Taqiuddin al-Nabhani

; born in 1909 in Ijzim, Haifa and died in 1977) was a Sunni Shafi'i Islamic jurist, theologian, and founder of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Rational Thinking

Nabhani believed that Islam was a rational deen and to enter into it is based upon rational thinking. In his book 'The System of Islam' Nabhani has given solid proof of existence of Allah (swt), the Quran being the book from Allah (swt), the Prophets and truthfulness of Muhammad (saw)as messenger of Allah (swt), purely on rational basis.

Politics

He had joined the Muslim Brotherhood while in Egypt and was active in the movement on returning to Palestine. He also maintained ties with the Palestinian leader Amin al-Husayni during the Palestine mandate. During the period of Jordanian rule in the West Bank, however, Nabhani grew critical of the Brotherhood's close links with the Jordanian regime because of its pro-Western leanings. In November 1952, Nabhani broke with the Brotherhood and established the Liberation Party in Jerusalem. Nabhani left Palestine for Syria in 1953 and moved to Lebanon in 1959. He died and was buried in Beirut in 1979. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Ijzim/Story819.html]

On his return to Palestine, he became more and more critical of what he perceived as the Westernisation of the Islamic Ummah by colonial powers such as Britain and France. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War together with the failure of a coup attempt by Abdullah al-Tall in Jordan to which al-Nabhani had been party convinced him that only a structured and deep intellectual work could bring the Islamic state back to its glory and strength. Consequently he began preparations relating to the Party structure, literature and the like, in 1949 while he was still a judge at al-Quds. In his first written work, which appeared in January 1950 under the title Inqadh Filastin (Saving Palestine), he considered that Islam had been deeply rooted in Palestine since the seventh century. He also analysed the main cause for the set backs which had befallen the Arabs which, as he said, were because the Ummah had resigned and submitted itself to the greedy colonial powers. In August 1950 he sent a long letter, published later as a book entitled Risalat al-Arab "The Message of the Arabs", to the members of the Culture Summit of the Arab League in Alexandria, Egypt. In his exposition of the matter, he stressed the point that the true message of the Arabs is Islam, on whose basis alone the intellectual and political revival of the Ummah could be achieved. As the Summit members did not react to this letter , Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani was now convinced that establishing a political party was essential.

The importance of this message was that it flew in the face of the secular and inclusive "Pan-Arab" sentiment of the founding days of Baathism and Nasrism.

Hizb ut-Tahrir

While employed at the Ibrahimiyya School al-Nabhani contacted numerous individuals and personalities such as his colleagues As'ad and Rajab Bayyud Tamimi and Abdul Qadeem Zallum and other about the formation of a political party.

Death

Due to the continuous harassment and persecution by the Jordanian government al-Nabhani was forced into giving up his role in public life. He was not seen again in public until his death due to fear of assassination. Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani died in Beirut on 20 December 1977, and was buried at the al-Auza'i cemetery.

Books

*"Saving Palestine" - 1950
*"The Message of the Arabs" - 1950
*"The System for Society" - 1950

*"The Ruling System in Islam" - 1953
*"The Economic System in Islam" - 1953
*"The Social System in Islam" -1953
*"The Party Structure" -1953
*"The Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir" - 1953
*"The Islamic State" - 1953
*"The Islamic Personality" (in three volumes) - 1960
*"Political Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir" - 1969
*"Political View of Hizb ut-Tahrir" - 1972
*"Introduction to the Constitution or the Reasons That Make it Obligatory" - 1963
*"The Khilafah" - 1967
*"Presence of Mind" - 1976
*"A Burning Call to the Muslims from Hizb ut-Tahrir" - 1965
*"Thinking" - 1973
*"The Jurisprudence of Prayer"

References

*Al-Waie magazine, issues 234-235, August/September 2006 (Arabic) [http://www.al-waie.org/issues/234-235/article.php?id=396_0_31_0_C]
*Biography [http://www.yadim.com.my/english/Ulama/UlamaFull.asp?Id=75]

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