1. America, Britain and her allies continue to wreak havoc across the Muslim world through its brutal and oppressive foreign policies. Western aggression in the Islamic lands did not manifest itself with the invasion of Iraq or Afghanistan, but has been unrelenting for more than a century.

2. America, Britain and her allies found a vocal opposition to their interventionist policies emanating from the noble Ummah, an Ummah that shares deep and inseparable ties inextricably linked by their Islamic creed. Allah (swt) says:

"The Believers are but a single Brotherhood." [Al-Hujurat 49:10]

Western policy makers sought to silence this opposition, particularly when it emanates from its shores, and employed various means to do so. The then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, alluded to this in his speech to the Australian parliament in March 2006, “Their case is that democracy is a western concept we are forcing on an unwilling culture of Islam. The problem we have is that a part of opinion in our own countries agrees with them.”

3. Consistent with the people’s belief, history and culture, Muslims in the Islamic lands overwhelmingly desire to be governed by the political system ordained by their Creator - the Khilafah. Support for this call is a matter of divine obligation. It is a call that resonates throughout the Muslim masses and is cemented in the traditions of Islam. Allah mentions:

"So rule between them by that which Allah has revealed, and follow not their desires, but beware of them in case they seduce you from just some part of that which Allah has revealed to you" [Al-Maeda 5:49]

The famous classical Islamic scholar, Imam al-Qurtubi said in relation to the Khilafah: “It is the pillar upon which other pillars rest.”

4. Muslims that vocally oppose continued western interference and call for the implementation of the Shariah in the Islamic lands have been labelled as ‘terrorists’, ‘radicals’, ‘extremists’, ‘islamists’ and the like. In doing so, the West hopes to defeat the above calls by expunging key ideals from the Islamic discourse and dividing the Muslim community into artificial camps. The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, in a speech delivered at the Centre for Muslim States and Societies (UWA) in 2005, re-iterated this view when he reminded the audience of the need to defeat the ‘terrorist ideology’ and insisted “the key to winning the battle of ideas … will be the efforts of mainstream Muslims.”

5. The West have employed willing individuals that have accepted to parrot, in whole, the established government narrative in relation to terrorism, radicalism and extremism. In doing so, the government is attempting to direct responsibility for the consequences of its foreign policy towards the Muslim community. Andrew Robb, the then Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, lectured his audience on this theme at the Conference of Australian Imams in 2006. He insisted that “fostering a victim mentality works against taking responsibility.” He continued by instructing “because it is your faith that is being invoked as justification for these evil acts, it is your problem.”

6. Not content with the development of the moderate and liberal strands of Islam, the West is now projecting another secular and apolitical ‘school of thought’, deceitfully labelled as ‘traditional Islam’. The proponents of this view are presented as the guardians and protectors of traditional Islam, where alternative and contradictory views are regarded as an aberration of Islam. Allah warns:

“And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your belief, if they can" [Al Baqara 2. 218]

But do the views expressed by the modern day ‘traditionalists’, such as the rejection of the concept of Khilafah and subsequent separation of religion and politics, withstand scrutiny when measured against the opinions of the very scholars promoted by such individuals?

The well known 7th century scholar, Imam al-Nawawi, said in his Sharhu Sahih Muslim, “[The scholars] consented that it is an obligation upon the Muslims to select a Khaleefah”. Imam Al-Haythami (d. 807 AH) mentioned on the same topic: “It is known that the Sahabah (ra) consented that selecting the Imam after the end of the era of Prophethood was an obligation (Wajib). Indeed they made it (more) important than the (other) obligations whilst they were busy with it over the burial of the Prophet.” Many similar views have been expressed by the likes of Imam Al-Ghazzali, Imam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah, Qadi Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi, and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

7. The charge of anti-semitism has been levelled against those that reject the legitimacy of the Israeli state, a state that was brutally established by the West over the lives of innocent Palestinians. But even Jewish critics of the state of Israel are charged with the label of anti-semitism! Has the world conveniently forgotten the reality and history of anti-semitism? Unlike European history, Muslims are certainly free from mass genocide of the Jewish people, and unlike European history, it was never the Muslims that institutionalised anti-semitism to the extent that shop owners would carry signs equating Jews with dogs.

Indeed, Allah says in the Quran:

"And verily We have honoured mankind" [Al-Isra 17:70]

Islamic history is replete with examples where Jews lived harmoniously alongside Muslims under the Caliphate. Dr William Draper, in History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, writes: “During the period of the Caliphs the learned men of the Christians and the Jews were not only held in great esteem but were appointed to posts of great responsibility, and were promoted to the high-ranking job in the government ... He (Caliph Haroon Rasheed) never considered to which country a learned person belonged nor his faith and belief, but only his excellence in the field of learning.”

8. The suggestion that the call for the re-establishment of the Khilafah and the political work exposing the reality of Western foreign policy is responsible for the radicalisation of Muslim youth is nothing but a soured attempt to deceitfully connect Islamic political work with the war on terror rhetoric. The call from some quarters to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir because of its intellectual and political work will certainly place Western governments along side the most notorious of third world despots, demonstrating to the world its inability to counter thought with thought.

O Muslims!

There are two dangers arising from recent events. The first is the sustained and unrelenting propagation of a secular and apolitical version of Islam under the guise of traditional Islam. New labels, such as Islamism, are being levelled at Muslims in an attempt to marginalise core Islamic political ideas - ideas that are firmly rooted in the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).

The second is the campaign aimed at silencing Muslim opposition in relation to the aggressive foreign policies of Western governments in the Islamic lands. We must not allow the ongoing campaign of intimidation to drive the Muslim community into silence or passive submission.

At a time where vital Islamic concepts are under sustained attack, Muslims must remain firmly resolute in their conviction of, and complete adherence to, every aspect of Islam. The Muslim community must continue to speak out against every injustice, and must ensure they remain a beacon of light amidst the enveloped darkness.

Allah reminds us:

"Oh you who believe! Fear Allah, and speak the word of truth; your actions will be rectified, your sins will be forgiven; and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has attained a great victory" [Al-Ahzab 70-71]

27 Jamaadi Thani, 1428A.H
12th July, 2007 C.E