On Saturday 04/04/2015 at 9pm, a group from the Sham Al-Rasool Brigades elements, who collaborate with the Army of Islam in security operations attempted to assassinate Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Najjar (Abu Suhaib), a member of Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Syria in Kafr Batna city in East Ghouta, the Sheikh was seriously injured from a gunshot wound that targeted his life. His father, Alhaji Abu Saleh was also wounded during the assassination attempt with four bullets, and we ask Allah (swt) for their recovery. This occurred after chairing the Sheikh for a committee set up by residents of Kafr Batna in order to follow up the case of two of the Mujahideen who were killed at the hands of the Shaam Al-Rasool Brigades who claimed that they killed them by mistake! This assassination attempt came after Sheikh Abu Suhaib delivered a speech at their funeral's demonstration and the follow-up of the case by Al-Islam Brigades.
We, in Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Syria, wonder: Has the blood of the Muslims become cheap for those who claim revolting against oppression and helping the oppressed? And Allah (swt) says,
((وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا))
"Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (forever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him." [An-Nisa: 93],
has the situation amounted to a so-called Mujahid killing Muslims and seek to kill the callers to Khilafah "Caliphate" without giving regard to the sanctity of the Muslim blood? The Prophet (saw) says:
«لهدم الكعبة مائة مرة أهون على الله من إراقة دم مسلم»
"Demolishing the Ka'bah one hundred times is much easier upon Allah (swt) than shedding the blood of a believer."
It was the duty of those who connected their names to Islam and the Prophet (saw) to work to protect the Muslims from the oppression of the criminal Bashar, not joining in killing them, and to support the advocates of Khilafah "Caliphate" to establish the Law of Allah (swt) on Earth, not to try to prevent them from speaking the word of Truth, and prevent them from restituting rights to their owners by way of assassination attempts, nor should they be like the Children of Isra'eel whom Allah (swt) said about them:
((كُلَّمَا جَاءَهُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَى أَنْفُسُهُمْ فَرِيقًا كَذَّبُوا وَفَرِيقًا يَقْتُلُونَ))
"Every time, there came to them an apostle with what they themselves desired not - some (of these) they called impostors, and some they (go so far as to) slay." [Al-Ma'idah: 70].
As the horrific death toll of civilians mount in Yemen, Saudi Arabia unmoved carries on bombing raids with no end in sight. Yet all indications are that the aerial bombardment of Houthi positions is a dismal failure and calls into question Saudi's plan for Yemen. Houthi forces have advanced into Yemen's second largest city Aden, and are making gains elsewhere. Iran the backer of Houthis and buoyed by the recent nuclear agreement brokered by America has sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden, only to complicate matters further. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia unrepentant continues to demand extra troops from Turkey and Pakistan to bolster the troops of the coalition for a possible ground invasion, which looks ever more likely.
What is extraordinary about the conflict in Yemen is how quickly Muslim countries have mobilized to commit military assets to the disposal of the Saudi's to restore Hadi's rule in Yemen. Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, and Jordan have all contributed to the Saudi led campaign. Even Pakistan, which is hesitant about sending troops for a possible ground invasion has committed military assets to protect Saudi's territorial integrity.
The question arises, as to why this political will was absent when the Jewish State pulverized Gazans in 2009 or when Assad began the brutal extermination of his people in 2011. The same can be said of other conflict zones such as Libya, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Will such a force be used to liberate Rohingyan Muslims form the oppression of Myanmar's ruthless persecution or intervention in Kashmir to protect Muslims from the despotic rule of Hindus? Obviously, the answer is No.
For decades now, the rulers of the Muslim world gave lame excuses when it came to fighting the Jewish state to liberate Palestine or intervening in Muslim disputes like the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s or Iraq's annexation of Kuwait in 1990. They always preferred to seek the assistance of America and the West to interfere in such conflicts. In this way, they sought to appease their domestic populations. However, today's assembly of Muslim forces under the leadership of Saudi Arabia marks the beginning of new era but one that is both extremely dangerous as well as full of anticipation and hope for the Muslim masses.
America and the West, exhausted by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can no longer commit to substantial ground troops to preserve the precarious political order they painstakingly established throughout the Muslim world. West's secular political hegemony is not only unravelling in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Yemen, but also is leaving behind political vacuum, which is quickly filled by Islamic militants opposed to West's liberal values.
The unstitching of the Middle East's political landscape coupled with the West's decline is heralding a new episode in the history of the Muslim world, where rulers of the GCC and other Islamic countries are acting under the auspices of the West to provide Muslim troops to subdue Muslim populations opposed to the existing political order. The plan is for America and the West to provide weapons and technical logistics to Muslims armies to spearhead the fighting in trouble spots.
This is a desperate act and appears to be the last throw of the dice before a new political order emerges. This is because security forces in the Arab and the wider Muslim world are already overstretched in fighting the re-emergence of political Islam at home, and now they are being dragged into subduing Muslim populations in other parts of the Muslim world. Such acts will not only further alienate the Muslim masses from their leaders, but also make it difficult for the West to sell their ideology and values to Muslims.
To many Muslims the current developments might appear extremely disheartening, as they feel suffocated from all directions and unable to practice their Islam. However, they should not lose hope, as the current situation in the Muslim world resemble a paradox. On the one hand Muslims feel oppressed by the forces of evil, and on the other hand Islam grows stronger by the day. The intensity of this paradox will usher in a new era and bestow the Muslim ummah with victory from Allah (swt).
((مَسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُوا حَتَّى يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا مَعَهُ مَتَى نَصْرُ اللَّهِ أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ))
"Misfortune and hardship befell them, and so shaken were they that the apostle, and the believers with him, would exclaim, "When will God's help come?" Oh, verily, God's help is [always] near!" [TMQ: Al-Baqara: 214]
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Abdul Majeed Bhatti
Headlines
• Hillary Clinton to run for US President
• Sisi looks to destroy the Muslim Brotherhood
• Yarmouk Falls to ISIS
• Islam continues to grow and spread
Details
Hillary Clinton to run for US President
Hillary Clinton made her presidential candidacy official on Sunday 5, something that was well expected. She launched her campaign website on Sunday, telling Americans she wanted to be their "champion." Despite being a household democratic name, with her husband Bill Clinton a former US president, she was beaten to the democratic nomination by none other than Barak Hussain Obama. But the prospects of the Democrats returning to office look rather bleak. When Obama ends his term in November 2016, he will in all likelihood be one of the most unpopular presidents. For many in America he has overseen the weakening of the US position globally and presided over one of the most lopsided economies in US history with a mere 10% of the population owns 74% of the nation's wealth. Abroad the US failed to solve none of its foreign policy adventures, today Iraq is marred in civil war, Afghanistan has a leader with power only up to his front room. In South Sudan, where the US orchestrated its separation, election and government the country continues sot be ravaged by civil war and both Russia and China are reversing US prowess in their regions. Therefore whoever is US president in January 2017 will face unprecedented challenges.
Sisi looks to destroy the Muslim Brotherhood
An Egyptian court confirmed the death sentence on Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and 13 others for planning attacks against the state. Hundreds of people have been sentenced to death in a crackdown on the Brotherhood following the removal of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. The sentences are the final phase in the trial which saw Muslim Brotherhood leaders charged with encouraging members of the group to confront the state and spread chaos following the dispersal of protests in 2013. They were handed down following advice from Egypt's grand mufti.
Whilst Sisi took power in July 2013, overthrowing the elected Muslim Brotherhood (MB) government, much of the military government's attention was focused on destroying what remained of the MB. Throughout 2014 thousands of people were detained in prison, indeed, the revolutionary youth attend their court hearings in wheelchairs and today no one can even reach Tahrir Square. If one says something that upsets the state, he or she is arrested by the police with a ready-made list of accusations that subject one to prosecution, putting one before a court without even hearing one's statement. Such people are put in front of a judge who issues a ruling for imprisonment before defence lawyers get a chance to speak. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has worked to consolidate his rule with full blessing from the US.
Yarmouk Falls to ISIS
The Yarmouk camp was overrun by ISIS on 9 April. A district of the city of Damascus, located 5 miles from the center of Damascus. Bashar al-Assad's regime spent nearly two years massacring Palestinians in Yarmouk camp, after regime bombardments destroyed nearly 70% of the camp. When thousands were arrested and tortured to death, and after civilians were forced to resort to scavenging through trash and weeds to ward off starvation, the world looked the other way. The al-Assad regime used a starve-and-surrender siege strategy in order to quell the uprising when the rebels were launching attacks on Damascus, the capital of the country. But al-Assad's siege of civilians helped ISIS in Yarmouk because - after two and a half years of starvation and bombardment - the local battalions in the camp were too weak to push ISIS out. But residents of Yarmouk were surprised to see a raid of hundreds of ISIS fighters from south Damascus successfully enter their area. When al-Hajar al-Aswad and Yalda were controlled by the Free Syrian Army, there were many attempts to break the siege on the camp with similar raids. Each one was a disaster; Assad's forces have the area tightly monitored and controlled and this is why is extremely unlikely the ISIS could have happened unless Assad wanted it to.
Islam continues to grow and spread
The prestigious Washington based think tank the Pew Research Centre published its report on global demographic projections from 2020-2050. It research found that by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world. Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion - though increasing in countries such as the US and France - will make up a declining share of the world's total population. In Europe, Muslims will make up 10% of the overall population. India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia. In the US, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050, and Judaism will no longer be the largest non-Christian religion. Muslims will be more numerous in the US than people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion. Despite the global propaganda against Islam those who embrace Islam is growing and the existing Muslim population also continues to grow. There is also a very unique trend taking place amongst the Ummah. Islam came to the indigenous Arabs in the Hijaz, but today the non-Arabs make up the bulk of the Ummah, in fact the Arabs are a minority within Islam. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population of 204 million, it was the tradesmen form the Hijaz who brought Islam to this land. India and Pakistan both have a Muslim population of around 177 million each - the people of Iraq who embraced Islam took Islam to Hind. Bangladesh has a Muslim population of 148 million and also witnessed Iraqi tradesmen bring Islam to them. Today South and South-East Asia constitute over 60% of the Ummah, whilst the Middle East comprises under 20%. The uniqueness of Islam is the fact that people of all backgrounds embraced it and current and projected population trends show this.
