Muslims, multiculturalism and muscular liberalism

Around 70 invited guests, made up of local and national Muslim community leaders, activists, teachers, khateebs and others attended a meeting organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain, titled Cameron’s Multiculturalism Policy: Responsibility of Islamic organisations in Britain.

The meeting was chaired by Jamal Harwood of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s UK Executive Committee, and was addressed by several speakers including Massoud Shadjareh, Chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Mohamed Ali CEO of Islam Channel and Dr Abdul Wahid, Chairman of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s UK Execuitive Committee.

Dr Abdul Wahid explained Cameron’s hostile comments about multiculturalism and his calls for a ‘muscular liberalism’. He put this in the context of the British government’s on-going agenda to secularise the Muslim community, and linked it to Britain’s colonial foreign policy, recently characterised by it’s statements against any Islamic government in the Arab states currently experiencing uprisings at the moment. He said Cameron’s comments will only increase propaganda attacks on Islam leading to a heightened climate of anti-Muslim hatred – part of a campaign to bully Muslims into accepting western values, which they had hitherto been unconvinced by. Abdul Wahid explained that the attacks on Islam were to prevent the rise of Islam that would give independence to the Islamic world from western colonial control.

Massoud Shadjareh argued that subjugation of the Muslim community occurs when we allow our minds to be enslaved, and Mohamed Ali talked about Europe’s terrible history towards minorities, and that that Muslims needed to fear their Islamic beliefs and valued being wiped out from Britain (others argued strongly that this was a greater fear than any physical threat) and that it was important to view Islam as a complete way of life.

There were comments of general agreement from those present that Muslims have to counter the growing propaganda attacks, by protecting their Islamic values in the community. This could only be done by Muslims using their community institutions to enable Muslims to understand their deen – Islam – so they know how to rebut these attacks. They encouraged Muslims to build their institutions independent of state finance, and to convey the Islamic values through discussions with the wider society; this could include the opening of Mosques to non-Muslims on open days, in order to counter the propaganda.

Finally, Muslims were urged to support the call for Islam in the Muslim world, saying that the call for Islam was growing across the world, as shown by the recent demonstrations in Egypt, Tunisia, and elsewhere, and that the campaign to ‘reform’ Islam was one around the world.

Jamal Harwood, chairing the meeting, invited guest to take HIzb ut-Tahrir Britain’s new report regarding the on-going challenge for Muslims. (Ends)

Download PDF: The Future for Muslims in Britain 

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The Best Jihad is to speak the word of truth to the tyrant ruler’

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• The events in Tunisia and Egypt have truly shown the amazing determination of the people to speak the truth against the tyrant rulers.

• For decades kings, dictators, tyrants and crony ‘democrats’ have ruled the Muslim Ummah, looted the Um-mah’s wealth, and allowed the Western powers to steal our resources and occupy our lands.

• The Muslim Ummah from Indonesia to Tunisia from Uzbekistan to Pakistan have had enough of the oppres-sion of these rulers. Corruption, unemployment, poverty, lack of education, insecurity, sectarianism and violence have been the everyday life of the people for as long as we can remember.

• We have tried so called ‘democracy’ in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iraq and we have seen the fruits. Whereas in the past one tyrant and his family would loot the wealth, now we have a whole cabal of so-called ‘democrats’ who are looting our wealth and pushing our countries into sectarian chaos.

• ‘Democracy’ is nothing more than a mirage that the West trumpets to give people the feeling that there is change. They only allow democracy if elections bring to power those they want. Zardari, Hasina, Karzai, Maliki and Erdogan are the products of this democracy. Elections in a system that is so inherently corrupti-ble does nothing more than to give legitimacy to those who serve Western interests.

• The Ummah needs and is crying for change. This change will only come when we go back to our basis as an Ummah – that is Islam. Establishing the Islamic system of government – the Khilafah – is the only way that this Ummah can regain her position as a nation amongst nations.

• Rulers with integrity, accountable government, just laws, an end to gross inequality and poverty, and an end to occupation are just some of the fruits of living under the Islamic system where the Khalifah is a servant of the people, contracted through the bayah to implement laws emanating from the Quran and Sunnah, as opposed to what him and his masters desire.

• The Muslims in Egypt and Tunisia dodged tanks and water canons to speak the truth against these tyrants. Brothers and Sisters, are we going to keep silent or will we rise to act upon the words of the Messenger (salallahu alaihi wasallam)?

• We must show solidarity with the rest of our Ummah by calling for the real change that the Ummah needs. The call for Khilafah must be raised from all corners of the Earth. Our role here is to refute the attacks on Islam and Khilafah and present how the Khilafah can bring the much desired change not only in the Muslim world but the world over. (Ends)

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Britain’s Foreign Policy Double Standard

Cameron hurries to sell more weapons to the Egyptian army

In an article in the Guardian – on 22nd February 2011 – Simon Jenkins summarises the key double standard at the heart of British – and American foreign policy. He says:
“The present British government, like its predecessor, claims to pursue a policy of “liberal interventionism”, seeking the downfall of undemocratic regimes round the globe, notably in the Muslim world. The same British government, again like its predecessor, sends these undemocratic regimes copious weapons to suppress the only plausible means of the said downfall, popular insurrection. The contradiction is glaring.”
The contradiction may be glaring, but so is the reason why. Capitalist states like Britain have a single aim in their foreign policy. That is to maximise their interests in the world. And by interests, they mean business interests. Any other strategic interests are purely in order to serve this objective.

When asked about arms contracts by the BBC, David Cameron gave this ridiculous response: “Democracies have a right to defend themselves. That argument is very powerful in Kuwait. “The idea that Kuwait should not be able to have its own armed forces, that it is unable to defend its own country and take part in defence trade, is an extraordinary argument.”
Since when was Kuwait a democracy! His comfortable approach to this most loyal of absolute monarchies goes a long way to show the hypocrisy of the late condemnations of Gaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali.

Furthermore, Cameron has side stepped the issue at the heart of the question – that these weapons are largely used to attack their own populations – tear gas, made in Britain and used in Bahrain amply underlined this.

Like Tony Blair before him Cameron has mastered the art of obfuscation. No one argued about Kuwait having armed forces. The argument is about Gaddafi, Ben Ali, and the Al-Khalifa and Al Saud families having weapons to repress their own people, and British arms companies getting rich during a period of instability! (Ends)

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EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION: Libyan Embassy, Sat 26 Feb, 11am-1pm

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Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil

Allah (swt) revealed:

“You are the best nation revealed for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah.” [TMQ 3:110]

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“Whoever from amongst you sees an evil should change it by his hand, if he is unable to do so then he should change it by his tongue (by speaking against it), and if he is unable to do so then he should reject it in his heart and this is the weakest of Iman.” [Muslim]

Islam made it an obligation upon Muslims to enjoin the good and to forbid the evil no matter where they live and how big or small the good or evil may be. This is why we find Muslims across the world calling to the good or speaking against injustices regardless of whether they live in “democracies” or “dictatorships”. Individuals and organizations have been known to speak out against tyrant rulers in the Muslim world, for which reason their members have been tortured and in many cases murdered. Muslims are motivated by the words of Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw) in their struggle against injustices.

Enjoining the good and forbidding evil is a fard kifayah - a collective duty upon the Ummah. If some of the Muslims carry it out and the aim is achieved, then the intent is met and the obligation is lifted; but if it is neglected, then all Muslims are responsible and sinful. The order mentioned in the hadith above - to change - is a binding order and therefore considered an obligation. It is not restricted to a particular person such as someone in authority (i.e. the ruler or judge), or people who have certain qualifications (i.e. the scholars), but rather it is a general command to all people as understood by the generality of the language of the hadith. It goes without saying that the scholars should be at the forefront of standing up for the truth since they are the inheritors of the prophets. They inherit the duty to convey knowledge and enjoin the good and forbid the evil. Unfortunately, many scholars have kept quiet about the haq (truth) and many have gone as far as enjoining evil. The narration explains that if it is not possible to stop or change the evil through force or authority, then it is necessary to speak against it.

It is important to note here that one does not need to be sinless to enjoin the good and forbid the evil. Also the evil mentioned must be an agreed upon munkar (evil), and there is no inkaar (preventing/condemning others) on issues of differences of opinion between respected mujtahideen.

Sheikh ibn Taymiyya mentioned three conditions for the issue of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil:

1. 1. Knowledge prior to the action: This is in accordance to the issue, if the issue itself is well known to the Muslims such as abandoning the prayer, paying (riba) interest on a loan, or ruling by other than the Shari'ah then such matter does not require someone to be a scholar to enjoin or forbid.
2. 2. Delivering the message in the most effective manner. This means we are firm, but avoid being harsh upon the person we are advising.
3. 3. Patience after the action since whomever does this noble act will be afflicted with trials and tribulations by those they face. Allah (swt) revealed:

“By Al-'Asr (the time). Verily! Man is in loss, Except those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth, And recommend one another to patience.” [TMQ 103]

Ibn Kathir in his tafsir sai'd, “recommend one another to patience meaning patience with plots, the evils, and the harms of those who harm people due to their commanding them to do good and forbidding them from evil.”

Sometimes when Muslims engage themselves in debate with journalists and media outlets, the conversation ends with the Muslims being told that the only reason they are able to speak is because of the freedom of speech they are entitled to in democracies and that this is the reason they can be critical and disagree with others in the west. This argument is based upon a premise which assumes that the reason Muslims speak out against the injustices which they see around the world is because they have the freedom to do so and for this reason Muslims should be grateful. This could not be further from the truth!

The fact of the matter is that even before the birth of the concept of free speech in Europe and America, Allah (swt) had revealed to the Muslims the concept of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, as explained above. This is more precious and worthwhile than free speech, not only because it is from Allah (swt), but also because the freedom of speech in itself is merely a choice that an individual can uphold or ignore and we see this everyday in the streets of western cities. We will find that thugs and criminals are causing all sorts of problems in some communities, but very few people intervene or attempt to intervene to stop them. This is the type of mentality freedom of speech creates, a passive mentality to crime, towards other people's feelings and sentiments and a mentality of, “I will only use freedom of speech when it benefits me”. This can also be seen on a societal scale. For example, the American and British public is aware that their politicians lied to them about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. However, most people have chosen not to use their freedom of speech to hold the government accountable for countless criminal acts their governments have committed against the innocent people of Iraq.

The concept of enjoining the good and forbidding evil however is mandatory on Muslims. Hence it creates a proactive mentality where the Muslims will involve themselves in stopping the injustices and if necessary in many cases put their own lives at risk for others. Anybody who has been to the Muslim world would know that when any crime occurs, people from the street involve themselves to resolve these issues and if necessary stop the injustice, even if both the perpetrator and victim are complete strangers. For example, we recently saw the Ummah hold the rulers accountable in Egypt, Jordan, Algeria and Tunisia for their continuous transgression against the Ummah. Also, during the Gaza Massacre of 2009, the Ummah in Egypt and elsewhere held the rulers accountable for allowing Israel to massacre our brothers and sisters in Palestine. And there have been many individuals and members of groups who have held their rulers accountable and faced harsh consequences, such as imprisonment, torture, and even death. These actions carry a high reward based on the following hadith:

“The master of the martyrs is Hamza ibn Abdul Mattalib, and a man who stands (in front of) an oppressive ruler and enjoins the good and forbids the evil and so is killed for it.” [Hakim]

This creates a level of security within society where people can feel a sense of peace knowing that others will help them in their time of need. The reason Muslims feel the need to enjoin the good and forbid the evil is because it has been placed as an obligation upon them by their Creator (swt) for which they will be immensely rewarded or punished if not undertaken, and this is why it is not subject to being discarded at the whims and desires of people.

The rewards of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil is immense. And the consequence of keeping silent when seeing evil is grave. Abu Huraira (ra) reported that Prophet Muhammad (saw) said:

“If anyone summons others to follow right guidance, his reward will be equivalent to those of the people who follow him without their rewards being diminished in any respect on that account; and if anyone summons others to follow error, the sin of which he is guilty will be equivalent to those of the people who follow him without their sins being diminished in any respect on that account.” [Muslim]

Aisha (ra) said: “Once the Prophet Muhammad (saw) entered the house, and I guessed from his face that something had happened to him. He did not talk to anyone, and after having ablution he entered the mosque. I tried to hear behind the wall what he said. So, he sat at the pulpit, and after praising Allah (swt) he (saw) said:

‘O’ Muslims! Allah has commanded you to exhort people to good deeds and prevent them from sins; otherwise a time will come when you will pray to Him, but He will not listen to you; you will ask your needs of Him, but He will not grant them; you will demand His help against your enemies, but He will not help you.’ After saying this, he came down from the pulpit”. [Ibn Majah]

May Allah make us among those who enjoin the good, forbid the evil and believe in Allah (swt). (PAM)

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UK PM David Cameron's confusion on Multiculturalism

Cameron told the Munich Security Conference, attended by world leaders, that state multiculturalism had failed in this country and pledged to cut funding for Muslim groups that failed to respect basic British values. He blamed the radicalisation of Muslim youths and the phenomenon of home-grown terrorism on the sense of alienation that builds among young people living in separate communities and the "hands-off tolerance" of groups that peddle separatist ideology. Read more>>>

Obstacles in Establishing the Islamic State

Re-establishing the Islamic State is by no means an easy or straightforward task. There are several colossal obstacles facing the re-establishment of the Islamic State which first need to be removed and dismantled, and there are several major difficulties standing in the way of the resumption of the Islamic way of life which also need to be overcome. Read more>>>

Demonstration : Call for REAL Change in the Arab World

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