ASIAN NEWS ARTICLE- Muslim Communities in the North Reject Government PVE strategy

Pubished on the Asian News Website-

By Majed Iqbal- A report released last week by think-tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) has criticised the flagship £70 million Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) programme launched by the government two years back because it alienates Muslims.

Community groups across the North West and Yorkshire have refused to join a Government-funded scheme to prevent violent Islamic extremism because it “victimises” Muslims, it has been claimed.

The PVE programme was modeled to “promote shared values, support local solutions, build civic capacity and leadership and strengthen the role of faith institutions and leaders”.

The generic nature of the strategy was welcomed initially at the first look but rejected once the details became further apparent. The plans were considered divisive and an effort to divide the Muslim community on the lines of moderates and extremists by branding what ideas of Islam will be acceptable in Britain and what won’t.

Stand for Islam Youth Conference draws crowds

By Majed Iqbal- Sunday 24th August saw the Youth Conference “Stand for Islam” organised by Hizb-ut-Tahrir Britain hosted in the city of Bradford . Over 150 people attended the event to listen into the discussions on the role of Young Muslims in tackling the growing discussions about Islam, Extremism, and the growing climate in which attacks are being levelled on the Quran, the Prophet of Islam and Shariah law.

Muaaz Yasin opened the first sessions talk on the lifestyles that were being presented to Young Muslims. He tackled the glamorisation of gangster and rapper lifestyles showing their illusions and false pretences which are often imitated by youth.

An intro video visualised these issues of bravado and being street which lead to no where apart from trouble and misery. Muaaz detailed how Islam can create a productive youth who can use his energies to become a leader for Islam in his community by entertaining and entering into the debates and discussions which are coming thick and fast about Muslim Youth.

VIDEO- Millions call for Khilafah in 2008

A video capturing some scenes of the global islamic revival on the streets during the last year, from Rajab 1428 to Rajab 1429, corresponding to September 07 to August 08.

The video also sends a message to the ummah – we have the kalaam and deen of Allah, we have the youth, we have the resources, the land, and the numbers. Yet there is one thing we do not have: Political Unity. So let us work to achieve this for the pleasure of Allah (swt) :)

As played at Khilafah Conference: The need for Political Unity in Britain, 2008.

Rochdale at the Khilafah Conference 2008- “The need for Political Unity”

Thousands of delegates attended Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain’s national Conference: Khilafah – The Need for Political Unity in London earlier today. This conference was part of a month of global activities following similar events in Palestine, Iraq, Indonesia, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Mombasa, Australia, Pakistan and Yemen.

Rochdale participated in the Conference with over 50 brothers and sisters making their journey early in the morning. Everyone was eagerly awaiting to listen to the Keynote speeches on the future of the Muslim world in light of the Food and Oil Crisis, amassed debt, Poverty and War stricken areas.

The speeches focused on tackling the issues of Unity amongst muslim countries under the shade of the khilafah State (caliphate) possible when there is ethnic, cultural, regional and jurispundential disputes amongst Muslims?

One speech specifically looked at the case study for Khilafah in Pakistan and how specific Islamic policies could fundamentally root out problems the people are facing like corruption and economic mismanagement of State and Public resources.

Rochdale Event Review- Is Shariah just about Punishments?

By Majed Iqbal-  Crime- the topic of discussion which is hot in the press, on the lips of Politicians and the subject of detailed disocourse on Television was brought into the limelight on Saturday 6th July in Rochdale.

Organisers, Hizb ut-Tahrir,  deliberated upon the subject issue, presenting a case of facts, figures and analysis on the growing endemic of crime to a crowd of 90 people.

Mazhar Khan, touched upon key ideas which had allowed crime to flourish. “Were the existing punishments a detterrant or an incentive?” he asked the audience. He cited examples of how teenage crime amongst youth was seen as an easy alternative.

You steal, get caught, put into prison for a couple of months where you socialise  with like minded individuals, no rent to pay, free food, Nintendo Wii’s to fill your time with, free holidays for repeat offenders to Blackpool and most importantly you keep the money made out of the theft.

“How are these measures supposed to curb crime?” asked Mazhar.

Chief Justice Lord Phillips and his Misconceptions on Shariah Law

By Majed Iqbal- What was sparked off as a major discussion in February this year by Archbishop Rowan Williams on Shariah law has once again re-surfaced in the Media. However, this time its not a religious figure who will be maligned by the nation for promoting values of Islam instead of his own faith.

Joining the discussion this time round is Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers who has said “There is no reason why sharia principles, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution“.

The judge said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had been misunderstood when it was reported in February that he said British Muslims could be governed by sharia law. “Dr Williams suggested that sharia could play a role in aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions and authorised structures of mediation and conflict resolution. It was not very radical to advocate embracing sharia law in the context of family disputes” he said.

Whilst one would warm to the comments made by the Chief Justice in appreciating how Shariah has the ability to resolve disputes in a manner in personal lives in a decent and befitting manner, much to the contrary of what is seen in wider society, his understanding of how shariah deals with crime and punishment in societal life seems to be marred with the same images of ‘Kangaroo courts’ displayed in Tabloid press and documentaries that have hit our screens.

NEW CAMPAIGN in Rochdale- “Stand for Islam” launched

By Majed Iqbal- A new campaign has been launched in Rochdale which plans to open up discussion and debate over the increasing levels of intolerance currently witnessed throughout Europe against Muslims and their way of life, Islam.

Hizb ut-Tahrir has launched this campaign, titled ‘Stand for Islam’ in Rochdale to tackle the various challenges dawning over the Muslim Community. Majeds Blog will be providing exclusive coverage of the whole campaign and the messages being relayed to the Rochdale Muslim Community.

In recent years, especially the last few, have seen many attempts which have mocked Shariah law, equated the Niqab to segregation of British Society, a ban on the Hijab in France, Mosque applications denied in Italy, caricatures of the Prophet of Islam arrogantly published by Danish Media, the British Government trying to threaten islamic grous with bans after being heavily challenged on Foreign Policy in the Muslim World, Dutch MP Geert Wilders calling for the ban of the Quran, and the viable alternative of governance in the Muslim world, the Caliphate (khilafah) heavily attacked as being outdated, irrelevant and a system which demonises minorities, denies womens rights and equated to a dictatorship.

How Rochdale “greeted” Musharraf on his UK visit

By Majed Iqbal- How many times have you visited a relative’s home and saw you elderly engrossed in a discussion and argument about Pakistani politics over a cup of tea in the vicinity of their large traditional front room? Seems to ring a bell! Déjà vu for definite! Heated debates, full of resentment against Pakistani politicians, utter disgust at the state of affairs and that’s all it’s left to.

Unfortunately that’s how far it will go with our community; hot air and outbursts of raw emotion. We are quick to raise the finger but have next to no thought on how to translate this into positive action.

Musharraf, whom some consider the Mugabe of South East Asia, was on his UK tour, drumming up support to place a charade over his ill seeds planted in his country, the brunt of which his nation is taking. The question on peoples minds should have been- how can we living in the UK challenge him on his failed policies, subservience to foreign interests, massacre of his own citizens, blaming terrorism instead of his own failures on the downfall of Pakistan, and being given full VIP treatment her in the UK by the British Government?

Review of Rageh Omars Al Jazeerah Report on Swat- Pakistan

DEVELOPMENTS in Swat

Rageh describes some of the numerous challenges that Pakistan is currently facing with emphasis on the the Pakistani army’s major offensive in the Swat valley, against what is described as “supporters of a radical local cleric”.

Gunship helicopters and heavy guns were used against mountain positions and hideouts of the “militants” in the area as the army plans to “regain” control of the area and its towns. According to the army, up to 220 fighters and 50 soldiers have been killed in just the past two weeks whilst also forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Rageh fails to deliberate on what has caused not only the people in swat valley, but the judges, lawyers movement, civil society, and the masses in Pakistan to turn against the army and its operations nationwide. Rageh also fails to highlight any linkage to the war on terror and how Pakistan is being used as a client state to execute policies of America in the region.

Manchester Demonstration calling for Khilafah In Pakistan

Hizb ut Tahrir Britain called the Muslims of Manchester to rally outside the local Pakistani Conculate in protest at the recent events in Pakistan. As part of the campaign to “Stop Musharraf Destroying Pakistan”, HTB had organised a day of protest across the country.

The protesters raised their opposition to General Musharraf’s actions in power, particularly

- The continued military offensive against his own people in the North and West of Pakistan
- entirely at the behest of America
- His flouting of the rule of law in Pakistan by Musharraf and his partners
- The fact that Pakistan’s rulers are not chosen its people but by America and Britain
- The double standards which allow criminals such as Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to keep returning to loot the country of its wealth

The demonstrators called for a complete change in Pakistan – not just a change of leadership but for the dawn of a new system of governance, the Khilafah State, which would have an independent political will and would rule in the interests of its people – not those of foreign powers.

DOCUMENTARY- Khilafah: The Need For CHANGE

DOCUMENTARY- Khilafah: The Need For CHANGE

The Documentary below was played as the opening presentation at the Rochdale event titleD “Ramadhan Unity and the Need for khilafah” as part of a national campaign organised by Hizb-ut-Tahrir Britain to raise awareness about the vitality of the Khilafah, its urgent need and to demonstrate its absence as being the sole reason why the Muslim world suffers politically, Economically, Technologically and keeps the Muslim world currently dis-united.

It presents the need for Khilafah on the basis of the oppression and hardship which has been experienced by the Muslim world under the auspices of despotic regimes over the last century and maps out the need for Political work based on Islam to restore it.

Al-Jazeera Coverage of the Indonesia Khilafah Conference

Al-Jazeera Coverage of the Indonesia Khilafah Conference

On Sunday 12th August, the Islamic group, Hizb-ut-Tahrir Indonesia, stated that democracy is one of the main reasons why the country is lagging behind others. Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said the situation had worsened since the economic crisis hit a number of Asian countries, including Indonesia, in the late 1990s. About 100,000 Muslims gathered Sunday at the Bung Karno sports stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, for the conference. Ismail said the establishment of an Islamic caliphate would help solve this country’s problems and increase development.

Watch the VIDEO REPORT covered by Al-Jazeera news station here Official statistics show that currently 39 million Indonesians live in poverty and 22 million people are unemployed. Millions of children also suffer from malnutrition and are unable to continue at school, Ismail added.

According to Ismail, the establishment of the caliphate would mark the application of sharia in all aspects of life and the reunification of Muslim countries all over the world.

KHilafah- Mainstream OR Fringe?

Mainstream OR Fringe?
The Indonesian Khilafah Conference- (August 2007)

By Majed Iqbal

We’ve been hearing it from the Politicians in the West, from Corrupt Rulers in the Muslim and Arab world, from selected ‘Scholarly’ personnel that Caliphate is a historical Phenomenon with no relevance to the modern World today. These sections have actively worked to malign the call for Khilafah as extreme, violent, and the call of dis-illusioned Muslims visualising some pipe dream that is worthy of fantasizing about but will never have any effect in reality.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia, as part of a global awareness campaign for Khilafah have successfully held the largest Khilafah Conference the world has ever seen since the destruction of the Khilafah on the 28 Rajab 1342 (hijri date). Attended by a phenomenal 100,000 people, in the packed out Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno stadium, the world press, international media, Muslim rulers, government ’scholars’ and western politicians watched on in awe, with jaws dropped, as their propaganda on the subject matter watered away in front of their own eyes.

ROCHDALE SISTERS in the Press

ROCHDALE SISTERS air their views with Media

More than half of the participants at Sunday, 4th August’s conference on Khilafah in London were women. The press took note of this as their diet of thoughts on Islam, women and Political/social life were marred and shaped through western liberal insight which often depicts muslim women as voiceless and victims of male patriarchy. Rochdale sisters made the following statements which appeared in the International Herald tribune, New York times and the BBC.

“Some of the most ardent adherents to the party’s ideas about a caliphate were expressed by women. Rubina Ahmed, 33, a mother of four who came on a charter bus from Manchester (should be Rochdale!!!), said,

“It’s the in-depthness of the caliphate that I like.” Hizb ut-Tahrir “doesn’t compromise on the values of Islam, and it’s not afraid to speak out for what it wants,” she said. “

“Neela, a London-born woman now living in Rochdale, was one of those who sympathised.

ROCHDALE at the Khilafah Conference

Early morning on Saturday, just after fajr (morning prayer), 55 men and women, some young and some old. some educated and some…………………more educated…….gathered together to set off for the much awaited Khilafah Conference in London. There were plenty of discussions circulating in Rochdale about the importance of such an event after 3000 flyers had been distributed 2 weeks earlier at Jumah (Friday prayers) and in the evenings in the various areas of Rochdale.

Hence there was healthy debate surrounding the conference on the journey on what the Government means when it talks about Extremism; Is the concept of khilafah (Caliphate) extreme? Is Political Islam which calls for the Muslim world to be shaped on its beliefs, History and Islamic legacy non-negotiable in todays era? Are political movements working for the aspirations of Millions in the Muslim world in any way a threat to anybody? Does the government believe that Islam is outdated and non-applicable? How can the Government Praise Islamic History but actively work to distort its re-application in the Muslim World by labeling it as unfit to “Global values”?

COMMUNITY EVENT- WAR ON TERROR, EXTREMISM AND KHILAFAH- Is there a Link?

The community in Rochdale was presented with an opportunity to key into the many discussions that have taken place in Government circles, Press, Television and in the Muslim community. Over 70 people attended the event to understand the current political environment in which the Muslim community is being subjected to plans, demands and orders and what practical actions the Muslim community in Rochdale can do to present their side of the story.

Keynote speaker, Mehboob Ali, member of Hizb-ut-tahrir explained that Khilafah (caliphate) are dear to the Muslims as they embody the application of Shariah in Muslim lands. When Muslims look at the Muslim worlds problems of corruption, poverty, economic mis-management, political in-fighting, occupation by foreign powers, and corrupt rulers financed and backed by the west, they realise that only the Islamic Political system can resolve their problems.

AN ISLAMIC HISTORY OF EUROPE

AN ISLAMIC HISTORY OF EUROPE

While Western States and rulers in the Muslim world attempt to put spin on the call for Khilafah as being medieval, backward, out of date, and a defunct model for governance, the 90-minute documentary, AN ISLAMIC HISTORY OF EUROPE, presented by Rageh Omaar uncovers the hidden story of Islam’s Ideological advancements in the international arena. Rather than being an isolated state with no technology, culture, academic input or being ridden with social ills, or lack of Political culture amongst the masses, the Khilafah State (caliphate) was the complete antithesis to this.
This evocative film brings to life a time when emirs and caliphs dominated Spain and Sicily and Islamic scholarship swept into the major cities of Europe. Rageh’s journey reveals the debt owed to Islam for its vital contribution to Humanity, more specifically to Europe.

Source: BBC

Ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard comments on the Caliphate

Below is an excerpt from a speech entitled “Technology, Business and our way of life: What’s Next?” given by Carly Fiorina in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 26th, 2001 where she mentions the success of the caliphate as un-paralleled in world History.

“There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins. One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, and its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilization’s commerce extended from Latin America to China, and everywhere in between.

And this civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration.

KHILAFAH Conference- London

The KHILAFAH Conference- London

Following the increasing interest in the concept of a Caliphate, despite cheap attempts by Politicians, Media and Muslim rulers to muddy it’s call and work, a conference has been organised to open up the debate on how the Caliphate will tackle poverty, corruption,

sectarianism, international exploitation and the way this will be brought into existence through Intellectual and political struggle; the work which Western media is continuously trying to distort and equate to violence. Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, as part of a global campaign to raise awareness for Khilafah during the month of Rajab invites you to to this conference exposing the current rhetoric behind the War on Terror, exploring the challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah in the pursuit of unity, and presenting a solution to the global problems the world faces.

Has the media gone “CALIPHATE” mad?

Has the media gone “CALIPHATE” mad?

By Majed Iqbal- National press, News stations, World Leaders, Blogs, websites; Hardly a day goes by without any reference being made to Caliphate. Worldwide, a serious attention is being given to this concept. It is being debated in Political and Academic circles; both from the West to the East.

British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and his new cabinet have also entertained the discussion already. So what is the whole debate about? Why is this word on the tongues of politicians? Does it deserve any merit? Why the current infatuation with it? The Brown government re-defined its approach in tackling ‘extremism’ in Britain in reaction to the unfortunate Glasgow events. It dropped the labels of ‘War on Terror’ and abstained from using ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’ in the public domain in making any reference to tackling ‘extremism’ and ”terrorism’. The rhetoric continued, however, with a new array of words utilised with similar implications. In an interview with BBC’s Andrew Marr on the Sunday AM show (Sunday 1/7/2007), Gordon Brown stated:

“The terrorist threat we’re dealing with is about a long term and sustained attack on the values that we represent…… And that’s why the cultural effort, almost similar to what happened during the Cold War in the nineteen forties, fifties and sixties when we had to mount a propaganda effort, if you like, to explain to people that our values represented the best of commitments to individual dignity, to liberty and to human life being taken seriously. And I think that’s what we are going to have to talk about in the next few years“