The Hizbul Tehrir

It has the same objectives as Al Qaeda, namely, introduction of Islamic ruleaccording to the Sharia in Muslim majority countries and the restoration of anIslamic Caliphate, but projects itself as different from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda isessentially an Arab organisation, with Arabs holding senior positions andexercising command and control. As against this, the HT projects itself as amulti-ethnic Islamic organisation in which membership and senior positions areopen to any Muslim, irrespective of his or her ethnic background.

Its Aims and Objectives say: "The Party accepts Muslim men and women asits members regardless of whether they are Arab or non-Arab, white or coloured,since it is a party for all Muslims. It invites all Muslims to carry Islam andadopt its systems regardless of their nationalities, colours and madhahib(schools of thought), as it looks to all of them according to the viewpoint ofIslam."

Al Qaeda is often accused of working for the Arabisation of Islam in non-Arabcountries. The HT seeks to protect itself from such charges. At the same time,it admits that in its work it gave the first priority to the Arab countries andexplains it thus:

"Although Islam is a universal ideology, its method does not, however,allow one to work for it universally from the beginning. It is necessary,however, to invite to it universally, and make the field of work for it in onecountry, or a few countries, until it is consolidated there and the Islamicstate is established. The whole world is a suitable location for the Islamic da’wah.But since the people in the Muslim countries have already embraced Islam, it isnecessary that the da’wah starts there. The Arab countries are the mostsuitable location to start carrying the da’wah because these countries, whichconstitute part of the Muslim world, are inhabited by people who speak theArabic language, which is the language of the Qur’an and hadith, and is anessential part of Islam and a basic element of the Islamic culture. The Hizbbegan and started to carry the da’wah within some of the Arab countries. Itthen proceeded to expand the delivery of the da’wah naturally until it beganto function in many Arab countries and also in non-Arab Muslim countries aswell."

It projects itself as a politico-religious movement. It says: " Hizbut-Tahrir is a political party whose ideology is Islam, so politics is its workand Islam is its ideology. It works within the Ummah and together with her, sothat she adopts Islam as her cause and is led to restore the Khilafah and theruling by what Allah revealed. Hizb ut-Tahrir is a political group and not apriestly one. Nor is it an academic, educational or a charity group. The Islamicthought is the soul of its body, its core and the secret of its life. Itspurpose is to revive the Islamic Ummah from the severe decline that it hadreached, and to liberate it from the thoughts, systems and laws of Kufr, as wellas the domination and influence of the Kufr states. It also aims to restore theIslamic Khilafah State so that the ruling by what Allah revealed returns. TheParty, as well, aims at the correct revival of the Ummah through enlightenedthought. It also strives to bring her back to her previous might and glory suchthat she wrests the reins of initiative away from other states and nations, andreturns to her rightful place as the first state in the world, as she was in thepast, when she governs the world according to the laws of Islam.

It also aims to bring back the Islamic guidance for mankind and to lead theUmmah into a struggle with Kufr, its systems and its thoughts so that Islamencapsulates the world."

It projects its struggle as directed against "the disbelievingimperialists, to deliver the Ummah from their domination and to liberate herfrom their influence by uprooting their intellectual, cultural, political,economic and military roots from all of the Muslim countries.

The political struggle also appears in challenging the rulers, revealingtheir treasons and conspiracies against the Ummah, and by taking them to taskand changing them if they denied the rights of the Ummah, or refrained fromperforming their duties towards her, or ignored any matter of her affairs, orviolated the laws of Islam. So all the work of the Party is political, whetherit is in office or not. Its work is not educational, as it is not a school, noris its work concerned with giving sermons and preaching. Rather its work ispolitical."

The HT has a three-stage strategy for achieving its objectives. In the firststage, which it claims has already been completed, it concentrated on makingindividual Muslims all over the world aware of its ideology, message andpolitical programme of action. The goal to be achieved was to create inindividual Muslims an Islamic mind-set and Islamic emotions. In the second stageon which it is presently embarked, it concentrates on educating the Ummah as awhole as an entity. In the third stage, it proposes to focus on the achievementof political power in order to pave the way for Islamic rule according to theSharia all over the Islamic world and the restoration of an Islamic Caliphate.

The HT projects itself as an organisation opposed to the use of terrorism orother forms of violence for achieving its objectives. It claims that it wants toachieve its objectives through AGITPROP (agitation-propaganda) techniques. Thisshould not be mistaken to mean that it advises individual Muslims, including itsfollowers, to shun the use of terrorism for promoting the interests of Islam. Itsees no contradiction between its opposition to terrorism as an organisation andits followers resorting to jihadi terrorism in countries where such a dichotomymay be required and justified.

To quote the HT: "Whenever the disbelieving enemies attack an Islamiccountry it becomes compulsory on its Muslim citizens to repel the enemy. Themembers of Hizb ut-Tahrir in that country are a part of the Muslims and it isobligatory upon them as it is upon other Muslims, in their capacity as Muslims,to fight the enemy and repel them. Whenever there is a Muslim amir who declaresjihad to enhance the Word of Allah and mobilises the people to do that, themembers of Hizb ut-Tahrir will respond in their capacity as Muslims in thecountry where the general call to arms was proclaimed."

What, in effect, it says is that its members have two obligations. As membersof the organisation, they cannot take to violence. As members of the Muslimcommunity, they can take to arms if such a course of action is warranted bycircumstances. Thus, in the CARs, the HT, as a universal organisation ofMuslims, will not issue a call to its members to take to arms, but if the localleaders of the community issue a call to arms, its members would be free to joinin their capacity as individual Muslims and not as HT members.

Thus, it would be quite in order for a Muslim to propagate overtly thenon-violent ways of the HT and, at the same time, take to terrorism covertly asa member of Al Qaeda or the IIF. The clandestine ways of the HT, about whoseleadership not much is known, add to the fears about the real nature of theorganisation and its linkages with Al Qaeda and the IIF.

Some analysts, particularly in Pakistan, describe the HT as an internationalSunni movement, similar to Al Qaeda, but the HT itself says that its message andappeal are addressed to all Muslims, whether Sunnis or Shias. It wants itsmovement to be seen as a universal Muslim movement and not as a Sunni one.