The Australian Government is Exploiting the Sydney Protest to Further its Agenda Against the Muslim Community and its Youth

Consecutive Australian Governments have worked tirelessly to achieve these objectives, spending much effort and wealth, and building relationships within the community. However, these endeavours have evidently failed as the Muslim youth chose to hold firmly to their Islam, their values and their Ummah, with strength and sincerity.
It is only natural that Muslims worldwide feel anger when the beloved Prophet (saw) is attacked and insulted. It is only natural for Muslims to send a strong message to the enemies of Islam that they will never accept their sanctities and their beloved Prophet (saw) to be insulted – even as they are engaged in a noble uprising against the tyrants which has cost them the pure blood of thousands of martyrs, particularly in Syria. Thus we saw demonstrations and protests by Muslims take off throughout the World.
The protest in Sydney last Saturday, 15/09/2012, came in this context. It was not organised, youth were angry and rightly so, there was police provocation and heavy-handedness according to many eye-witness accounts and media reports. All of this resulted in the violence which ensued and which is not condoned.

The Australian Government and its stooges in the media have used this incident – the like of which is not uncommon in protests in Australia – to put further pressure on the Muslim community, to hold her responsible, to create fear in her, and to demand that certain positions be taken. Similar to what we see under the guise of the ‘War on Terror’, the Australian Government is using the pretext of violence to strip the community of core Islamic beliefs that are far removed from any notion of violence – concepts such as accounting the rulers, uniting the Ummah, maintaining the rights of brotherhood, preserving our loyalty to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw) and replacing tyranny and dictatorship with the noble Khilafah. The government will continue to exploit the pretext of violence to put down any future legitimate claim or grievance from the Muslim community.

It is of note that on the same night as the protests in Sydney there was a very similar incident on the streets of Perth. 500 teenage party-goers in Piara Waters went out of control. They hurled rocks, bottles and bricks at police. Reinforcements including mounted police, the dog squad and police helicopter were summoned in an attempt to disperse the crowd. A 19-year-old was stabbed and an ambulance window smashed. This incident – evidently quite similar, if not worse, than the Sydney protests as far as objective facts go – received nowhere near as much media coverage. They were not dubbed the ‘Perth riots’. Politicians did not fall over one another to condemn the violence. Federal Parliament did not see a need to raise the issue and forward bipartisan condemnation. Parents and community leaders in the area were not asked to condemn the behaviour, nor did they themselves go out of their way to condemn the violence. The revellers were not berated for being ‘un-Australian’ nor were their loyalties questioned.

That is why the sanctimonious cries against violence cannot be taken seriously, because if the Australian Government was serious about the issue of violence it would have deployed similar measures on any given weekend in any major Australian city – places where the police, ambulance and the general public are the constant targets of persistent violence.

In this there are great lessons for those of insight in the Muslim community and the wider society. It is a clear illustration that the major issue with events in Sydney is not the violence, but the anti-Islamic agenda peddled by media and politicians. They have one rule for Muslims and another rule for everybody else. They constantly attack Islam and Muslims, by word and by deed, creating the environment of social tension in which events like this occur. Thus we need to focus the debate on this context, instead of allowing the media and politicians to falsely and irresponsibly dictate the terms of discussion.

This focus should be on the violence of the political establishment and their hypocrisy. Foreign Minister Bob Carr accused the protesters of provoking a ‘clash of civilisations’. Prime Minister Julia Gillard postured disgust at the violence. Here we have politicians who have sent fighter-jets, tanks and armed troops thousands of miles away to kill, maim and destroy in Afghanistan, posturing disgust about violence at a protest in Sydney that pales in comparison. How can such remarks be taken seriously?
O Muslims: the Australian Government is alarmed about the unwavering strength of the community’s Islamic sentiments, especially amongst its youth, for she realises they are a real obstacle to her continuing interference in the affairs of the Muslims at home and abroad. The response of the youth to the uprisings in the Muslims world, particularly in Syria, and especially after the response of the Ummah upon hearing the news of its martyrs, has left the government dumbfounded. The Australian Government thus seeks to incite fear within the community, to break her noble rank by pitting some Muslims against others, and to isolate and target the youth. The sentiments and perception of our youth, therefore, even if inaccurate, that they have been betrayed and left to fend for themselves, is a grave matter with dangerous potential consequences.

O Muslims: the role of the sincere scholar and leader is to advise the Muslims and the youth in particular, to raise their awareness, correct their misunderstandings, to spread awareness and knowledge among them, and to warn them from actions or reactions that are not sanctioned by Islam. All of this cannot take place except in an environment of mutual confidence, trust and respect.

The Muslim youth are prized assets of this Ummah. They are the heroes who are loyal to their deen and Ummah. On their efforts and hard work is the victory and revolution achieved. It is imperative that these youth be looked after with great care.

O Muslims: we encourage you to persist in your noble work of resisting Western attacks, and accounting the political establishment and media. Re-double your efforts to establish Islam and the Khilafah in the Muslim World. We encourage the noble youth of this Ummah in particular, who are its flagbearers, its prized assets and its future, to persevere. You are not weak. You are strong because of your Islam. You are not a minority. You are part of a global and powerful Ummah. Do not be disheartened by the media or the politicians. We do not expect anything better from them. We expect from you. Stand for Islam and work for its establishment.

Know that the Prophet (saw) was insulted in word and deed in Makkah. The Sahaba, in spite of their great love for him, could not prevent this harm, until Allah honoured the believers with the Islamic state in Madinah, which combined the truth of Islam with the power and strength of a state. This state made the disbelievers forget the whispers of shaytan and silenced those who sought to attack the honour of the Prophet (saw). Thus, we call you to the most worthy response to insults of the Prophet (saw) – to work for the Khilafah, the establishment of which gets nearer every day.

{وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ}
“The believers, men and women, are supporting protectors and friends of one another; they enjoin the good, forbid evil, establish the prayer, give zakat, and they obey Allah and His Messenger (saw)…” (Taubah: 71)

 

Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia
04 Dhul Qi’da 1433 AH
21 September 2012 CE