Hizb ut-Tahrir

Infobox Political Party
party_name = Hizb ut-Tahrir
rtl- _ar. حزب التحرير
colorcode = #008000
party_
leader = Ata Abu Rashta
foundation = 1953
founder = Taqiuddin al-Nabhani
ideology = Pan-Islamism
headquarters = Unknown
international = Worldwide
membership = millions (est.)Malik, Shiv. [http://www.newstatesman.com/200409130018 For Allah and the caliphate] , "New Statesman", 13 September 2004]
website = [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org www.hizbuttahrir.org]

Hizb ut-Tahrir ( _ar. حزب التحرير; _en. Party of Liberation) is an international pan-Islamist, Sunni, vanguard [PDFlink| [http://users.dickinson.edu/~commins/TaqiAl-dinAl-Nabhani.pdf Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani and the HT Party] ] 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. [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/constitution.htm Draft Constitution] Article 16]

Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar and appeals court judge "(Qadi)" [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hizb-ut-tahrir.htm hizb ut tahrir al Islami] ] 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 banned, but still active in, several Arab and Central Asian countries, and is very active in the west, particularly in the United Kingdom.

HT believes a caliphate "will provide stability and security to all the people of the region, Muslims and Non-Muslims". [ [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/resources/issues-explained/israels-attacks-are-uniting-muslims-throughout-the-world.html HT article: Israeli aggression is the root cause of this disaster] ] The party promotes "an elaborate and detailed program for instituting an Islamist state" [http://users.dickinson.edu/~commins/TaqiAl-dinAl-Nabhani.pdf Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani and the HT Party] ] which will "establish the laws of the Islamic Shariah and to carry the Da'wah of Islam to the world." [ [http://www.khilafah.com/kcom/the-khilafah/issues/ The Re-establishment of the Khilafah is an obligation upon all Muslims] ] 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." [ [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/who-is-ht/htb-national-events/htb-demonstration-to-the-us-embassy.html HT Demonstration to the U.S. Embassy] ] HT is strongly anti-Zionist and calls for "the dismantling" of the "illegal entity" of Israel. [ [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/resources/issues-explained/the-zionist-hatred.html HT article: The Zionist Hatred] ]

HT has generated strong opinions. Some observers believe it is a victim of unjust and untrue allegations of connections to terrorism. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20071231145140/http://icssa.org/article_detail_parse.php?a_id=1150&rel=1144,1136,1129 Pakistan’s Tableeghi Jamaat and Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Central Asia] ] Others argue its stated opposition to violence is tactical and temporary, [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hizb-ut-tahrir.htm Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami] on Global Security.org] and it works to create an atmosphere condusive to terrorism [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3182271.stm 27 BBC News, August, 2003, Hizb ut Tahrir] ] by preaching hatred [http://www.newstatesman.com/200511140010 Ziauddin Sardar explains the long history of violence behind Hizb ut-Tahrir, 14 November 2005 ] ] 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. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1564616/Islamists-'urge-young-Muslims-to-use-violence'.html "Islamists 'urge young Muslims to use violence,'" By Tom Harper, 19 Apr 2008] ]

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." [ [http://www.khilafat.pk/28rajab/books/the_islamic_state.pdf The Islamic State, p.9] ] 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." [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2006/03/14/kurt_met_police_trust_feature.shtml Who's Listening to Whom?] ] 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." [ [www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hizb-ut-tahrir.htm Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation)] ]

Although "hizb" means party in Arabic, according to Zeyno Baran of the Washington based Nixon Center think tank, HT doesn't register as a political party or attempt to elect candidates to political office in the countries where it is active. ["Fighting the War of Ideas", Zeyno Baran. Foreign Affairs. New York: Nov/Dec 2005.Vol.84, Iss. 6; pg. 79] Nor does it engage in charitable or social service projects like 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. [ [http://www.indonesia-relief.org/mod.php?mod=bank&op=infobank&bankid=163 Tsunami Relief Database - Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia ] ] When it was first founded, HT "did" register as a public political organisation and stood for parliamentary seats in Jordan in the 1950s, according to Suha Taji-Farouki. The group was banned by the regime at the time and its 'legal' status did not resume until the organisation was legalised in Lebanon in May 2006. [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2479] 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 ["Evolution of political regimes in Central Asia: ways and opportunities" Ferghana. Ru Information Agency [http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=1862] ]

Hizb ut-Tahrir has set out a three-stage plan of action to achieve its goals:
#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. [http://www.risala.org/books/1.Hizb-ut-Tahrir-new.pdf Untitled] Hizb ut-Tahrir]
#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.A less sympathetic description of HuT plan by Dosym Satpayev, director of a Kazakh think tank Assessment Risks Group, is that 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." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4531848.stm Central Asia's Islamic militancy] BBC News]

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." [ [http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6943070.stm BBC: Stadium crowd pushes for Islamist dream] ]

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. [Abou Zahab, Mariam; Roy, Olivier, "Islamist Networks, Columbia University Press, (2004), p.9-10]

Ergenekon investigations in Turkey

According to "Today's Zaman", lieutenant Mehmet Ali Çelebi, detained in the Ergenekon investigations in 2008, had links with Hizbt-ut Tahrir [http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=154149 Senior general knew about lieutenants’ Ergenekon contacts] , "Today's Zaman", 24 September 2008 ] . Çelebi was allegedly the key which made possible the arrest of five Hizbt-ut-Tahrir members in September 2008 .

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" [HuT book, Structuring of a Party, 1953 ] by assuming authority and implementing Islamic law.

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. [ [http://users.dickinson.edu/~commins/TaqiAl-dinAl-Nabhani.pdf Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani ...] ]

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." [http://www.khilafah.com/kcom/the-khilafah/issues/what-is-the-khilafah-caliphate.html]

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. [ [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/PDF/EN/en_books_pdf/system_of_islam.pdf "The System of Islam, (Nidham ul Islam)" by Taqiuddin an-Nabhani] , Al-Khilafa Publications, 1423 AH - 2002 CE, p.61]

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. ["Nethaam al-Huqm fil-Islam", Chapter entitled Majlis al-Ummah]

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." [ [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/constitution.htm Draft Constitution Article 108] ] . 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 [Hizb ut-Tahrir draft constitution, art. 26] ), 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 [ [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/constitution.htm Draft Constitution Article 118 states "The custody of children is both a right and duty of the mother, whether Muslim or not, so long as the child is in need of this care. - The latter statement refers to when the child is mature"] ] ), and run in elections.

However, under HT rule, women would be barred from the ruling positions such as caliph, Chief Justice, ["literally" judge of the 'Court of Unjust Acts'] 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,” [Hizb ut-Tahrir draft constitution, art. 114] i.e. their body with the exception of hands and face, so dress in accordance with "khimar" and "jilbab," [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544&Itemid=112 Re: 'Of course women have a right to choose. But agreeing to wear a jilbab is no choice at all'] Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain] although not necessarily with the niqab favoured by more fundamentalist movements. ["images of women's section": [http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=hizb+tahrir+women&btnG=Search hizb tahrir women] Google Images] [Although HT defends the right of women to choose the wearing of a niqab. [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=721&Itemid=184 Playing Politics with Communities: A Response from Dr Nazreen Nawaz] Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain] 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. [Hizb ut-Tahrir draft constitution, art. 116]

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. [ [http://www.khilafah.com/kcom/the-khilafah/issues/what-is-the-khilafah-caliphate.html what is the khilafah caliphate] ]

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. [ Why Only a One state solution will work by Hizb ut-Tahrir [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/resources/issues-explained/palestine---why-only-a-one-state-solution-will-work.html] ]

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" [http://archive.bibalex.org/web/20010305125154/hizb-ut-tahrir.org/english/leaflets/palestine31199.htm The Muslim Ummah will never submit to the Jews] Hizb ut-Tahrir] (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." [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=253&Itemid=140 Minorities in the new Middle East of the Caliphate] Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain]

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. [ [http://www.khilafat.pk/28rajab/books/nidham.pdf system of islam] p.64]

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. [ [http://www.khilafat.pk/28rajab/books/nidham.pdf system of islam] p.73]

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. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040704022600/http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/english/books/hizb-ut-tahrir/chapter_09.html The Necessity of money being in Gold and Silver ] ]

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." [ [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/constitution.htm Draft Constitution by Hizb ut-Tahrir, article 51] ]

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: 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 Muhammad: "And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out." The hadith refers to the situation at the time the Antichrist (dajjal) has descended and the Muslims stand united fighting the Jews, who will take the Antichrist to be their God and Saviour. With the help of Isa, even the stones and rocks will call out and say, "There is a Jew standing behind me, come and kill this Jew" [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1543732,00.html Banned groups with roots in UK appeal to disaffected young Muslims] , "The Guardian".] The leaflet continues: "The Jews are a people of slander ... a treacherous people ... they fabricate lies and twist words from their right context."

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.Lambroschini, Sophie. [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/10/a9e085a9-a771-4e5c-b41d-16b3d7d1258f.html "Germany: Court Appeal By Hizb Ut-Tahrir Highlights Balancing Act Between Actions, Intentions"] , Radio Free Europe, October 26, 2004.] 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. [ [http://www.nusonline.co.uk/news/270231.aspx "NUS representative addresses government committee on campus incitement"] , NUS Online.] The party then resumed recruiting at British universities under the name "Stop Islamophobia." [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1827988,00.html "'Stealth' Islamists recruit students"] "The Sunday Times", 16 October 2005.] 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. [ "MOTION: 804
Heading: Anti Racism
Conference believed:
*24. 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.
*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: http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/policy%20passed.doc ) ] In response Hizb ut-Tahrir has also stated that it "reject [s] decisively the charge of anti-Semitism" and only opposes Zionism. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/7022287.stm Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain statement ] ]

Position on terrorism

According to the New York Times, HT "explicitly condemns violence". [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/world/europe/12britain.html New York Times] ] 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. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3182271.stm "Hizb ut Tahrir"] , BBC News, August 27 2003.] [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1978581,00.html PM shelves Islamic group ban ] ] 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."

and that the Panorama programme on BBC1 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." "Globalized Islam : the Search for a New Ummah," by Olivier Roy, Columbia University Press, 2004 p.256] 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." [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hizb-ut-tahrir.htm Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami] ]

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. [ Muslim movement offers alternative to Hamas [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070822.whizb22/BNStory/International/home] ]

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 compatable with nonviolence..

Authors from some conservative American think-tanks (Zeyno Baran of the Nixon Centre, 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. [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070822.whizb22/BNStory/International/home Globe and Mail: Muslim movement offers alternative to Hamas ] ] 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.'" [ [http://www.terrorism.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Intel&file=index&view=649 Hizb ut-Tahrir] ] 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." [ [http://www.newstatesman.com/200604240017 NS Profile Omar Sharif] ]

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," [http://hei.unige.ch/psio/fichiers/Meyer%20Al%20Qaida.pdf Hizb ut-Tahrir – The Next Al-Qaida, Really ?] PSIO] " 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." ["Pakistan’s Tableeghi Jamaat and Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Central Asia" [http://icssa.org/article_detail_parse.php?a_id=1150&rel=1144,1136,1129] ]

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.". [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/hizb-ut-tahrir.htm Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation)] Global Security] The Uzbek government reportedly withdrew that accusation and blamed the IMU for those attacks,Fact|date=August 2007 nevertheless human rights organizations and a former British Ambassador have accused central Asian governments of torturing HT members and violating international law. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/03/29/uzbeki8309.htm]

In February 2003, the Russian Supreme Court put "Hizb ut-Tahrir and 14 other groups on a list of banned terrorist organizations." The Russian government banned HT not for any terrorist activity, but because their definition of terrorism includes anyone who supports Chechen rebels in their cause for independence from Russia [http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/9142-19.cfm] ] 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. [ [http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/9142-19.cfm Johnson's Russia List] ] . [ [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/16/kyrgyz16698.htm kyrgyz] ] The Russian governments position has been severely criticized by Russian human rights groups, specifically Memorial [http://www.memo.ru/eng/] who questioned the validity of the ban, and were consequently threatened by the government not to reveal its findings [http://www.memo.ru/eng/memhrc/texts/2006ponomarevriabinina.shtml]

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."Fact|date=January 2008

The party also allegedly issued a leaflet the day after the 7th July attacks 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.Fact|date=January 2008

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." [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/10/international/europe/10qaeda.html?ex=1171342800&en=9e77274863ef7360&ei=5070 For a decade, London thrived as a busy crossroads of terror] The New York Times]

Al-Qaida condemnation of Hizb ut-Tahrir

The Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain or 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. [ La Gazette Du Maroc [http://www.lagazettedumaroc.com/articles.php?id_artl=3532&n=339&r=2&sr=715] , translated here: [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lagazettedumaroc.com%2Farticles.php%3Fid_artl%3D3532%26n%3D339%26r%3D2%26sr%3D715&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8] ]

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`”. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/news/article579055.ece?token=null&offset=0 'Stealth' Islamists recruit students] The Times Online]

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 .... . NUS passed Policy: http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/policy%20passed.doc ]

However, the delegates at the NUS Conference did not get the chance to vote on the motion.Fact|date=April 2008

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.Cohen, Ariel. [http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/BG1656.cfm "Hizb ut-Tahrir: An Emerging Threat to U.S. Interests in Central Asia"] , The Heritage Foundation, May 30, 2003.] Shiv Malik in the New Statemen magazine estimates HT has about one million members. It is proscribed in Russia, [http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/kuwait/Viewdet.asp?ID=8534&cat=a 'Terror' list out; Russia tags two Kuwaiti groups] , Arab Times] and in some Arab countries. [http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370234 Hizb-ut-Tahrir's Growing Appeal in the Arab World] Jamestown Foundation] It had a ban lifted on it by the Lahore High Court in Pakistan,High Court rules ruling that distribution of pamphlets carrying criticism of the government does not entail terrorism. [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/pakistan/2005/april1005.htm] ] High Court cancels detention orders of six members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/pakistan/2005/march1105.htm] ] and it survived proposed bans in Australia and the UK after clearance from the intelligence services and police.Morris, Nigel. [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1183364.ece "PM forced to shelve Islamist group ban"] , "The Independent", July 18, 2006.] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1534499,00.html "Background: the Guardian and Dilpazier Aslam"] , "The Guardian", July 22, 2005.]

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. . [http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?search=1&articleid=23622 Al-Muhajiroun in the UK: An Interview with Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed] The Jamestown Foundation]

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. [ "The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood", Foreign Affairs Journal, p.120, vol. 86 no. 2, march / April 2007 by Robert S. Leiken and Steven Brooke [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070301faessay86208/robert-s-leiken-steven-brooke/the-moderate-muslim-brotherhood.html] ]

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." [Husain, Ed, "The Islamist", Penguin, 2007, p.272]

Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain emphasized the importance of Muslims choosing loyalty to their religion above loyalty to Britain or any other country. ["The roots of nationalism in the Muslim World" Chepter title " by Shabir Ahmed and Abid Karim] 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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3182271.stm Hizb ut Tahrir] ]

Following the 7 July 2005 London bombings the British government announced its intention to ban the organization [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1543385,00.html Full text: The Prime Minister's statement on anti-terror measures] The Guardian] 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." [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1183364.ece PM forced to shelve Islamist group ban] The Independent] Morris, Nigel. [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1183364.ece "PM forced to shelve Islamist group ban"] , "The Independent", July 18 2006.] [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1544271,00.html Islamic radicals warn of city riots] The Guardian] and according to the Observer because the home office believed a legal ban would not stick. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1978584,00.html] ]

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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6267656.stm BBC NEWS | Politics |Brown and Cameron clash over ID ] ] [ [http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/news-watch/uk-government/hansard-cameron-presses-ban-on-htb.html Hansard: Cameron presses ban on HTB ] ]

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. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWFLSv5IGY YouTube - Newsnights False allegations Against Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain ] ] .

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. [http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=2025 Russia: Division over Hizb-ut-Tahrir] Turkish Weekly Opinion] Abdelatif was also found guilty of threats against the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. [ [http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003990.html ] ] 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.Fact|date=August 2008

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.' [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3182271.stm Hizb Ut Tahrir, 27 August 2003] ]

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. [ [http://www.cphpost.dk/get/102231.html Islamic group took over nursery school] , Copenhagen Post, June 18, 2007] 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. [ [http://www.berlingske.dk/indland/artikel:aid=911778 Den ny muslimske alliance] , Berlingske Tidende, June 24, 2007 da icon]

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." [ [http://www.australian-news.com.au/enemy_within.htm The enemy within - Muslim fanatics in Australia ] ] The party survived a proposed ban in Australia after clearance from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/08/11/1123353444844.html Islamic group to fight on against banning moves] The Age]

The party planned its first Khilafah conference in Sydney on the 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 [ [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21132708-661,00.html news.com.au Aussies called to jihad by Justin Vallejo January 29, 2007] ] , that it wanted to establish Islamic law in Australia [http://www.risala.org/khilafah-conference/] , and that it was banned in Britain. [ [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21134535-1702,00.html news.com.au You ban Islamic group, Ruddock tells state. January 29, 2007] ] . 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. [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21132708-661,00.html Aussies called to jihad] Herald Sun]

Hizb ut-Tahrir members originally planned to hold the conference in Bankstown's Town Hall, but the Sydney council cancelled it. [ [http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Council-refuses-group-use-of-town-hall/2007/01/10/1168105040471.html Council refuses group use of town hall] The Age] 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." [Narrated in Sahih Muslim) [http://www.islamic-world.net/islamic-state/source.htm Khilafah al-'Alam al-Islami. Islamic State: The only solution] islamicworld.net]

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." [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/leaders-disagree-on-muslim-ban/2007/01/28/1169919213299.html smh.com Leaders disagree on Muslim ban, January 29, 2007] ] 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...." [The Herald Sun circa January 2007]

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." [ [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21132093-5001021,00.html news.com.au "NSW can ban radicals - Ruddock", by Justin Vallejo January 29, 2007] ]

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. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/governments-row-over-muslim-group/2007/01/29/1169919245735.html smh.com, Governments row over Muslim group, January 29, 2007] ]

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." [ [http://www.australiandefencereport.com.au/1-07/fight_for_global_islamic_state_c.htm Fight for global Islamic state, conference toldMonday - 29 January 2007 - Australian] ]

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." [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/leaders-disagree-on-muslim-ban/2007/01/28/1169919213299.html Leaders disagree on Muslim ban - National - smh.com.au ] ]

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." [ [http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20070129-We-neednt-be-alarmed-about-Hizb-ut-Tahrir.html No need to be alarmed about Hizb ut-Tahrir] ]

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." [ [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22039675-5001561,00.html The Australian. Violent agenda carefully veiled July 09, 2007] ]

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. [http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2002.nsf/eur/uzbekistan!Open Covering events from January - December 2001] Amnesty International.] 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”. [ [http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2005/02/the_pathologist.html Craig Murray - "The pathologist also found that his fingernails had been pulled out. That clearly took me a back." ] ]

Hizb ut-Tahrir is also suspected of having several hundred members in Azerbaijan, another former Soviet republic. Dozens of its members have been arrested. [Swietochowski, "Azerbaijan: The Hidden Faces of Islam," World Policy Journal, p. 75.] The group has threatened to attack Baku in the past.

outh and Southeast Asia

outh Asia

In Pakistan, Hizb ut-Tahrir was proscribed by Pakistani President General Musharraf in 2004, although it had the ban on it lifted [http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=14061&TagID=3] 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."Fact|date=September 2007

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 12th 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.Fact|date=August 2008

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. [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070822.whizb22/BNStory/International/home Muslim movement offers alternative to Hamas] ]

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. [ [http://members.tripod.com/~sijill/victims April Victims of The Gaddafi Regime ] ] 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." [ [http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0002_takeyh.asp Qadhafi's Libya and the Prospect of Islamic Succession by Ray Takeyh ] ] 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. [ [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE19/003/2002/en/dom-MDE190032002en.html 3 September 2002 Libya: The release of prisoners, a positive step] ]

Egypt

According to Amnesty, four Muslim Britons and several Egyptians were tortured in Egypt for suspected affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir. [http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGMDE120382002 Amnesty international press release] Amnesty International.] Eventually 26 were put on trial for what observors in Egypt considered "contradictory" and "weak" charges. [ [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/644/eg8.htm 'Deviant' thought on trial. Al Ahram] 26 June - 2 July 2003]

The Egyptian government banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in 1974 after an alleged coup attempt. [http://www.bhhrg.org/mediaDetails.asp?ArticleID=50 Muslim girl's brother linked to Islam radicals] British Helsinki Human Rights Group]

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 [ [http://middleeastreference.org.uk/iraqiopposition.html] ] . The party has called for Sunni, Shia, Arab and Kurdish citizens to unite in Iraq. [ [http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=13044&TagID=1 The Caliphate will Unite Sunni and Shia under an Islamic Rule Khalifa.com] ] Some of the party's prominent members have been murdered there, the bodies showing signs of torture. [ [http://forums.muslimvillage.net/lofiversion/index.php/t23865.html Hizb ut-Tahrir leaders murdered in Iraq June 24, 2006] ] 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." [ [http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Iraq/10093356.html Enemies hail it as 'Eid gift'] ] .

yria

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. [ [http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/45656fe44.pdf dead link] ] [ [http://www.shrc.org.uk/data/aspx/d1/2941.aspx dead link] ]

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.

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) [http://www.hizb.org.uk/downloads/index.php?id=2390_0_48_0_C]
*Dr Nazreen Nawaz (Women's Representative) [http://www.hizb.org.uk/downloads/index.php?id=2390_0_48_0_C]
*Dr Abdul Wahid (GP & UK Leader) [http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Abdul_Wahid.jsp]
*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 [http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=fRSJ19bcmgI] (Head of Media Office, from Lebanon)

ee also

*Taqiuddin al-Nabhani
*List of political parties in the Palestinian National Authority
*Islam in Indonesia
*Islam in Uzbekistan
**May 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan
*Islamic democracy

References

Further reading

* [http://moonbatmedia.com/hizb_ut_tahrir_190806/ Photo report of Hizb ut-Tahrir street protest in London] , "Moonbat Media", August 19 2006
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4931416.stm "BBC Hard Talk interview with Maajid Nawaz"] , "BBC News 24 Hard Talk with Sarah Montague", April 2006
* [http://hei.unige.ch/psio/fichiers/Meyer%20Al%20Qaida.pdf 'Hizb ut-Tahrir–The Next Al-Qaida, Really?"] by Jean-François Mayer, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1978581,00.html "PM shelves Islamic group ban"] by The Guardian Newspaper
* [http://www.khilafat.pk/28rajab/books/nidham.pdf The System of Islam] Book by Founder of Hizb ut Tahrir, al-Nabhani - in English
* [http://users.dickinson.edu/~commins/TaqiAl-dinAl-Nabhani.pdf 'TAQI AL-DIN AL-NABHANI AND THE ISLAMIC LIBERATION PARTY'] by Professor David Commins, Department of History, Dickinson College, Carlisle
* [http://www.cot.nl/ttsrl/tekst/publications/Hizb%20ut%20Tahrir%20al%20Islami.pdf Academic case study on Hizb-ut-Tahrir by the European research consortium Transnational Terrorism, Security and the Rule of Law]
* [http://www.hizb.org.uk/pressnew/index.php?id=3083_0_45_0_M97 "al-Jazeera interview with Ian Nisbet and Maajid Nawaz - Arabic"] , "al-Jazeera interview in Arabic", March 2006
* [http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-terrorism/ban_2740.jsp "Tony Blair and Hizb-ut-Tahrir: 'Muslims under the bed'] Abdul Wahid, "openDemocracy.net", August 9 2005
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1543385,00.html "The Prime Minister's statement on anti-terror measures"] "The Guardian", August 5 2005
* [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/english/constitution.htm Hizb ut-Tahrir's draft constitution]
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/30/news/islam9.php "Cartoons ignite cultural combat in Denmark"] , "International Herald Tribune", December 31 2005
* [http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051101faessay84607/zeyno-baran/fighting-the-war-of-ideas.html "Fighting the War of Ideas"] , "Foreign Affairs", November/December 2005
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3182271.stm "Hizb ut Tahrir"] , "BBC Newsnight", August 27 2003
* [http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=11691&TagID=1 FAQ about Hizb ut-Tahrir by Khilafah.com]
* [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/ Hizb ut-Tahrir official global website]
* [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/ Hizb ut-Tahrir official website in Urdu, German, English, Russian, Turkish and Arabic languages]
* [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/ Official Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir website]
* [http://www.schicksalsfrage.org/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Germany]
* [http://www.28rajab.com Hizb ut-Tahrir Pakistan]
* [http://www.khilafat.org/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh]
* [http://www.hizb.org.uk/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain]
* [http://www.hizbut-tahrir.or.id/main.php Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia]
* [http://www.mykhilafah.com/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Malaysia]
* [http://www.turkiyevilayeti.org/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Turkey]
* [http://www.risala.org/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia]
* [http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.dk/ Hizb ut-Tahrir Denmark]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11989895/ Inside ‘Islam’s political insurgency’ in Europe]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12250008/ Q&A with Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman by MSNBC]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3225102.stm BBC Hardtalk's Tim Sebastian interview with Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman]
* [http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/4931416.stm BBC Hardtalk's Sarah Montague interview with Maajid Nawaz, who was imprisoned in Egypt for belonging to the political party]
* [http://www.khilafah.net/ Arabic website]
* [http://www.cyberscopie.info/pages/art_archives/art59_archi.html Article describing the autocontradictory policy of the Central asiatic authorities regarding Hizb ut-Tharir]
* [http://www.jamestown.org/images/pdf/st_002_008.pdf Interview with leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain by the Jamestown Foundation - PDF Format]
* [http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=12891 Recent interview with IRSN]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1421932.htm Interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1574832,00.html Recent article in Guardian with interview of female members]
* [http://simonjones1.blogspot.com/2005/07/from-bishkek-to-baghdad-caliphates.html Simon Jones comment, journalist currently based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1348296,00.html 'The West needs to understand it is inevitable: Islam is coming back']
* [http://www.jihadmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/jmophut.pdf Hizb ut-Tahrir in Spain]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4127688.stm Q&A: Hizb ut-Tahrir by BBC]
* [http://www.newstatesman.com/200409130018 Article in New Statesman]
*The Jamestown Foundation
* [http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/kyrgyzstan+a+clash+of+civilisations/975957 Kyrgyzstan: a clash of civilisations] Channel 4 News - Video about Hizb ut-Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
* [http://media.www.hlrecord.org/media/storage/paper609/news/2008/09/18/News/Former.Islamist.Extremists.Address.The.Global.War.On.Terrorism-3437447.shtml Report on a panel discussion with former Hizb ut-Tahrir members at Harvard] in the "Harvard Law Record"