If you have been paying any attention to things like the Gaza conflict, Iraq, Iran, stories on Terrorism and so on, and if your source has been the main stream media, you are probably very confused.
On the one hand you hear that Islam is a religion of peace, one that is tolerant of other religions, that believes in equality and treats their women well. Then you see acts of terrorism, and hear about honor killings, death for apostates and hear about women having few rights in a Sharia based society.
Truth is important within Islam. There is the ultimate truth of the Koran, dictated by an angel directly from the book of truth in Heaven. There are versus in the Koran like "Truly God guides not one who transgresses and lies!" (40:28) that rails against lying and others like (33:24) that praise Truth.
Behind these is a second doctrine, one of taqiyya (dissimulation). This was developed to deal with religious persecution but has now become the norm of public behavior among Muslims, both Sunni and Shi'a, to be used whenever there is conflict between faith and expectancy. It is supported by (16:106 and 2:195) in the Koran and others like (3:28) that warns against taking any non-Muslim friends.
There are some supporting Haddith like (Al-Tirmidhi Number 5033: Narrated by Asma, daughter of Yazid) "Lying is allowed only in three cases: falsehood spoken by a man to his wife to please her, falsehood in war, and falsehood to put things right between people." The second one has a very broad definition and is used in any defense of Islam. I.e. it is completely justified for a Muslim to lie to a non-Muslim about their faith.
With the understanding of taqiyya comes some understanding of the apparent dichotomy of Islam that exists to the outside observer. Those that want to think the best or hope for it will only look at one side, the side that is tayiyya, while not even understanding that such a principle exists within Islam.
Note: The references are included for self study. They are taken from authorised Islamic texts.
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