Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT; Arabic: حزب التحرير, romanized: Ḥizb at-Taḥrīr, lit. 'Party of Liberation') is an international pan-Islamist and Islamic fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community (called ummah)[3] and implement sharia globally.[a][b]
Hizb ut-Tahrir حِزبُ التّحرير
1953 in East Jerusalem, Jordan
- Pan-Islamism[3][4]
- Islamism[3][4]
- Muslim supremacism[5][6][7][8]
- Caliphalism[9][10][11][12]
- Salafism[13]
- Jihadism[14][15][16][17][18]
- Desecularization[19][20][21][22]
- Anti-Western sentiment[21][23]
- Anti-nationalism[24]
- Antisemitism[25][5]
- Anti-Zionism[4][26]
- Anti-democracy[27][5][6][7]
- Anti-liberalism[16][27]
- Anti-capitalism[28]
- Anti-communism[29]
Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in 1953 as a political organization in then-Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem by Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, a Palestinian Islamic scholar from Haifa who was educated in Egypt and served as a qadi (religious court judge) in Mandatory Palestine.[31][32] He formulated a program and a "draft constitution" for the establishment of a Caliphate.[4][10][11][12] The organization sees world history as an eternal conflict between Islam and non-believers, with the state system considered a historical assault on Islam. The group views Jihad as an essential aspect of its vision and considers it an imperative duty aimed at combating disbelief until all submit to Islamic rule, making no distinction between the violent and spiritual dimensions of Jihad. As an initial step, HT directs attention to the 'near enemy', advocating the removal of rulers "pretending to be Muslims", a step they consider a prerequisite for the global spread of Islam.[32]
Since 1953, Hizb ut-Tahrir has spread to more than 50 countries, and has a membership estimated to be between "tens of thousands"[1] to "about one million".[2] Hizb ut-Tahrir is active in Western countries, including the UK, and also in several Arab and Central Asian countries despite being banned by some governments. Members typically meet in small private study circles, but in countries where the group is not illegal, it also engages with the media and organizes rallies and conferences.[33] The organization's leadership is centered in Jordan, with additional headquarters in London. This dual presence leverages the relative freedom in Europe to oversee activities in Muslim nations where HT faces more stringent restrictions.[32]
Hizb ut-Tahrir has been banned in Bangladesh,[34] China,[35] Russia,[36] Pakistan,[37] Germany,[38][39] Turkey,[40] the United Kingdom,[41] Kazakhstan[42] and "across Central Asia",[43][44] Indonesia,[45][46] and all Arab countries except Lebanon, Yemen and the UAE.[47][48] In July 2017, the Indonesian government revoked Hizb ut-Tahrir's legal status, citing incompatibility with government regulations on extremism and national ideology.[45]
Political spectrum
HT has been compared to both the political left and to fascism. Its "methodology and linguistic foundations",[363] some "organizational principles"[111] are said to have resulted from heavy "borrowing from socialist concepts"[364] or to have "Marxist-Leninist undertones"[363] (utopian ultimate goal—communism or Caliphate,[27] dislike of liberal democracy,[27] well-organized centralized[at] vanguard party[97] made up of secretive cells,[101][27] high importance placed on spread of its ideas/ideology,[27] worldwide ambitions[27] for revolutionary[365][366] transformation of the social/political system), or to resemble a "Socialist student movement", with many pamphlets and "fiery speeches delivered by a small cadre of speakers from within their party structure".[367]
It is known for "borrowing expressions" of the Western political left—such as 'Sexism, like racism, is the product of the power structure'[13][au]—in "seek[ing] social justice" and "serv[ing] the poor" rather than foreign powers,[369] while denouncing "capitalism" and the inequality it produces,[370] "imperialism",[371] governments of the economic elite ruling "on behalf of the economic elite".[240]
On the other hand, its ideology has also been called "reactionary",[310] "escapist fascism"[151] and "Islamic fascism".[372] HT texts specifically denounce the concepts of "democracy", "human rights", freedom of speech and of religion.[226][373] Its constitution's provision for financial "revenue gained via occupation"[av] and a subordinate legal status, and special taxes on non-Muslims[aw] has been attacked as revealing a "colonialist mindset", by critics Ahmed and Stuart.[374] Along with the belief in the supremacy—moral, legal, political—of its (religious) communal group over all others, the party's belief in revealed truth as the basis of doctrine, anti-semitism,[5][6][7] a return to the gold standard, and restoring slavery as a category of citizenship,[375][376] are also at odds with leftist tenets.
Australian writer and journalist Ramon Glazov describes HT's marketing of its ideology (though not its substance) as "similar to pushing libertarianism as a 'neither Right nor Left' cure-all ideology."[97]
Books
The book The Islamist by Ed Husain reveals the inner workings of the political organization. It follows the path of a young man coming to terms with his extremist/Islamist mindset. He describes how violence and the increasing radicalisation of the group eventually lead to him cutting all ties and resigning from the head of the local group at Tower Hamlets University.[574] The author, now a moderate Muslim, is opposed to the ideology of Hizb ut-Tahrir and critical of the consequences of political Islam poisoning young minds.
Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism is Maajid Nawaz's autobiography. It partly recounts his time as a recruiter for Hizb ut-Tahrir, his imprisonment in Egypt from 2002 to 2006, and his release after being cited as a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International. In 2007, he left HT and co-founded the Quilliam Foundation with Ed Husain, an organization focused on countering extremism in the Muslim World. Radical was released in the UK in 2012; a US edition was published by Lyons Press in October 2013 with a preface for US readers and an updated epilogue.