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Hizb ut-Tahrir
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Hizb ut-Tahrir (; ) is an international pan-Islamist, Sunni, vanguard political party whose goal is to combine all Muslim countries in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.
Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge (Qadi) from Haifa, founded the organization in 1953. Since then Hizb ut-Tahrir has spread to more than 40 countries, and by one estimate has about one million members.
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Encyclopedia
Hizb ut-Tahrir (; ) is an international pan-Islamist, Sunni, vanguard political party whose goal is to combine all Muslim countries in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.
Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge (Qadi) from Haifa, founded the organization in 1953. Since then Hizb ut-Tahrir has spread to more than 40 countries, and by one estimate has about one million members. Hizb ut-Tahrir is very active in the west, particularly in the United Kingdom, and is also active in several Arab and Central Asian countries, despite being banned by most of the local regimes.
HT believes a caliphate "will provide stability and security to all the people of the region, Muslims and Non-Muslims". The party promotes "an elaborate and detailed program for instituting an Islamist state" which will "establish the laws of the Islamic Shariah and to carry the Da'wah of Islam to the world." It believes this "comprehensive solution" will provide "sincere leadership that cares for and protects its citizens from the colonial foreign policies of Bush and Blair" and bring an end to "US interventions, energy inspired wars, puppet (Muslim) governments and western values forced by the barrel of a gun." HT is strongly anti-Zionist and calls for "the dismantling" of the "illegal entity" of Israel.
HT has generated strong opinions. Some observers believe it is a victim of unjust and untrue allegations of connections to terrorism. Others argue its stated opposition to violence is tactical and temporary, and it works to create an atmosphere conducive to terrorism by preaching hatred and by actions such as calling suicide bombers "martyrs" and talking of the need to "destroy the new crusaders," i.e. Western troops in Iraq.
Aims and methods
The stated aim of Hizb ut-Tahrir is to unite all Muslim nations in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, headed by an elected caliph. This it holds is a religious duty, "an obligation that Allah has decreed for the Muslims and commanded them to fulfill. He warned of the punishment awaiting those who neglect this duty."
According to the BBC, the group "professes non-violence and calls for the return in Muslim majority countries to the caliphate which oversaw the golden age of Islam before European imperialism colonized the Middle East." According to GlobalSecurity.org, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a "secretive sectarian group," that is "not against violence as such. It is just against the use of violence now."
Another analayst quotes the work of HuT founder Taqiuddin al-Nabhani to suggest that once HuT has succeeded in creating a unified, transnational Islamist state it should press on to expand the state into non-Muslim areas. According to al-Nabhani's work The Islamic State, Muslims abroad `should work towards turning their land where Islam is not implemented, and which [thus] considered as Dar al-Kufr into Dar al-Islam". Al-Nabhani also noted that the original Muslim Ummah had presented `a world superpower in the face of the two major camps at the time, [the Persian and Byzantine Empires] whereupon she struck them both simultaneously, conquered their lands and spread Islam over almost the whole of the inhabited parts of the world at that time.`
Although hizb means party in Arabic, according to Zeyno Baran of the Washington based Nixon Center think tank, HT hasn't register as a political party or attempt to elect candidates to political office in the countries where it is active. Nor does it engage in charitable or social service projects like groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Hizb ut-Tahrir's focus is on "ideological struggle" to establish its vision of the caliphate in the minds of Muslims.
This is not true in all countries or throughout HT history, however as HT has been involved in aid to needy Muslims in Indonesia and other countries, and has registered as a political organisation and stood for parliamentary seats in some countries. HT ran for office in Jordan in the 1950s when it was first formed, according to Suha Taji-Farouki, but was banned by the regime later.
Kyrgyz Hizb ut-Tahrir members campaigned unsuccessfully for an affiliated candidate in Kyrgyzstan's national presidential election in July 2005, and have participated in municipal elections where their followers have won in a number of regions.
According to one analyst, HuT "plans its development in three stages... First they convert new members. Secondly, they establish a network of secret cells, and finally, they try to infiltrate the government to work to legalize their party and its aims."
A more sympathetic description of this strategy is that HuT plans:
- Establish a community of HuT members who work together in the same way as the companions of Muhammad. Members should accept the goals and methods of the organization as their own and be ready to work to fulfill these goals.
- Build public opinion among the Muslim masses for the caliphate and the other Islamic concepts that will lead to a revival of Islamic thought.
- Once public opinion is achieved in a target country through debate and persuasion, the group hopes to obtain support from army generals, leaders, and other influential figures or bodies to facilitate the change of the government. The government would be replaced by one that implements Islam "generally and comprehensively", carrying Islamic thought to people throughout the world.
Talking to the BBC, an Indonesian party member described the "method used in Hizb ut-Tahrir" as "a change in thought patterns. We call it 'thought revolution'. When someone is given Islamic teaching - given the brilliant thinking of Islam - then they'll naturally undergo a thought revolution ... " According to the BBC, "unlike many other Islamist movements here, Hizb ut-Tahrir seems less interested in a broad mass following than a smaller more committed core of members, many of them drawn from Indonesia's educated middle classes."
Hizb ut-Tahrir's organisation is said to be strongly centralized with its central leadership based in Palestine. Underneath its center are "national organisations or wilayas, usually headed by a group of 12, control networks of local committees and cells." New members "spend at least two years studying party literature, under the guidance of mentors," before taking an oath of loyalty to the party. "A parallel, separate structure exists for women, who are encouraged to become fully active members."
The basic unit of the party is a cell of five members, the leader of which is called a mushrif. Only the mushrif knows the names of members of other cells.
Leadership
Founder Taqiuddin al-Nabhani died in 1977 and was succeeded by Abd al-Qadim Zallum who was succeeded in turn by Ata Khalil Abu-Rashta when Zallum died in 2003.
Timeline
This is a partial annotated timeline of HuT actions relating to their adopted method to fulfil the party's original raison d'etre by assuming authority and implementing Islamic law.
| Year | Snapshot of status |
|---|
| 1953 | Party founded by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani in Jerusalem. | | 1956 | Party yet to decide how it would assume authority | | 1960 | Interaction Stage begins in Jordan, and society is unresponsive. Party revises its method. | | 1961 | Party adopts the method of seeking support from the influential faction(s) to assume power. | | 1964 | Party announces that society in Jordan had responded positively to its call, forcing it to attempt to take power in Jordan. | | 1968/69 | Party allegedly involved in two (failed) coup attempts in Jordan and Syria. | | 1974 | Party allegedly involved in (failed) coup attempt in Egypt. | | 1977 | Party founder and leader Taqiuddin al-Nabhani dies in Lebanon, succeeded by Abd al-Qadim Zallum, a Palestinian cleric. | | 1978 | Party acknowledges that the Muslims had reached a state of total surrender and despair and was not responding to anything.
Party acknowledges that this had caused the level of activity to decline almost to standstill, mainly due to misconceptions. | | 1998 | Party indicates that the Caliphate is now the wish of all the Muslims. | | 2003 | Party leader Abd al-Qadim Zallum dies in Lebanon, succeeded (earlier that year) by Ata Khalil Abu-Rashta, a Palestinian civil engineer. |
Policies
Rights or freedoms
Two areas in which Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects the notion of freedom are religion and economics. Article 7 of its Draft Constitution declares that Muslims who "have by themselves renounced Islam ... are guilty of apostasy (murtad) from Islam [and] are to be executed."
David Commins of Department of History at Dickinson College, writes that according to Hizb ut-Tahrir, "individuals do not have absolute freedom as in capitalism: Apostasy, adultery, alcohol, and certain economic practices are forbidden. But within well-recognized bounds, the Muslim enjoys much freedom.
Many freedoms are included in the Hizb ut-Tahrir party's draft constitution. It argues that "there is no such thing as a clergy in Islam", that "every Muslim has the right to perform ijtihad" (personal exertion to derive hold opinions in Islamic law), and that "every thing or object is permitted, unless there is an evidence of prohibition" in the Qur'an. It is incumbent on Muslims to implement the hudud law, divinely ordained capital punishment for certain crimes. HuT's constitution states that "every individual is innocent until proven guilty", "no person shall be punished without a court sentence" and that "torture is absolutely forbidden and whoever inflicts torture on anyone shall be punished." Article 7 of the constitution institutes capital punishment for ridda (see ridda article for various definitions). It maintains that under the caliphate, "Arabic is the language of Islam and the sole language of the state."
The only sources of legislation to be considered divine & statutory, and therefore to be accepted without debate, according to Article 12, are those based upon fair interpretations of the Qur'an, the Sunnah, consensus (ijma), and legitimate analogies (Qiyas) from the previous three.
Democracy
Hizb ut-tahrir rejects democracy as western and unislamic. Hizb ut-tahrir argues democracy is
the rule of people, for the people, by the people. The basis of the democratic system is that people possess the right of sovereignty, choice and implementation. ... it is a Kufr system because it is laid down by man and it is not from the Shari'ah Laws.
However as a Sunni Muslim organization, HT believes the Caliph, i.e. the head of the Caliphate state, should not be inherited through blood lines or imposed on Muslims, but elected by them. Muslims should then pledge their loyalty to the Caliph. The Caliph
"is the head of state in the Khilafah. He is not a king or dictator but an elected leader whose authority to rule must be given willingly by the Muslims through a special ruling contact called baya. Without this baya he cannot be the head of state. This is completely opposite to a king or dictator who imposes his authority through coercion and force. The tyrant kings and dictators in the Muslim world are ample examples of this, imprisoning and torturing the Muslims and stealing their wealth and resources."
HT favor a system of elections for Muslims to chose the Caliph and other ruling officials.
Also part of the HT proposed draft constitution is a Majlis al-Umma for the Caliph to consult.
The founder of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Taqiuddin an-Nabhani, is careful to note that Shura differs from Western representative democracy in that while part of the "the ruling structure" of the Islamic caliphate, it's "not one of its pillars."
This is because the shura (consultation) in Islam is for seeking the opinion and not for ruling. This is contrary to the parliamentary system in democracy.
In another book Nabhani takes a somewhat different line, stating that when the Majlis makes a decision on internal issues it is binding on the Caliph to accept the decision; the Caliph's powers outlined in the draft proposed constitution refer only to foreign affairs when in a state of war which he considered existent during his life.
Women
The HT draft constitution states, "the primary role of a woman is that of a mother and wife. She is an honour ('ird) that must be protected.". Unlike some Muslim traditionalists, Hizb ut-Tahrir, advocates women's suffrage or right to vote (i.e. Muslim women, as only Muslims have the right to vote for the Caliph), the right of Muslim women to choose a Muslim partner freely (Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men), right to seek employment, have custody of children after divorce even if she is not Muslim), and run in elections.
However, under HT rule, women would be barred from the ruling positions such as caliph, Chief Justice, provincial governor, or mayor. Article 109 of the party's draft constitution prescribes segregation of the sexes in public activities such as school, sporting activities, etc. Muslim women would be required to hide “their charms,” i.e. their body with the exception of hands and face, so dress in accordance with khimar and jilbab, although not necessarily with the niqab favoured by more fundamentalist movements. Article 114 of the constitution specifies that women should not be allowed to be in private with men other than their husband or members of their immediate family (father, brother, son). Article 116 stipulates that once married a woman is obliged to obey her husband.
While opponents may consider this unequal status, HT maintains Women in the Khilafah are not regarded as inferior or second class citizens. Islam gave women the right to wealth, property rights, rights over marriage and divorce as well as a place in society. Islam established a public dress code for women – the Khimar and Jilbab in order to establish a productive society free from the type of negative and harmful relationships prevalent in the west.
Zionism
HT strongly opposes Zionism and the state of Israel. Statements by HT differ on what its position toward Israel and the Jews. "Palestine – why only a one state solution will work," pledges HT support for a "one state solution" for Israel and the Palestinians. However, by the phrase "one state solution" HT does not mean a united secular state (see: Binational solution), but rather, making Palestine part of the united Islamic caliphate state where everyone, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, follow statutory shariah Islamic law.
Other statements by HT and officials have been less temporate. A 2001 statement removed from the HT website includes the statement "In origin, no one likes the Jews except the Jews. Even they themselves rarely like each other" (see below). Global head of HT, Ata Abu-Rishta is reported to have "whipped the 100,000-strong crowd" at HT August 2007 annual conference in Jakarta, Indonesia "into a frenzy ... by calling for a war on Jews."
Non-Muslims
In HT's draft constitution for its unified Islamic state, any non-Muslims living in the state may not serve in any of the ruling offices, such as the position of caliph, nor vote for these officials, but may voice "complaints in respect to unjust acts performed by the rulers or the misapplication of Islam upon them." Muslims have "the right to participate in the election of the Khaleefah [head of state] and in giving him the pledge (ba'iah). Non-Muslims have no right in this regard."
Hizb ut-Tahrir claims the rights of Jews and other non-Muslims are enshrined within statuary Islamic Law (Sharia). These were laid down by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) when he established the first Islamic State in Medina in the 7th century. He (saw) said, "Whoever harms a dhimmi (non-Muslim citizen) has harmed me." ... "Non-Muslims in the khilafah (caliphate) will have established channels to air any grievances or denial of their rights. All citizens will be empowered with the right to speak out where necessary."
In regards to foreign policy, Article 186 of the draft constitution states: "The State is forbidden to belong to any organisation that is based on something other than Islam or which applies non-Islamic rules". This includes organizations such as the UN, the World Bank, and the IMF and the Arab League. Article 185 of the draft constitution states: "It is permitted to conclude good neighbouring, economic, commercial, financial, cultural and armistice treaties."
The West
HT opposes any Western influence in the Muslim world. Its founder, Nabhani, has been described as preaching that "British plots in particular and western imperialist conspiracies in general pervade the modern history of the Muslim world and ultimately explain its main lines of political evolution." In his book, The System of Islam, which is studied by all HT members, Nabhani states:
If it was not for influence of the deceptive Western culture and the oppression of its agents which will soon vanish, then the return to the domain of Islam in its ideology and system would be quicker than the blink of an eye.
According to the same book, the Muslim world has not lagged behind the West, East Asia, the Hindu or any other non-Muslim society because it has failed to borrow some political, cultural or social concepts of the West, but because it has. Muslim stagnation
commenced the day they abandoned this adherence to Islam and ... allowed the foreign culture to enter their lands and the Western concepts to occupy their minds.
Hizb ut Tahrir Indonesia spokeperson, Ismail Yusanto said to Nikolas van Dam, the Dutch ambassador for Indonesia that the Dutch government is responsible for the Fitna (film) of Geert Wilders and said aslim taslam.
Economy
The draft constitution also details an economic system which allows private enterprise, but reserves public ownership of utilities, public transport, health care, energy resources such as oil, and unused farm land (similar to moderate forms of Socialism). Similar to conservative economic principles it calls for use of the Gold Standard, gold and silver coinage. The draft constitution gives quite specific instructions for the gold and silver weight of the coins, arguing
... it is the duty of the Khilafah State to make its currency in gold and silver and to work on the basis of gold and silver as it was during the time of the Messenger of Allah and his Khulafa'a after him...to fix the weight of dinars equal to the Shari'ah dinar or 4.25 grams (of Gold) for one dinar...the dirham has the weight of 2.975 grams (of Silver). The basis of gold and silver as currency is the only way to solve currency related economic problems and the high inflation rates that are common in the world, and to produce currency stability for rates of exchange and progress in international trade. ... Only by taking gold and silver as the standard, can the American control and the control of the dollar as an international currency, be demolished in international trade and world economies.
Defence
Article 56 of the draft constitution of the proposed state describes conscription as a compulsory individual duty, for all citizens. "Every male Muslim, fifteen years and over, is obliged to undergo military training in readiness for jihad." Responsibility for defense in the state would go to the Amir al-Jihad. In the HT caliphate, the Amir al-Jihad "is the supervisor and director" of four departments comprising "the army, the police, equipment, tasks, armament supplies," internal security, foreign affairs, and finally industry - since "all factories of whatever type should be established on the basis of the military policy." However, the Khaleefah [Caliph], not the Amir al-Jihad, is the leader of the army, he appoints the commander-in-chief, a general for each brigade and a commander for each division."
The anti-semitism controversy
In a 2000 article entitled "The Muslim Ummah will never submit to the Jews", Hizb ut-Tahrir lamented what it saw as the innate behavior of the Jews:
... insist on expelling more and more of the people of Palestine so that they can bring in more of the world's Jews. They are demolishing homes, confiscating land and property, imprisoning people, torturing them, breaking their bones and killing them...They violate agreements and are disloyal to the treaties they have signed. They violate the airspace and waters of Lebanon every day and with their arms they bomb its cities and villages. They have occupied the lands of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, and they increase daily in their provocation and defiance to all the Arabs and Muslims.... In origin, no one likes the Jews except the Jews. Even they themselves rarely like each other. He (in the Quran) said: "You would think they were united, but their hearts are divided" [TMQ 59:14] The American people do not like the Jews nor do the Europeans, because the Jews by their very nature do not like anyone else. Rather they look at other people as wild animals which have to be tamed to serve them. So, how can we imagine it being possible for any Arab or Muslim to like the Jews whose character is such? ... Know that the Jews and their usurping state in Palestine will, by the Help and Mercy of Allah, be destroyed "until the stones and trees will say: O Muslim, O Slave of Allah. Here is a Jew behind me so come and kill him."
In October 2002, a court in Denmark handed down a 60-day suspended sentence to Fadi Abdelatif, Hizb ut-Tahrir's spokesman in Denmark, after he was found guilty of distributing racist propaganda. The title of a leaflet he distributed was a quote from the Quran: "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out," followed by a passage stating: "the Jews are a people of slander ... a treacherous people."
In January 2003, Hizb ut-Tahrir was barred in Germany from public activity on charges of spreading antisemitic propaganda and of being "hate preachers." Membership in the party is still permitted. German Interior Minister Otto Schily ruled that the group was "spreading hate and violence," and had called for the killing of Jews. The charges originate from a conference at the Technical University of Berlin, organized by a student society allegedly affiliated with Hizb ut-Tahrir. The furore was caused because the conference was attended by members of the neo-nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) sparking fears about an alliance between neo-Nazi groups and Islamists. Schily banned Hizb ut-Tahrir three months later for going "against the concept of international understanding" contained in the German constitution, a charge that has been used in the past against neo-Nazi groups.
In July 2005 Dilpazier Aslam, a 27-year-old British Muslim and trainee journalist with The Guardian, lost his position with the newspaper when it was exposed he was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Citing the antisemitic statement discovered on the party's website, Guardian executives decided that membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir was not compatible with membership of the newspaper's trainee scheme. Aslam refused to leave the group, saying he was not an antisemite and did not consider Hizb ut-Tahrir's website to be antisemitic. Dilpazier later sued for unfair dismissal and there was an out-of-court settlement.
After allegations that party members had spread antisemitic propaganda, in 2004 the British National Union of Students imposed a No Platform order. The party then resumed recruiting at British universities under the name "Stop Islamophobia." However, at a recent NUS Policy conference, a motion allegedly passed stating the early motion "falsely accused" HT, as the party "has members from both sexes and different races" and so is not racist.Heading: Anti Racism
Conference believed:
- 24. A motion passed at 2004's NUS annual conference accused the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) of being racist and extremist. During the debate at conference, HT was accused of organising an event to celebrate the attacks in New York.
- 26. Contrary to allegations of sexism and racism, HT has members from both sexes and different races and who came from Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Atheist backgrounds.
...Conference resolved:
- 25. To remove Hizb ut-Tahrir from NUS's no platform policy. (source: NUS passed Policy: )
In response Hizb ut-Tahrir has also stated that it "reject[s] decisively the charge of anti-Semitism" and only opposes Zionism.
Position on terrorism
According to the New York Times, HT "explicitly condemns violence". On the other hand, both the BBC and the Guardian have cited the activities of Fadi Abdelatif in Denmark as evidence that HT members view Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel legitimate acts of resistance.
Tom Harper in the Daily Telegraph quotes HT pamphlets as saying "Your forefathers destroyed the first crusader campaigns. Should you not proceed like them and destroy the new crusaders? ... "Let the armies move to help the Muslims in Iraq, for they seek your help."
The Panorama programme on BBC television uncovered a speech made in August 2006 by Ata Abu-Rishta, the global leader of Hizb ut Tahrir, when he called for the "destruction" of Hindus living in Kashmir, Russians in Chechnya and Jews in Israel.
Other critics have suggested that although HT officially opposes violence, its opposition to violence is temporary, not general, waiting for a more favorable opportunity and/or that its indoctrination creates an "environment" friendly to violent jihad.
According to author Olivier Roy, "the Hizb ut-Tahrir position against the launching of jihad is purely tactical. The organization believes that the time has not yet come for jihad, but that it is a compulsory duty for any Muslim." Globalsecurity.org says much the same thing, calling HT "one of the most secretive fundamentalist Islamic organizations, it remains a radical organization. Hizb ut-Tahrir is not against violence as such. It is just against the use of violence now. But they still think jihad [holy war] is a positive concept."
The Globe and Mail newspaper quotes "senior members" of HT in Palestine in 2007 as condemning Hamas, on the grounds that an offensive against Israeli and its occupation of Palestinian lands should be wait for a united Caliphate and the combined armies of Islam, rather than sending poorly-armed Palestinians against the Israeli army in "fruitless" fighting.
In a 2005 New Statesman article, Ziauddin Sardar claims that that while HT "has not, strictly speaking, advocated violence ... it certainly preaches engagement with violence." According to Sadar, the ideology of HT, "that there is only one way Muslims can or should be ruled," — expressed in statements such as "the idea of compromise does not exist in Islam," and with the goal of "great Islamic state" ruled by a single caliph, "completely" following the sharia, and eventually ruling "the whole world" — is not compatible with nonviolence.
Authors from some conservative American think-tanks (Zeyno Baran of the Nixon Center, and Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation) have argued that although HT may not promote or engage in violence, it acts as a "conveyor belt" for young Muslims, using its legal status to indoctrinate them before they leave HT to join more extreme groups which may advocate violence. Shiv Malik says Hizb ut-Tahrir "has never been directly implicated in an act of violence" but he argues the idea that HT members may leave the party and move on to violent organizations "is not without foundation." He quotes unnamed intelligence sources saying, "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's man in Iraq, is a former member of the Jordanian branch of Hizb. ... the al-Qaeda commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed also spent time with the party".
The Terrorism Research Centre complains that the initial response to the London 7/7 bombings by the website HT 1924.org was not to condemn the killing of civilians, "but to urge British Muslims to be strong in the face of an anticipated backlash. The letter [on 1924.org] accuses [G-8] world leaders of taking advantage of the London attacks "to justify their ‘war on terror.'" The full statement quoted below however does show a condemnation of the terrorist attacks.
Accounts differ over whether there was any connection at all between HT and an attempted 2003 suicide bomber in Israel by British-born Omar Sharif. An article by Shiv Malik in the New Statesman magazine quotes an old friend of Sharif who described him as "heavily attending all, absolutely all, HT-organised circles" in the first semester of University in 1994. It also reports that his E-mail inbox contained an HT mailshot with the words "' ... destroy the hegemony of the colonialist powers...". HT flatly denies that Sharif had any "affiliation whatsoever with Hizb ut-Tahrir," and says that, "despite extensive investigations by the police and security services, including legal proceedings against members of the Sharif family, no link to Hizb ut-Tahrir has ever been proven."
Response
Defenders say HT's use of the word jihad is not limited to violence. According to Jean-François Mayer of the University of Fribourg writing for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; "Hizb ut-Tahrir insists that Islam ‘obliges the Muslims to oppose the rulers with opinion [only] and to account them for their actions’, quoting the Messenger of Allah, who is reported to have said that ‘The best jihad is the word of truth spoken to a tyrant ruler’. This is exactly what Hizb ut-Tahrir has been doing in various parts of the world," Mayer ridicules the insinuation that HT could turn violent in his paper "Hizb ut-Tahrir – The Next Al-Qaida, Really ?".
Noman Hanif concludes in one of his papers; "Attempts by US think tanks to insinuate a link between HT and terrorism in order to frame it under the war on terror have conclusively failed."
Russia and Central Asia government positions
HT has been accused by the governments of Central Asia of terrorist activity or illegal importation of arms in the former Soviet Union. In 1999, HT "was blamed for a series of bomb attacks in the Uzbekistan capital, Tashkent," according to globalsecurity.org HT "is believed by some to clandestinely fund and provide logistical support to a wide range of terrorist operations in Central Asia, and elsewhere, although attacks may be carried out in the names of local groups.". The Uzbek government reportedly withdrew that accusation and blamed the IMU for those attacks, nevertheless human rights organizations and a former British Ambassador have accused central Asian governments of torturing HT members and violating international law.
In February 2003, the Russian Supreme Court put "Hizb ut-Tahrir and 14 other groups on a list of banned terrorist organizations." In June 2003 Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested 121 illegal immigrants suspected of having ties with Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami. "Moscow media reports said hand grenades, explosives, and ammunition ... as well as Islamic propaganda leaflets" were found on two of immigrants, Alisher Musayev of Kyrgyzstan and Akram Jalolov of Tajikistan.
However human rights groups and Russian Muslims have complained that authorities are increasingly becoming repressive and have planted evidence on Muslims to justify charges. The Russian governments position has been severely criticized by Russian human rights groups, specifically Memorial who questioned the validity of the ban, and were consequently threatened by the government not to reveal its findings
U.S. government position
Global Security has stated that:
"The United States Government is continuing to monitor Hizb ut-Tahrir. Despite the statements of governments of the region, the United States has found no clear ties between Hizb ut-Tahrir and terrorist activity. Hizb ut-Tahrir has not been proven to have involvement in or direct links to any recent acts of violence or terrorism. Nor has it been proven to give financial support to other groups engaged in terrorism. Because of that, it falls outside the definitions used by the United States and others to designate a terrorist group."
HT condemnation of terrorist attacks
HuT issued a leaflet on September 18, 2001 after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York stating:
The rules of this Message forbids any aggression against civilian non-combatants. They forbid killing of children, the elderly and non-combatant women even in the battlefield. They forbid the hijacking of civilian aeroplanes carrying innocent civilians and forbid the destruction of homes and offices which contain innocent civilians. All of these actions are types of aggression which Islam forbids and Muslims should not undertake such actions."
The party also allegedly issued a leaflet the day after the 7 July 2005 London bombings in London which said:
"At a time when fingers will be pointed at us from the wider community we need to come together as a community with one voice. Yes, the rules of Islam do not allow the harming of innocent civilians.
However Dr. Imran Waheed, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir, said after the July 2005 London bombings that he would "condemn what happened in London only after there is the promise from Western leaders to condemn what they have done in Falluja and other parts of Iraq and in Afghanistan."
Al-Qaida condemnation of Hizb ut-Tahrir
The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, a terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda, issued a press release (No.5) with a photocopy of a book written by Al Qaeda members entitled "Une nouvelle vision des débiles et des modérés" or "A New Insight Into Weak and Moderate (Muslims)" listing HT's stance against violence as weak, and accusing it of being moderate, rather than strictly religious.
British student position
According to Ali Hussain writing in The Times, the "National Union of Students has called on universities to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir from campuses, accusing the party of `supporting terrorism and publishing material that incites racial hatred`”.
A contrary motion at an NUS Policy conference (motion 804), resolved to "remove Hizb ut-Tahrir from NUS’s no platform policy" stating that:
... A motion passed at 2004’s NUS annual conference falsely accused the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) of being racist and extremist. During the debate at conference, HT was wrongly accused of organising an event to celebrate the attacks in New York. .... HT has condemned the terrorism ... There is a mass support from a wide range of organisations against the possible state ban on HT .....
Hizb ut-Tahrir by region
The Heritage Foundation in the US reports the organization is active in 40 countries, with 5,000 to 10,000 "hardcore" members and tens of thousands of followers. Shiv Malik in the New Statesmen magazine estimates HT has about one million members.
It is proscribed in Russia,
and in some Arab countries.
It had a ban lifted on it by the Lahore High Court in Pakistan,
and it survived proposed bans in Australia and the UK after clearance from the intelligence services and police.
Western countries
United Kingdom
From 1986 to 1996, under the leadership of Syrian born Omar Bakri Muhammad HT grew from a very small organization in Britain to a one of the most active Islamic organizations in the country. In 1996 Bakri split with Hizb ut-Tahrir over disagreements on policy, style and methods, an focused on another organization Al-Muhajiroun.
A report in Foreign Affairs Journal claims that Hizb ut-Tahrir "dominates" the British Islamist "scene" with some 8500 members in the United Kingdom, compared to only 1000 for a rival, Muslim Association of Britain.
According to ex-HT member Ed Husain, "Britain remains vital to the Hizb, for it gives the group access to the global media and provides a fertile recruiting ground at mosques and universities."
Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain emphasized the importance of Muslims choosing loyalty to their religion above loyalty to Britain or any other country. In HT's view, Islam is anti-nationalist, transnational and pan-Islamic in nature. In a promotional video shown on BBC News a party representative asked
I think Muslims in this country need to take a long, hard look at themselves and decide what is their identity. Are they British or are they Muslim? I am a Muslim. Where I live, is irrelevant.
Following 7 July 2005 London bombings the British government announced its intention to ban the organization but abandoned the ban. According to The Independent Blair "shelved the ban after warnings from police, intelligence chiefs, and civil liberties groups that it is a non-violent group, and driving it underground could backfire." and according to the Observer because the Home Office believed a legal ban would not stick.
In July 2007, Leader of the Opposition David Cameron asked the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown why the organisation had not been banned from the United Kingdom, arguing it was an extremist group. Gordon Brown responded that more evidence would be needed before banning a group and, when pressed further, John Reid the previous home secretary stepped in arguing that there had already been two reviews of the group with insufficient evidence to justify a ban.
In November 2006, the BBC reported that a street gang in South London, which claimed to be Hizb ut-Tahrir, encouraged an undercover reporter to rob another gang to "prove his loyalty". The short documentary ended with the reporter claiming that the gang maybe a lone out-of-control group simply influenced by Hizb ut-Tahrir's notoriety. Dr Abdul Wahid when questioned on the program condemned the behaviour, asked the BBC to hand over all material to the police, said he would be extremely surprised if any of the gang were members of his organisation, and that if they were, he would have them removed.
Germany
German police expelled a member of the party from Germany for alleged ties to one of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, German police said the raids and searches in offices and homes revealed little. The German government then banned it from public activity after a charge of distributing antisemitic propaganda (see above section on Controversy over anti-semitism).
Denmark
HT is legal in Denmark. In August 2006 a Danish court sentenced Fadi Abdelatif, Hizb ut-Tahrir's spokesman in Denmark, was given a suspended jail sentence for distributing racist propaganda. Abdelatif was also found guilty of threats against the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Party officials say the leaflet distributed by Abdelatif referred to the need to remove the dictators of the Muslim world who had not supported the Muslims of Iraq, and that it made no reference to the Danish prime minister.
According to the BBC news:
In March and April 2002, Hizb Ut Tahrir handed out leaflets in a square in Copenhagen, and at a mosque. The leaflet, which also appeared on the Danish groups internet site, makes threats against Jews, using a quote from the Koran urging Muslims to 'kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have been turned you out.' The leaflet also said, 'The Jews are a people of slander...a treacherous people... they fabricate lies and twist words from their right context.'
In 2007 Hizb ut Tahrir caused an uproar in Denmark when Berlingske Tidende reported that a kindergarten in Copenhagen had being run according to the movement's strict Islamic principles. Several well known imams in Copenhagen attended a convention of Hizb ut Tahrir and announced that they are willing to work together towards mutual goals. This move attracted criticism.
Australia
In Australia, the party and its leader, Wassim Doureihi, have come under attack for "openly flout our hospitality and tolerance while advocating the replacement of our democratic system with theocratic fascism," and for refusing "to condemn the September 11, Bali or London terror attacks." The party survived a proposed ban in Australia after clearance from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
The party planned its first Khilafah conference in Sydney on 27 January 2007. The planned conference led to many newspaper reports, particularly from the Herald Sun, claiming the party was linked to the July 2005 London bombings, that it wanted to establish Islamic law in Australia , and that it was banned in Britain. Opposition politicians called on the local and federal governments not to grant visas to foreign speakers attending, and to re-consider proscribing Hizb ut-Tahrir. The demands for a ban were rejected by Attorney General Philip Ruddock, on the grounds there was insufficient evidence to warrant banning the group.
Hizb ut-Tahrir members originally planned to hold the conference in Bankstown's Town Hall, but the Sydney council cancelled it. Hizb ut-Tahrir secured another location the next day on 28 January. During the conference Palestinian Sheikh Issam Amera quoted a hadith, saying,
"Whoso comes to you while your affairs have been united under one man, intending to divide your staff or dissolve your unity, kill him."
He was also quoted as saying "Muslims are the most humiliated among the earth's peoples ... The West treats them like slaves and their lands as their backyard gardens."
and "if you people are united and a third person comes along and tries to incite disunity ... kill him..., Muslims are not unique in doing so, as most nations kill those charged with treason...."
Spokesperson of Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia Ismail Yusanto was quoted as saying "Western powers will likely attack the newly formed caliphate. We must mobilise for an impending conflict," He reiterated Hizb ut-Tahrir's proposed policy on military conscription by the Caliphate to defend itself once established with a "Call for all military-aged Muslims to obtain military training and prepare for jihad."
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Yusanto was invited to Canberra to speak at a security conference by the Federal Government at a conference sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in August 2004. Yusanto was also reported to be a regular guest at the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Conference spokesman Wassim Doureihi said the work of Hizb ut-Tahrir was not to change the political landscape in Australia. He said, "It is because of Islam and my allegiance to Islam that I am responsible for ensuring to do what I can to protect the safety and security of all peoples in this country and beyond."
Morris Iemma Premier of New South Wales and MP for Lakemba, is quoted as saying "This is an organisation that is basically saying that it wants to declare war on Australia, our values and our people." The distinction between trying to establish a caliphate in the Muslim world, and not in Australia, according to the Sydney Morning Herald; "was lost on Mr Iemma, the MP for Lakemba where the conference was held, and where he is facing a challenge by Muslim candidates in the state election." Attorney General Philip Ruddock responded that the local government of Iemma should "stop playing politics and if it had any evidence helpful to the security agencies, it should give it to them."
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, despite the fact that speakers at the Khilafah Conference "made it clear they did not see Australia as part of their fundamentalist society",
"Concerns about terrorism, violent crime and integration have prompted a bidding war between NSW Labor and the Opposition about who can sound tougher on Muslims, a theme that is expected to continue until poll day on March 24."
Other opponents of a ban on HT include Ameer Ali and Crikey. Crikey reported in an article entitled No need to be alarmed about Hizb ut-Tahrir that the opposition ALP "clearly wants to look tougher than the government on national security. But it risks alienating much of its support base in some Muslim circles by picking on a group many Muslims regard as harmless."
Supporter of an ban on HT Rebecca Weisser claims former members of HT include Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Omar Bakri Mohammed "four of the seven suspects in the failed terror attacks on London on June 29 and in Glasgow on July 1."
Russia, Azerbaijan and the Central Asian republics
Hizb ut-Tahrir is proscribed in Russia. Most of its members in the former Soviet Union are ethnic Uzbeks. Amnesty has accused the Government of Uzbekistan of giving Hizb ut-Tahrir members unfair trials, saying members are convicted on little evidence and given heavy sentences. Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, has made many claims about the Uzbek President Islom Karimov, and his alleged dictatorial practices, specifically against Hizb ut-Tahrir. He alleged that members were tortured into signing renunciations of their faith, to stop praying the 5 daily prayers of Islam (Salah), and that 2 members has who refused to do so;
...had been plunged into a vat of boiling water and had died both of them as a result. I didn’t know that at the time, I just saw the photographs of this body in this appalling state; I couldn’t work out what could account for it. I sent it to the pathology department of the University of Glasgow; there were a lot of photographs. The chief pathologist of the University of Glasgow, who is now chief pathologist of the United Kingdom, wrote that the only explanation for this was “immersion in boiling water”. Hizb ut-Tahrir is also suspected of having several hundred members in Azerbaijan, another former Soviet republic. Dozens of its members have been arrested. The group has threatened to attack Baku in the past.
South and Southeast Asia
South Asia
In Pakistan, Hizb ut-Tahrir was proscribed by Pakistani President General Musharraf in 2004, although it had the ban on it lifted after a legal challenge against its proscription in the Lahore High Court.
Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid writes in Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia, that there are "strong links and cooperation between the rank and file" of Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan especially when they are from the same village or town. However, according to Jean-François Mayer of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; the insinuation ‘that the party will turn violent and has links with the IMU’ is inaccurate: the comments attributed to a member ‘contradicted the party’s ideas’. Representatives of Hizb ut-Tahrir report that they have repeatedly attempted to contact Ahmed Rashid in order to make their views known, but say they have not succeeded. They are even considering writing a rebuttal of his book
About Hizb ut-Tahrir's activities in Pakistan and subsequent political crackdown Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court said in March 2005 : "Hizb ut-Tahrir has shown dissatisfaction on the policies of the [Pakistan] government which is the right of each and every citizen ... I am unable to understand as to how distribution of these pamphlets in the general public was termed as terrorism or sectarianism."
Hizb ut-Tahrir has never been banned in Bangladesh and continues to work there openly.
Indonesia and Malaysia
Hizb ut-Tahrir also works openly in Malaysia and Indonesia and has never been banned in these two muslim countries. It held an international khilafah conference in Indonesia on August 12, 2007 at the Bung Karno Stadium, which has a capacity of 100,000 people and thus has the joint 10th largest capacity for any stadium worldwide. The event was attended by around 100,000 people.
Africa and the Arab world
Hizb ut-Tahrir is proscribed in many Arab countries, but is permitted to operate in the UAE, Lebanon and Yemen.
Throughout 2006 a spate of HuT campaigns and related arrests took place throughout the Arab world. There were arrests in Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and visible public activities in the Palestinian territories, Zanzibar, and Lebanon, enjoying growing support among senior army staff, government officials, and the intelligentsia.
Israel, West Bank, Gaza
According to a 2007 report by Globe and Mail reporter Mark MacKinnon, HT has been "capitalizing on public unhappiness with the recent bloodshed between the mainstream Hamas and Fatah movements that has split the Palestinian cause in two. A recent rally in the West Bank drew a crowd estimated in the tens of thousands." He quotes HT Sheik Abu Abdullah as preaching to Muslims
Why are we watching infidels prosper in this world and not stopping them? ... Muslims in China, Indonesia, Pakistan and everywhere in their thousands are asking for God's government through the Caliphate. They demand the return of God's rule on Earth.
Libya
Mohammed M. Ramadan, a Libyan journalist and announcer at the BBC's Arabic section in London, was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir and opposed to the regime of Colonel Qadhafi. He was assassinated on 11 April 1980 by Libyan operatives outside London's Regent's Park Mosque. Several other members were killed in extrajudicial detention in Libya during the 1980s. According to
HT along with the Muslim Brotherhood are the "important organizations causing anxiety" for the Libyan regime with HT endorsing "armed resistance" and successfully recruiting "students from the universities and military academies." As of 2003, Amnesty International reported that while Libya report that "five prisoners of conscience ... who had been imprisoned for almost three decades for their peaceful involvement with the prohibited Islamic Liberation Party, Hizb al-Tahrir" were released, but that many more remained in prison.
Egypt
According to Amnesty, four Muslim Britons and several Egyptians were tortured in Egypt for suspected affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir. Eventually 26 were put on trial for what observors in Egypt considered "contradictory" and "weak" charges.
The Egyptian government banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in 1974 after an alleged coup attempt.
Iraq
In 1969 when the son of Iraq's highest Shia Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim was arrested and allegedly tortured, during widespread persecution of Shia, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Badri, a Sunni Islamic lawyer (Alim) and local Hizb ut-Tahrir leader, criticised the regime, and was killed under torture. A Sunni member of Hizb ut-Tahrir is thus seen as the first martyr for the rights of Shia in Iraq, against the old Baathist regime. The party has called for Sunni, Shia, Arab and Kurdish citizens to unite in Iraq. Some of the party's prominent members have been murdered there, the bodies showing signs of torture. Regarding the hanging of former president of Iraq Saddam Hussain, Ismail Yusanto, spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir in Indonesia, said: "The punishment should have been given to Saddam, because Saddam killed many Iraqi people and also members of Hizb ut Tahrir there," and that President Bush and Tony Blair "deserved no better.".
Syria
In Syria, party members, along with their relatives and acquaintances, have been subject to repeated extrajudicial arrest. The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin issue July 2000 and the Syrian Human Rights Committee quoted on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees website, in its annual report of June 2006 reported that the Syrian authorities began its clampdown on Hizb ut-Tahrir in 1998-1999 with hundreds of members being arrested in a nationwide manhunt led by Air Force Intelligence (Mukhabarat). The MEIB issue of December 2000 states that "Representatives of the group have said that 1,200 of its members were arrested by Syrian security forces in December 1999 and January 2000." In its 2005 report Amnesty International stated that in 2004 dozens of Islamist students and clerics were arrested, many with links to Hizb ut-Tahrir and tried before military courts.
Syrian ex-member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Omar Bakri notorious for his activity in the UK, claims that a significant number of members primarily in Jordan split from the original body of Hizb ut-Tahrir members and formed another Hizb ut-Tahrir known abusively as Nakithoun 'Renegades' by the organisation under the leadership of Abdul Qadeem Zallum. This led to a further two minor splits of no significant membership. He attempts to partly attribute this to himself while simultaneously denying self aggrandization.
Turkey
The HT is outlawed in Turkey, however it is still in operation. According to Today's Zaman, lieutenant Mehmet Ali Çelebi, detained in the Ergenekon investigations in 2008, had links with Hizbt-ut Tahrir. Çelebi was allegedly the key which made possible the arrest of five Hizbt-ut-Tahrir members in September 2008.
Prominent members
- Shaykh Taqiuddin al-Nabhani (founder)
- Shaykh Ahmed Dauor (Jordanian parliamentarian 1955-1957, deceased)
- Shaykh Abdul Qadeem Zallum (second leader, deceased)
- Shaykh Ata Abu Rashta(current global leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir)
- Jamal Harwood (ex-Chairman of UK Executive Committee)
- Taji Mustafa (Media Representative and UK Executive Committee member)
- Dr Imran Waheed (Media Representative and UK Executive Committee member)
- Dr Nazreen Nawaz (Women's Representative)
- Dr Abdul Wahid (GP & UK Leader)
- Shaykh Ali Syed Abul-Hassan (Imam of Masjid as-Sahaba, Khartoum, Sudan spokesman, deceased)
- Mohammad Nafi Abdul-Karim Salih (Jordanian member, deceased)
- Shaykh Mahmoud Abdul-Latif Uweidah - Abu Iyas (Prominent Jordanian Member)
- Shaykh Taleb Awadallah (Palestinian Member from al-Khalil, Hebron)
- Shaykh Yusuf Ba'darani (Lebanese member)
- Shaykh Abdul-Aziz Badri (Iraqi member, deceased)
- Ashraf Doureihi (a prominent Australia member)
- Wassim Doureihi (Australia spokesperson)
- Soadad Doureihi (a prominent Australia member)
- Mohammed AbdulWahhab (a prominent Australia member)
- Naveed Butt (Pakistan spokesperson)
- Imran Yousufzai (Pakistan spokesperson)
- Yilmaz Celik (Turkey spokesperson)
- Abu Shakir(Lebanon spokesperson)
- Muhammad Ismail Yusanto (Indonesia spokesperson)
- Shaykh Ibrahim Othman - Abu Khalil (Sudan spokesperson)
- Mohiuddin Ahmed (Bangladesh Chief Coordinator and Spokesperson)
- Farhad Usmanov (Uzbekistan, died in prison)
- Okay Pala (Holland spokesperson)
- Abdul Salam (USA member)
- Sheikh KH. Muhammad al-Khatath (Prominent scholar in Indonesia who is part of the Majlis al-Ulema there)
- Hafidz Abdurrahman, (Prominent leading member of Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia)
- Shaykh Ahmad al-Qasas (Head of Media Office, from Lebanon)
See also
Further reading
- , Moonbat Media, August 19, 2006
- , BBC News 24 Hard Talk with Sarah Montague, April 2006
- by Jean-François Mayer, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
- by The Guardian Newspaper
- Book by Founder of Hizb ut Tahrir, al-Nabhani - in English
- by Professor David Commins, Department of History, Dickinson College, Carlisle
- , al-Jazeera interview in Arabic, March 2006
- Abdul Wahid, openDemocracy.net, August 9, 2005
- The Guardian, August 5, 2005
- , International Herald Tribune, December 31, 2005
- , Foreign Affairs, November/December 2005
- , BBC Newsnight, August 27, 2003
-
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Channel 4 News - Video about Hizb ut-Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
- in the Harvard Law Record
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