The Psychology of Taqiyya

Understanding Deception in Ideology

The case of Taleb Alabdulmohsen, the 50-year-old Saudi doctor who drove his car into a crowd at the Magdeburg Christmas market on December 20, is far less ambiguous than much of the press suggested. The attempts to inject “complexity” into the story often felt half-baked and evasive: portraying him primarily as an ex-Muslim, an Elon Musk admirer, or an AfD sympathiser to frame the attack as somehow adjacent to the far right.

Predictably, accusations of “Islamophobia” followed. But the consistent reluctance to confront attacks involving perpetrators from Islamic backgrounds has become a pattern — one that leaves the public with a growing sense of insecurity, frustration, and betrayal.

Taleb explicitly targeted German Christians. His contradictory social media footprint may raise questions about his mental stability and ideological convictions, but it does not erase the political and religious symbolism of the attack. On the contrary, the calculated nature of the crime directly challenges the comforting narrative that ideology played no serious role.

As a Saudi-born refugee, Taleb brutally murdered five innocent people, including a nine-year-old boy, and injured 235 others. He arrived in Germany in 2006, claimed to be a persecuted ex-Muslim, and was granted refugee status in 2016. According to Saudi officials, he had fled his homeland to evade charges of rape, human trafficking, and terrorism.

On X, Taleb presented himself as a psychiatrist and the founder of a Saudi rights movement. Yet N-TV's reporting portrayed him as a fraud masquerading as a medical professional. He was employed as a psychiatrist specialising in the rehabilitation of addicted offenders at a state-owned psychiatric hospital in Bernburg, near Magdeburg. According to the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, colleagues distrusted him and mockingly called him “Dr Google” because he relied on online searches for diagnoses. He allegedly prescribed medication that could have endangered patients’ lives, with disasters averted only through the intervention of vigilant nurses. Staff also reported bizarre advice to patients seeking help with addiction, including recommendations to drink alcohol and avoid honey. Nevertheless, clinic management reportedly dismissed the complaints.

Taleb’s social media footprint was a maze of contradictions. He posted numerous anti-Islam statements while simultaneously sending vicious threats to ex-Muslim individuals and organisations. Several recipients accused him of harassment and stalking. He also operated an Arabic-language website offering fraudulent asylum advice, including instructions on how to pose as gay or ex-Muslim. These activities appear to support Saudi allegations of human trafficking.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly warned German authorities about Taleb’s criminal background and extremist inclinations, issuing four notes verbales to intelligence agencies and the German Foreign Office. According to Saudi officials, they received no response, while repeated extradition requests were ignored. One of Taleb’s alleged victims, a Saudi ex-Muslim woman, also warned German authorities that he had spoken of plans for mass killings of Germans. Tragically, her warnings, too, appear to have been ignored.

In a 2016 tweet, Taleb identified himself as a Shia Muslim while describing Wahhabism as the “original Islam.” Later, he promoted the Islamic Republic’s “One-State Solution,” praised Iran as the true leader of “resistance” against Israel, and insinuated that Sunni groups such as ISIS and Hamas were Israeli proxies. His rhetoric closely mirrored the propaganda of the Iranian regime, which seeks to present itself as the morally superior vanguard of anti-Israel “resistance” while delegitimising its Sunni rivals.

This combination is revealing: an alleged ex-Muslim publicly railing against Islam, while simultaneously echoing Shia Islamist and Iranian regime narratives. By presenting Wahhabism as “original Islam” and adopting Tehran’s conspiratorial rhetoric, Taleb displayed the paranoid urge to “uncover” hidden truths — a pattern consistent with a radical operating behind a false persona.

Islam often appears paradoxical to non-Muslims: it is routinely described as a religion of peace, yet its adherents are disproportionately associated with global jihadist violence. While the Qur’an condemns deception among believers — “surely God guides not him who is prodigal and a liar” — Islamic jurisprudence has long recognised circumstances under which deception toward non-Muslims may be permissible. This doctrine is known as taqiyya.

The Qur’an itself reflects this tension through verses that appear to alternate between peaceful coexistence and hostility. Verse 3:28 is often cited in this context: “Let believers not take unbelievers as allies instead of believers … unless you guard yourselves against them, taking precautions.”

Historically, taqiyya was most closely associated with Shia Muslims, who used concealment to survive persecution by Sunni majorities. In other contexts, however, Islamic traditions have also justified deception as a strategic tool in conflict, particularly in the context of jihad. In this sense, concealment and misdirection are not merely personal survival mechanisms, but can become political and ideological instruments.

In At-Taqiyya fil-Islam (Dissimulation in Islam), Sami Mukaram, a former professor of Islamic studies at the American University of Beirut, emphasises the importance of taqiyya within Islamic doctrine and political practice. He writes that taqiyya is of “fundamental importance in Islam” and describes it as a practice recognised across Islamic sects, particularly in politics.

The Magdeburg car attack sits at the intersection of ideological manipulation, mental instability, and systemic failure. Taleb’s anti-Islam online persona complicates the narrative, but it does not erase the significance of his target selection or behaviour. He attacked German Christians at a Christmas market, discredited genuine ex-Muslims, and caused the least direct harm to Muslims. That pattern should not be dismissed as irrelevant.

His broader conduct also points to a scheming and manipulative personality: posing as a psychological authority, running a fraudulent asylum website, issuing public threats, and staging his violent intent for attention online. His lack of empathy, willingness to harm innocents, and apparent long-term planning suggest traits consistent with severe antisocial or narcissistic pathology. His online polls about violence further indicate that the attack was not a spontaneous psychotic eruption, but a calculated act developed over time.

By targeting a Christmas market — a powerful symbol of German and Christian identity — Taleb Alabdulmohsen sought to maximise social shock and outrage. Whether or not he was practising taqiyya, the central issue remains the elephant in the room: the ideological pathologies within the Islamic world that produce radicals like Taleb.

The greater scandal is that this was not unforeseeable. German authorities had reportedly received repeated warnings and failed to act. That failure points to a systemic breakdown that allowed this tragedy to unfold.