Hizb ut-Tahrir: 'What we need is actual war'

[Flari]

Hizb ut-Tahrir: “what is required is actual war”
This is a guest post by Raziq, a former member of Hizb ut-Tahrir

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Hizb ut-Tahrir claims to be a non-violent political party. Its members publically state this, however critics are not convinced. In this article I will be looking at some of its literature and its stance on the use of violence. All quotes appear in their correct contexts and all references used in this article can be supplied upon request.

Background

Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) is a political party established by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani in 1952. Being a former Ba’athist, Nabhani incorporated the organizational principles of Marxism-Leninism into the structure of his new party. The central aim of HT is to unite all Muslim-majority countries into a super-expansionist Islamist state. This is to be done by seizing power in a Muslim-majority country through infiltration of the army and then initiating a military coup, a war by proxy. Once the state is established it will invite other Muslim-majority countries to join, but if they refuse then a war (jihad) will be declared against them and they will be taken over by force. Failed coup attempts by HT in the 1960s led to the loss of much support and membership and today it is banned or viewed with suspicion in all Muslim-majority countries.

So what exactly are its views on the use of violence and is HT dangerous?

Violence and Anti-Semitism

I will begin with a statement issued by Ata Abu Rishta as the official spokesperson of HT (and now its global leader) in Jordan in May 1994, a few weeks before the Cairo Agreement;

There can be no peaceful relations with the Jews: this is prohibited by Islamic Law. It is also prohibited to settle for only part of Palestine. There can be neither negotiations, co-existence nor normalization of relations with the Jews in Palestine. None of the Jews in Palestine who arrived after the destruction of the Ottoman Empire have the right to remain there. The Islamic legal rule requires that those of whom are capable of fighting be killed until none survive. Any others should be forced to leave. Individual Jews who lived in Palestine (as part of a dhimma community) before the end of the (Ottoman) empire and are not guilty of any violent act against the Muslims can be allowed to stay… however, it is anticipated that none belong in this category. It is impossible to solve the problem of Palestine by peaceful means: what is required is actual war, in the form of Jihad.

(A Fundamental Quest: Hizb al-Tahrir and the search for the Islamic Caliphate, page 162, Suha Taji-Farouki Grey Seal London)

This is a pretty shocking statement from a supposedly non-violent party. It isn’t just calling for the killing of Zionists- but all Jews in Israel who moved there after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. HT believes that the Israel/Palestine conflict will never be resolved using peaceful means; the only solution is an aggressive war (jihad). According to HT it is also an obligation for Muslims to fight and abolish the state of Israel:

Fighting and exterminating Israel is an obligation even if the Muslims fighting are Arab armies loyal to regimes of unbelief, like the Egyptian soldiers when they fought Israel during the Sinai war

(Khilafah Mag U.S edition, Volume 2, Issue 4 – August 1991)

Another interesting dimension in HT’s violent jihad is that it believes terrorist tactics may be employed against countries it is at war with. Their official ruling on the permissibility of hijacking planes states:

If the plane belongs to a country at war with Muslims, like Israel, it is allowed to hijack it, for there is no sanctity for Israel or for the Jews in it.

(‘The Islamic rule on hijacking aeroplanes’ – 8th April 1988)

It’s important to note here that it’s not just Zionists who have “no sanctity” but all Jews (who happen to be on the aircraft). HT has often been accused of being anti-Semitic, and it’s not difficult to see why. Another official HT leaflet entitled The Only place between the Muslims and the Jews is the battlefield, also calls for a violent jihad against all Jews in Israel:

Clearly, the scandalous and treacherous negotiations must end, the door that leads to the treacherous peace with the Jews must be slammed shut, we must rid ourselves from their bragging, arrogance and contempt of Muslims, and destroy their existence by the lawful Jihad until they are wiped out, and their survivors are left senseless, scattered and despised the world over.

(Leaflet issued on 25 December 1992)

Again, it doesn’t make a distinction between Zionists and Jews because HT believes in killing ‘all’ Jews of fighting age within Israel. I remember asking a senior HT member whether the above leaflet was referring to Zionists or all Jews. He told me: “In the Qur’an Allah doesn’t call Jews Zionists but just Jews, so when we say Jews we mean Jews”.

What type of State?

The Islamist state that HT seeks to create will be a violent expansionist state and jihad, defined by HT as a religiously justified war, will be used to achieve the aims of its foreign policy (i.e. expanding its borders). This is outlined in party literature:

Islam has defined the material action. This action will remove all physical obstacles to the attainment of the noble foreign policy objectives of the Khilafah State. This is Jihad.

(Jihad- Foreign Policy of the Khilafah State, Zahid-Ivan Salaam, Pg 51, Khilafah Publications, London, 2001)

And it’s not just Jews whom HT would like to kill; even fellow Muslims who reject their form of Islamist governance are believed to deserve death. This point was elaborated upon by the second global leader of HT, Abdul Qadeem Zallum, who stated:

..thus, he who does not rule by Islam and rules by a Kufr system should either retract or be killed. Thus, the rule by a Kufr system would be prevented even if this led to several years of fighting and even if it led to the killing of millions of Muslims and to the martyrdom of millions of believers.

(How the Khilafah Was Destroyed, Pg 199, Al-Khilafah Publications: London, 2000)

Killing millions of people will be a natural occurrence in HT’s proposed Khilafah state because it will be in a state of permanent war (jihad):

The foreign policy of the Khilafah state is determined by the call to Islam. As the call (dawa) is conveyed by Jihad, the Khilafah state is in the situation of permanent Jihad.

(AL-FAJR, Issue 14, March 1989 –Pg 13)

Affiliations

Another point which often gets overlooked is that prior to the establishment of HT as a party, its founder Taqiuddin al-Nabhani was an associate of the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Sheikh Muhammad Hajj Al-Amin Hosseini. Hosseini was a Nazi war collaborator who visited Nazi Germany and Hitler during WW2. This fact has been highlighted by various researchers:

While one cannot ascertain exactly how they met, it is evident that a relationship of sorts developed between the two men: according to well placed sources in Amman al-Nabhani was considered to belong to Hajj Amin’s camp during the period from 1945 to 1948.

(A Fundamental Quest and the search for the Islamic Caliphate, Suha Taji Farouqi, Pg 2, Grey Seal 1st Edition)

Yet in the party’s early days, al-Nabhani was influenced by Shiekh Muhammad Hajj Al-Amin Husseni, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Nazi war collaborator. Party Members have often denied the holocaust, calling it a “tool used by Jews to justify their own hegemony over Muslims in Palestine. (Hizb ut-Tahrir, Islam’s Political Insurgency, Zayno Baran, Pg 28, The Nixon Center)

This may explain why there is so much hatred for Jews in HT publications.

Conclusion

HT is not a terrorist organisation and it does not plan terrorist operations. However, as we have seen, its method of taking power is through military coups – an inherently violent method and after the establishment of the Khilafah, it would be happy to use force and even terrorism against its enemies.

If you read Hizb ut-Tahrir books, you will have the impression that it is a political party that works to assume power, and not an association that confronts the battlefield of life with the goal of actualizing God’s vice regency on earth….This has lost it considerable weight in the struggle.

(Ghazi al Tawba, al Fikr Islami al Muassir: Dirasah wa Taqwim Beirut: n.p 1969, 311)

HT is an anti-Semitic extremist Islamist party that believes political violence is justified. It seeks to create a super-expansionist State (khilafah). They will then seek to take over the world, firstly by inviting countries to join them, but if they resist, they will be taken over by force. In their own words:

The aim of Hizb ut-Tahrir is to resume the Islamic way of life and to carry the Islamic Da’wah, i.e. to achieve the objective of solving the vital issue concerning the Muslims……This would be under the shadow of an Islamic State which is the Khilafah, where Muslims would appoint a Khalifah and pledge to listen to and obey him on the condition that he governs them with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and on condition that he carries Islam as a message to the world by invitation and Jihad.

(The Methodology of Hizb ut-Tahrir for change, Al-Khilafah Publications,
Pg 24,1999)

Despite its claims to the contrary, HT’s message is one of violence, not peace.

26 Comments

Source: http://www.spittoon.org/archives/2280

[ImmortalTechnique]

*YAWN*

Flari

you're getting to be a bit too predictable here with your attacks on the likes of HT & the linking to the website to the spittoon, nothing but a hang out place for neo-con think tanks/QF/and Muslim baiters.

your getting too obvious.

[Flari]

No need to get defensive bro. I thought it was an interesting article.

[ImmortalTechnique]

Originally Posted by Flari

No need to get defensive bro. I thought it was an interesting article.

you're only on this forum to promote this BS site of yours.

to pretend otherwise you're only deluding yourself.

[gohar]

stopped reading after reading the ridiculous criticism that believing that you shouldn't have to appease the israeli criminals by allowing them to keep the land they have taken by force is somehow objectionable.

[Illuminate]

I don't know if these quotes are true or false....one thing which is clear, they are very old... you back to 1988...

I can say with great certainty, most of those quotes are from omar bakri....

Do HT hold these beliefs and promote this - I reckon NOT otherwise blair would have banned them...

I wonder when flari and his friends will start to post what Jews extremist believe - there is no negogiation with the palestinines...

[Flari]

Some quotes in the article are old and others are more recent. The party books quoted by Raziq are still being sold and propogated by HT today.

[Illuminate]

the latest quote I can see is 2001 - others go back decades...

if I took quotes from any political party who has a history of over 50 years - I can portray them in a total different light than what they are today - political parties evolve... The post by fomer HT member raziq is worthless - obviously a member of HT when bakri was running the show...

[Mikebloke]

How dare Labour bring in the minimum wage! It would destroy life as we know it! It'll be anarchy! What will we do if we were forced to pay people more than 50p an hour!

Oh wait, there was no crisis.

[Flari]

Illuminate

It's funny you should say that because Hizb ut-Tahrir themselves say this is a good article : )

See: http://forum.hizbuttahrir.org/showth...9275#post19275

If they agree with what Raziq is saying then who are you to complain?

And for your information Omar Bakri Mohammad left HT in 1996 and not 2001 (get your facts right).

You seem to be arguing for the sake of arguing.

[dark_knight]

Originally Posted by Flari

Illuminate

It's funny you should say that because Hizb ut-Tahrir themselves say this is a good article : )

See: http://forum.hizbuttahrir.org/showth...9275#post19275

If they agree with what Raziq is saying then who are you to complain?

nope

rizzy2k8 says it a good article

and out of over 600 members only one says its good

is rizzy2k8 a

member of HT?

or spokesperson of HT?

or the leader of HT?

or a former member of HT?

[Flari]

You need to ask him wether he is an HT leader, member, shabab or supporter.

The literature in Raziq's quotes is still available on their websites.

[Ijaz]

HT should be exposed for what they are; a bunch of liars and hypocrites. I've seen their bigots preaching violence and anti-Semitism in universities and mosques. They are idiots who think they're about to take over the entire Muslim world and I hope the delusional fools of this group will soon mend their ways.

[Doctor J]

The lies oh the lies
i think a name change is in order for the likes of Quids - In and their ilk.

[Flari]

Nice one Doctor J,

Ignore the article but keep bashing Quids in. Then again I guess you can't really defend the indefensible : )

Have you heard of OQD? (Obsessive Quilliam Disorder)

You and your ilk seem to be in need of a doctor.

[Illuminate]

Originally Posted by Flari

Illuminate

It's funny you should say that because Hizb ut-Tahrir themselves say this is a good article : )

See: http://forum.hizbuttahrir.org/showth...9275#post19275

If they agree with what Raziq is saying then who are you to complain?

And for your information Omar Bakri Mohammad left HT in 1996 and not 2001 (get your facts right).

You seem to be arguing for the sake of arguing.

lool flari.... trying to the pull the wool over my eyes again...

that website is not THE hizb-ut-tahrir as you very well know.... but a small branch or sub sect.... secondly it is just one guy who replied to the article - all we know he could be a member of QF, the MI5, mossad or the CIA...

the fact is those quotes are not even current - even the 2000 and 2001 quotes are taken from books years and decades old - during and before bakri was at the helm...

Like I said the Question is, do ht still hold those ideas and beliefs...

[Flari]

Do HT still hold those ideas and beliefs? -well they have to, regardless of how old those ideas are.

By your line of questioning its clear you don't know much about HT. Let me explain. To be a member of HT you have to study the books of the founder of the group. They were written 50 years ago (very old) yet you have to study them to become a member or even just a shab. It's the founder of HT who says 'Jihad' will be the foriegn policy of the khilafah state. So once the state is established other Muslim-majority countries will be given a choice; either join the Khilafah state or be taken over by force. This is a fundamental belief in HT ideology and you can ask any HT member about this. If you don't believe in these ideas then you cant be a member because these are the type of ideas that the party is based on.

I suggest you learn more about them before trying to defend them.

I had the misfortune of living with Omar Bakri Mohammad for 2 years a longtime ago, so I know all about him and what he was really up to. He got kicked out of HT in 1996. Again any HT person will confirm this for you.

(I went to the HT conference a few weeks ago and they were still selling the book's Raziq quotes in his article)

[Illuminate]

flari - I know HT read those books by their founders - but the question I am asking do they still belief in the jihad state... given what has happen over the last few years...

and secondly, is it such a big issue if they still do - all powers have always maintained aggressive policies in influencing international relations - look at USA imperialism, communist aggression last century or you can go back to colonisation - all based on what HT envisage when ever their khalifah emerges... All powers have always done and always will try and control other weaker nation to main their grip and spread their influence...


you were good friends with Mr Bakri... that explains it...

[Abdul Hafiz]

Originally Posted by Flari

...To be a member of HT you have to study the books of the founder of the group. They were written 50 years ago (very old) yet you have to study them to become a member or even just a shab. It's the founder of HT who says 'Jihad' will be the foriegn policy of the khilafah state....

None of the quotes provided are from Nabhani's books. Please provide proof with reference to Nabhani's books confirming the above statement - ie a statement that Jihad will be a foreign policy of the Khilafah state.

Nabhani was somewhat clueless about politics and world history, but a genocidal maniac with a penchant for mass murder he was not. Please provide proof from his books to the contrary and I will readily admit that I was wrong.

As for currency of the quotes, despite your baseless accusations levelled at Lumi, it is you who appear to be somewhat limited in your knowledge of HT - as with all political parties, their ideology and views change over time. Take being a lawyer for example - ten years ago, they held it was not allowed. Now they hold it is allowed. That is why the dates of the quotes is important. Mere selling/availability of literature is not necessarily a conclusive indicator.

[Muntasir]

Its funny how Quilliam object to HT miltancys but are cheer leaders for the slaughter of muslims in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan.