the speaker intending a specific referent while the hearer understands a more general one, as when a person asks a householder, “Is So and so here?”  to which the householder, intending the space between himself and the questioner rather than the space inside the house, replies, “He is not here.”  [see note  20]

            “’Scholars say that there is no harm in giving a misleading impression if required by an interest countenanced by Sacred Law that is more important than not misleading the person being addressed, or if there is a pressing need which could not be otherwise fulfilled except through lying.’”  [see note  21]

                                    “(7)  Giving a Positive Interpretation to Other’s Seeming Mistakes.  Students of Islam have an obligation to project a positive bias in their interpretations of Islam.

            “Nawawi mentions, in the section of the introduction of Sharh al-Muhadhdhab about the behavior of teacher and student that ‘it is obligatory for a student to give a positive interpretation to every utterance of his brothers that seems to be wrong until he has exhausted seventy excuses.  No one is incapable of this except a failure.’”  [see note  22]

                                                “(a)  This [above quotation] has implications for the [U.S. intelligence] analyst relying on academic works (Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertations) that later find their way into mainstream academic and open sources.  It helps explain a peculiar pattern of evasion identifiable in televised exchanges between news commentators and Islamic authorities.

                                                “(b)  The requirement for offering ‘seventy excuses’ is an effective strategy in wearing down and eventually defeating investigative reporting.  This may limit the usefulness of televised discussion forums as sources for intelligence analysis.

                        “e.  Implications for Researchers.  There are at least two critical research nodes vulnerable to this phenomenon [of seventy excuses].  [These are] the entry point of scholarly works, characterized by academic members of Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation committees, and the end-users of these scholarly works, individual researchers.

                                    “(1)  Academic Members of Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation Committees.   A survey of thesis and dissertations available through ‘Digital Dissertations’ identifies a large number of academic products addressing Islamic topics.  [see note  23] 

                                                “(a)  A review of these scholarly works gives anecdotal evidence that Islamic topics are treated by Islamic authors with a positive bias while non-Islamic authors tend to be more critical.

                                                “(b)  In cases where Muslims comprise Thesis or Dissertations committee membership, thesis and dissertations tend to suppress criticism and accentuate more laudatory interpretations of the Islamic issues under discussion.

                                                “(c)  Objective analysis appears to give way to positive bias under Islamic tutorage even in mainstream academic.  The gate-keepers of scholarship integrity may not be functioning as well as possible when addressing Islamic issues. 

                                                “(c)  This has implications for researchers (including [ U.S. ] intelligence analysts).

                                    “(2)  Researchers (including [ U.S. ] Intelligence Analysts).

Given the broad religious, legal and scholarly inertia toward projecting a positive bias when discussing Islamic topics, and the possible extension of that trend into mainstream U.S. academia and scholarship, it becomes essential that researchers (including [ U.S. ] intelligence analysts) exert more than the usual care when relying on Muslim sources.

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