Just as expected, the miserable National Coalition headed by Al-Jarba, has submitted to external pressures especially the American-Russian to attend the meeting of its General Assembly in Istanbul on the 17th and 18th of January 2014 CE. It accepted participation in the Geneva II Conference to be held on the 22nd of January, despite the conspiracy by everyone in broad daylight on the Muslims of Syria; adding itself openly and officially to the list of co-conspirators, and to undertake the dirty role ascribed to it, to keep the rule of Syria under the hands of America; of which the expense will be the transition of power from Assad to Al-Jarba, who will receive the orders of America instead; of which the first will be the task of fighting the Islamic project. This was the focus of Assad, Iran, Russia and Western countries as well as the rulers of the Muslims, and even Al-Jarba and his mentor who taught him "magic", the Communist Michel Kilo, who had said of the armed fundamentalist groups and the extent of their danger: "It is a fatal mistake to ignore them." On this central subject, Kerry recently said: "The conference will discuss the fight against terrorism as a priority in the agenda at hand." And it could be argued that the most important at this conference are two issues:

keep power in Syria under the hands of America, and to strike a fatal blow to the Islamic project which is represented by the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" system in Syria. This was announced by both impostors: the Foreign Minister of Syrian criminality, Al-Mu'alim, and the impudent Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who confirmed this in more than one statement. The announcement of the approval of the National Coalition to attend Geneva II was accompanied by the news that the administration of President Barack Obama asked the Congress to study the allocation of nearly $50 million dollars for potential international peacekeepers in Syria in the annual budget framework.

This indicates that the approval of the coalition may be obtained by America before the announcement, and that the approval is going according to the road map of the American solution, and this solution is to send international forces to be effective on the ground, as mentioned by Ibrahimi before, to be along the lines of the international forces in Afghanistan, ISAF the multinational US-led, and which carries out multi-purpose dirty roles, which include: the protection of the rule of the new "Karzai" of Syria, and strike the Islamic project which is pursued everywhere under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

America is pursuing the awakening of Muslims throughout the world and is working to distort and strike it. We can see the tragedies of Muslims that are widespread throughout the world. It dragged with it countries around the world including the Muslim rulers and now it is Syria's turn. The issue is bigger than Syria; it is about bringing the Islamic project in Syria to an end, and to abort it before its birth. From here, they want to repeat the bitter experience of Afghanistan, and to indulge in the blood of Muslims with a new alternative ruler under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

We turn to the members of the National Coalition, who still have some good in them to work to expose the conspiracy of the coalition against the Muslims, and to work to destroy it from the inside with all their strength, may Allah forgive them for their sin and of affiliation to the National American Coalition.

We also turn to the militant groups and to the components and the dissident army officers, we urge you not to respond to the invitation to join the national army, which America intends to create from your ranks in order to use you along with the international forces, just as in Afghanistan to strike all that stands in the face of its project, or those who seek to establish a Khilafah "Caliphate". And work to unite your forces under project that supports the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" State as is required of you by the Shari'ah, and just as the Ansar of Allah and His Messenger did, the first who Allah was pleased with.

We also turn to the Muslims in Syria of Ash-Sham in general and to the people of influence in particular, you are facing a universal conspiracy and severe deception. America, the number one enemy of Islam, backed by the international community chose a handful of amateurs in politics to be your representatives in the National Coalition, and they are far from being fit to represent you. You are believers who want the rule of Islam while they are secularists and they put their hands in the hands of America to strike the Islamic project. Even the Islamists from among them are upon the Western methodology. You have sacrificed blood and they traded with it. You suffer hardship of the siege and starvation, cold and fear, humiliation and death in the most horrific styles; they are languishing in hotels, they eat and become merry, if they appear on television screens they show sorrow and weep for you and compete with America in attacking the Islamic project. They side with the American camp against the camp of Islam and Muslims. As for what is required of you to do in the face of America's plots and its allies against you, it is an essential matter.

You are the popular base that has the first say in everything that happens, and you alone, so far, have exposed and defeated everyone who have a hand in the conspiracy against you, from the evil America, to its agent the butcher Bashar, to Iran's intolerance, to Russia's spitefulness, to the international community conspirator, to the treacherous rulers of the Muslims and especially Turkey, which is not far from you only a stone's throw and the Gulf rulers who have warehouses stocked with weapons and ammunition, bought for hundreds of billions of dollars... And you have foiled all sly efforts and those continuously conspired against you, you can proclaim that you are against the Geneva II Conference, and you are against the American project and with the Islamic project, and that you are against the National Coalition and succumbing to the commands of America, and you are against the fighting that directs the weapons towards a Shari'ah prohibited target. And know that Allah (swt) has given you an opportunity to bring about change on the basis of the Islamic project and made the presence of the popular base emerge on the basis of Islam and the rule of Islam that the Prophet (saw) had worked to establish in Medina in which Musab (ra) told the Prophet (saw), "There is no house left in Medina that Islam is not mentioned in it." And so is the case now in Syria, where there is no house left that the Khilafah "Caliphate" and the rule of Islam is not mentioned in it.

O Muslims, believers in Syria of Ash-Sham: Hizb ut Tahrir in Syria, which is following the method of the Prophet (saw) to establish the Khilafah "Caliphate", calls upon the Muslims in Syria to take their stance in the process of Islamic change that is desired, and address the people of power to unite and direct their arms towards the state of disbelief and to establish the Khilafah "Caliphate" state, which extends the hand to them to establish the command of Allah (swt), He (swt) says:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ * وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةً لَا تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْكُمْ خَاصَّةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ * وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ أَنْتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ فَآوَاكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُمْ بِنَصْرِهِ وَرَزَقَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ * يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ * وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ * يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ

"O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that to Him you will be gathered * And fear a trial which will not strike those who have wronged among you exclusively, and know that Allah is severe in penalty * And remember when you were few and oppressed in the land, fearing that people might abduct you, but He sheltered you, supported you with His victory, and provided you with good things - that you might be grateful *O you who have believed, do not betray Allah and the Messenger or betray your trusts while you know [the consequence] * And know that your properties and your children are but a trial and that Allah has with Him a great reward * O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty." [Al-Anfal: 24-29]

O Allah, we ask you for your victory, support, cunningness and your power and rule and to bestow upon us a rightly guided Khilafah "Caliphate" to change the situation to the better. Ameen.

On the 16th January, Al-Jazeera, Associated Press and other media reported on statements from a witness and the Arakan Project rights group that documents abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar that more than a dozen Rohingya women and children were killed in the village of Du Char Yar Tan in the western Rakhine state on Tuesday 14th January...

The coalition's leader, Al-Jarba, announced on this night, 18/01/2014 Saturday night, the coalition's approval to attend the Geneva II conference as ordered by Kerry and Ford; surpassing all what was announced by the coalition from not to negotiate with the regime of Bashar, and even surpassing the coalition Law that it must be approved by two-thirds of its (121) members. So it forgot all that, or rather made to forget under the pressure of its masters, and announced its approval with the vote of fifty eight members instead of eighty one. Never would the slavishly, servile coalition to refuse America's orders no matter how small; as the coalition is an American production, so how can it ​​violate the orders of its Maker?!

The leader of coalition has said that they did not give up their constants at the time they had no constants remained! Thus, refusal to negotiate with the regime of Bashar has become rubble. Also, their assignment to negotiate with the guarantee of the demise of Bashar, this guarantee has become mired in oblivion! Therefore, there is no guarantee and no constants, but subservience and capitulation to America and its alliances, so as to find new ruling in which the American influence continues as before. It is all about a later Bashar taking the place of an earlier Bashar! This coalition had betrayed Allah and His Messenger and the believers since its inception. The owners of the coalition are calling for the same goals which are followed by the tyrant: a secular democratic republic, and recognize the same loyalty to America as recognized by the tyrant ... While some who have haze in their eyes did not realize it at the emergence of the coalition, now, the dawn has exposed the darkness of the coal. The fact of this coalition is revealed even to the blind eyes after the coalition is stepping over all the blood that has been spilled and the sacrifices that have been made. And after approving to negotiate with the tyrant regime to share rule over the torrent blood, the destruction of homes, and killing life in humans, trees and stones; by the tyrant missiles, explosive barrels, and even by chemical weapons, as well as arson, looting and rape ...

Oh Sincere Muslims in the land of Ash-Sham... Oh you who have been stricken in your blood, your honors, your money and your homes...

This coalition has stabbed you in the back and also in the abdomen; it did not hide its betrayal but it displayed it in auction ... it did not cover its private parts with something of anything from clothing, but has lost shyness and modesty. The faces in the coalition were painted with the brazen crime in broad daylight, until their characteristic became an indication of their crime, as the Almighty said:

((يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالْأَقْدَامِ))

"The criminals will be known by their marks, and they will be seized by the forelocks and the feet". [Ar-Rahman: 41 [

So take the coalition by their hands to stop them, and discard them the way you discard seeds. Do not allow them to gain a passage or ground in the land of ash-Sham, the abode of Islam, and declare it loud as you started it "it is for Allah, it is for Allah" ... And know that the Geneva Conference I and II is a trap; America has interweave its strings to be followed by intervention forces made by America to ensure the loyalty of the new system, such as the loyalty of the current system ... So cut these threads, and resist the international intervention. It is against the faithful of you, and do not be loyal to America and its agents, as no one befriend it but the treacherous and the ungrateful, who sells the Hereafter for little worldly gains. Who is ultimately going to reap from it only thorns, and will be afflicted by what afflicted his associates; the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life, that smashes him during days of misfortune.

((وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَخْزَى وَهُمْ لَا يُنْصَرُونَ))

"But the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgracing, and they will not be helped." ]Fussilat:16]

Oh Sincere Muslims in the land of Ash-Sham... Oh you who have been stricken in your blood, your honors, your money and your homes...

You have been fighting the tyrant for three years in an atmosphere filled with clouds of conspiracy; internationally from America and its alliances, and regionally from the Arabs and the non-Arabs who are following the international conspiracy hand span by hand span. Even those who have raised their voices, of those Arabs and non-Arabs, shouting to help you, their cry was but a noise without action. However, you have been patient and steadfast, and you filled the atmosphere with your "Takbirs". And you have been afflicted by all kinds of aggression from the tyrant; however you have wounded the enemy without weakening your determination or softening your path... How dare the coalition that does not observe toward a believer any pact of kinship or covenant of protection, declares negotiation with the tyrant regime to share power with it as if nothing had happened?! You, Oh the people of As-Sham are able to thwart the conspiracies of America and its alliances, and to suppress the Geneva Conference and the coalition ... Because you are the patient and the steadfast on the inside, you are the touchstone ... You who hold the cause of ash-Sham. The "star hotels" coalition, regardless of its betrayal and no matter how great its crime is, cannot do anything if you stand firm in its face on the right, faithful to Allah, and honest with the Messenger of Allah (saw); then the coalition will rebound humbled and fatigued... But the misfortune is that the coalition managed to penetrate some of your ranks. and worse, was to be able to penetrate the ranks of some of the factions, so it acquires them and take them reclined, leaning against it in finding a successor agent rule for the current agent rule. Thence these factions will be cursed by the blood that was shed, and will be disgorged by the sacrifices that have been made. Those factions and those who followed them, who are hauled by the coalition, will become as Allah described:

((كَالَّتِي نَقَضَتْ غَزْلَهَا مِنْ بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ أَنْكَاثًا))

"Like she who untwisted her spun thread after it was strong" ]An-Nahl: 92[.

So they lose this world and the Hereafter, and that is the manifestation loss.

Oh Sincere Muslims in the land of Ash-Sham... Oh you who have been stricken in your blood, your honors, your money and your homes...

A guide can never lie to his people, and that Hizb ut Tahrir turns to you, warning and promising you:

It is warning you from falling into the fire of Geneva. For, the negotiation of the coalition with the regime follows a planned route that it cannot go beyond it. This is to produce a new tyrant that will not differ from the previous tyrant except in his name and the color of his face. So that America will freely enter and roam in and around as it was freely entering and roaming in and round its predecessor. And then hardship and misery will wrap your necks again, and you will regret but it will not be a time for regret. And none of you should say I only take responsibility of myself, the sin and destruction on those who are going to Geneva only... Don't say that,, because if evil occurred in people who did not stand in its face to stop it and change it, the punishment will cover them all... It was directed by Abu Dawood in his Sunan from Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, after glorifying Allah and praising Him: O people ... I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

«مَا مِنْ قَوْمٍ يُعْمَلُ فِيهِمْ بِالْمَعَاصِي، ثُمَّ يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَى أَنْ يُغَيِّرُوا، ثُمَّ لَا يُغَيِّرُوا، إِلَّا يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَعُمَّهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْهُ بِعِقَابٍ»

"If act of disobedience are done among any people and do not change them though they are able to do so, Allah will soon punish them all". So protect yourselves from the punishment...

And promising you that if you become loyal to Allah the Almighty, and believed with the Messenger of Allah (saw), and persisted in words and deeds to the arbitration of Allah's Law, by the establishment of the rightly guided Khilafah "Caliphate" State, and you sincerely determined to eradicate the influence of America and its agents from the roots ... Then Allah surely is supporting you, and He will be withering your enemy.

((وَكَانَ حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نَصْرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ))

"And incumbent upon Us was support of the believers." [Ar-Rum: 47]

And who is more truthful than Allah in statement?

((إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ))

"Indeed in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present [in mind]." [Qaf: 37]

Al-Waie Magazine received some of the memoirs of the respected brother, Salim al-Amr. We are publishing some of them, for in them is a lesson and benefit, insha'Allah, for those who take heed. We extend our recognition and appreciation to Brother Salim for these poignant and expressive memoirs, and we ask Allah (swt) to grant what came in their end, and that He keeps him safe from all evil.

Prison Memoirs and the Honor of Companionship (6)

I used to ask Abu Yasin (Sheikh ‘Ata) about the cause of the shiver which afflicted his side when he used to lead us in prayer. I found out that it was the result of torture he underwent in the prisons of the intelligence agencies in Jordan, Libya and Iraq - electric shocks and other forms of torture. I recall him telling me that the Shabab would be tortured in those prisons to the point that they would be tied to gas cylinders so that they would move in circles around themselves at times of extreme cold in the torture chambers whilst whips would hit them from all sides.
Here I will suffice with the mention of some testimonies about the Shabab of the Hizb I heard from brothers (not from the Hizb) who we knew inside and outside the prison.

1. The Azhari teacher, Sheikh Ahmad al-Farkh (Abu al-Amin), a resident of al-Karak, Jordan. He died in 2006 after living to reach beyond 80 years. I asked him about the ideas of the Hizb. He said, "Praise be to Allah who made for me in Hizb ut Tahrir a clear criterion between truth and falsehood, O Salim. I bear witness that Hizb ut Tahrir is on the Haqq." He related to me a story about one of the communists in Anabta (Tulkarm, Palestine) who used to always be arguing with the Shabab. He had a respected daughter whom many of his friends in the Communist party asked for in marriage but he refused. But when one of the Shabab of Hizb ut Tahrir with whom he was at ideological odds asked to marry her, he agreed instantly. When he colleagues asked him, "Why did you agree to marry your daughter to a Tahriri who will argue with you all day and does not agree with us, instead of us who are from the same party as you (communist party)?! His response was that, "They will look after her and respect her; you will not."

He said to me one day that one of the brothers from Anbata who used to hate the Hizb decided one day that he will meet Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabahani through whatever means possible in order to debate him on his ideas. He reached Lebanon by way of the Shabab and remained some time in the hospitality of Sheikh Taqi. When he returned from Lebanon he was asked about the Sheikh so he said, "I will summarise what I witnessed about this man in brief by saying that had not the Qur'an been revealed upon Muhammad, Allah bless him and grant him peace, I would have said that it was revealed upon him."

May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Ahmad al-Farkh, the noble scholar. All who knew him from the people of al-Karak attested to his character and knowledge. The Shabab remained in contact with him until he decided to join the Hizb a mere three days before he passed away.

2. The famous poet and engineer, Dr. Ayman al-‘Atum, a companion of mine in prison. The following is what he writes about the Shahab of the Hizb in his book, O Companions of the Prison [YaSahibay al-Sijn] on pp. 192-197:

"In cell no. 12 and the two opposing rooms sat the Shabab of Hizb ut Tahrir. They were about ten prisoners. I went to them as a guest given the similarity of the cases for which we were accused, namely, ‘lengthening the tongue' (i.e. speaking out against the regime). When I reached them the leader of the cell, Walid, welcomed me. Walid was a man in his late thirties. He had a long beard and strong, sharp voice. His smile would almost never depart his face. The top half of his torso inclined to the right slightly when he walked such that it seemed he was strutting or doing a dance of some sort.

Sheikh ‘Ata, the leader of Hizb ut Tahrir in Jordan, was one of these ten prisoners. He was a revered and dignified man in his fifties, grey of head, of little words, amiable, blue eyed, with a white beard of moderate length etching his face. He attracted the overwhelming reverence of the other prisoners of his party, who would rush to serve him, to fulfill his tasks, and to attentively listen to every whisper emanating from him. And why not, given he was the leader of Hizb ut Tahrir not only of these ten but of every member of the Hizb in all of Jordan and perhaps even Palestine, and he may - one day - became its leader at the global level.

Walid prepared for me a distinguished bed. Hizb ut Tahrir had great appreciation for those imprisoned on the like of my case (speaking the haqq), and they had heard about his stance and my poems. Thus Walid, as the leader of the cell, made my bed distinguished by putting for me a new, clean mattress and plenty of covers. It was also distinguished in its position, being right next to the bed of Sheikh Ata.

Sheikh Ata was a man in whom the ideas of Hizb ut Tahrir saw practical and real manifestation. The main and central idea for which the Hizb works is the Khilafah "Caliphate". They link everything they do and strive for and everything they suffer for in the path of realizing this objective, namely, the establishment of the Islamic Khilafah "Caliphate" on Earth. As to how, where, when, by what means, in what time period...every member of the Hizb had answers to these questions.

Often would the saying of Allah, the exalted, be repeated on their tongues in discussions,

وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

"Allah has promised such of you as believe and do good work that He will surely make them to succeed (the present rulers) in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed (others); and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. They serve Me. They ascribe no thing as partner unto Me. Those who disbelieve henceforth, they are the miscreants." [al-Nur: 55]

They were content in that the promise of Allah in this ayah would eventuate, and would mention with it another ayah,

((فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَلَا يَسْتَخِفَّنَّكَ الَّذِينَ لَا يُوقِنُون))

"So patiently persevere: for Verily the promise of Allah is true: nor let those shake Thy firmness, who have (themselves) no certainty of Faith." [ar-Rum: 40]

Sheikh ‘Ata would give in the week: three lessons in tafsir of the Quran and three in Arabic language (lugha). Thus the week of the Hizb ut Tahrir inmates was distributed into two days: a day for tafsir followed by a day for language. ‘Ata, knowing that I was a poet, would encourage me more than others to attend these lessons and to contribute and interact in them, and thus I did. I have never forgotten till this day his explanation of the saying of Allah, the Exalted,

هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آَيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آَمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّنَا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

"He is the One who has revealed to you the Book. Out of it there are verses that are muhkamāt (of established meaning), which are the principal verses of the Book, and some others are mutashābihāt (whose definite meanings are unknown). Now those who have perversity in their hearts go after such part of it as is mutashābih, seeking (to create) discord, and searching for its interpretation (that meets their desires), while no one knows its interpretation except Allah; and those well-grounded in knowledge say: "We believe therein; all is from our Lord." Only the men of understanding observe the advice." [Ali-Imran: 7]

The Sheikh spent a long time on the particle ‘waw' (and) in "waw al-rasikhuna fi al-‘ilm" ("and those well-grounded in knowledge") on the question of whether it was a ‘waw' of conjunction (‘atf) or a ‘waw' of resumption (isti'naf). This issue has been discussed at length by the classical exegetes and linguists. The Sheikh first presented, at length, the various views on the issue, and then explained his position which went counter to the majority position. The position of the overwhelming majority of exegetes is that the ‘waw' here is a ‘waw' of resumption but he held that it was a ‘waw' of conjunction.

The students in the lessons from Hizb ut Tahrir would hold copies of the Qur'an and writing folders and would write behind the Sheikh that which Allah opened for him of knowledge. I saw myself, and in the handwriting of the Sheikh, three folders full of the tafsir of surat al-Baqarah. These folders would move between the students of the Shabab as if they were priceless treasures. They sought to protect them from damage or loss. One of them would hold it close to his chest while reading it. In conveying a trust, I should mention that I saw the Sheikh in these lessons diligent and bold in his interpretation of the ayat and what they contained of legal rulings, and the folders containing his tafsir had a mysterious glow. The students would transfer them among themselves as a jeweler moves gems and pearls.

The Sheikh has begun writing a tafsir of the Qur'an in the prison, till that point resulting in the compilation of these three folders of material. At that time he continued in this pursuit. I do not know today whether he completed the tafsir of the Qur'an or whether his occupation in leading Hizb ut Tahrir prevented him from doing so.

As for the lessons in the Arabic language, I still recall the lessons I attended in which the Sheikh explained the metaphor (majaz) and its various relations (with the literal meaning). I recall his mentioning the saying of Allah (swt),

((أَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَسَالَتْ أَوْدِيَةٌ بِقَدَرِهَا فَاحْتَمَلَ السَّيْلُ زَبَدًا رَابِيًا))

"He sent down water from the heavens, so the valleys flowed according to their capacity, and the flood carried bulging scum." [al-Ra'd: 17]; and explaining that, "In origin we do not say ‘the valleys flowed', we say ‘the water in the valleys flowed'. This is a metaphorical usage. As for its relation, it is the relation of valleys with water, the former being the place in which the latter flows; so what we have here is an example of indirect metaphor [majazmursal] whose relation is that of place."

The Sheikh would give everyone in the lesson work to complete for the next lesson. For instance, he would say to them, "Find different relations of the metaphor from surat Ali-Imran", or "Extract the various types of (grammatical) abrogaters from surat al-Furqan and ascertain their predicates and forms." His lessons would receive a great response and interaction from the individuals of his party, among whom were the old and young, the educated and uneducated, the doctor and teacher.

Cooperation, obedience of the leader and the like were apparent traits of this group of prisoners which I witnessed from living among them. And they were bold in expressing their views. I recall one of them becoming sharp in a discussion with one of the military officers, letting loose his tongue against the governing regime of the country. The officer swiftly lodged an official complaint against him as a result of which he was tried in a court of the state security force and sentenced to six months jail, adding to the two years he was previously sentenced to. Thus he was sentenced to prison whilst being imprisoned!

For this, he received rebuke from the other prisoners making fun of what occurred to him, saying to him, "You staying here is better. You aren't able to control your tongue for even a second, you and your party. You're only active in talking." So he responded to their rebuke with one more severe, accusing them of cowardice and weakness, saying to them that they fear even their own shadows and are not of the level whereby they could raise the word of truth and suffer in its path. He would repeat to them, "The truth wants men and not all people are men."

Hizb ut Tahrir believed - and continues to do so - that gradual change is a waste of effort and that one must begin from the peak of the pyramid, not its base, that one must severe the head of the serpent from its body to terminate its harm once and for all. As for the means to do this, it was possible to seek the support of those who can be trusted of the military officers to undertake, for instance, a military coup. While they did not believe in using material force to overthrow the regimes, they did justify seeking help from others to make these changes which necessarily required material force.

Ikrimah often used to like debating with them, and if he did not find one of them to listen to him he would come to me giving me a headache, as was his habit, by debating their ideas with me. He would say, "The problem with Hizb ut Tahrir is that it is rigid. They want to apply policy suitable for a bygone era in ours. They are people of ready-made templates." Holding a cup in his hand he would say, "They want to shove the cup into the bottleneck...they don't want to understand that 13 years in Makkah at the time of the Prophet (saw) is not 13 years in Jerusalem, Amman or Beirut, nor even 100 years..."

Sheikh ‘Ata was modest without being degrading of his self, humble without being self-effacing. He was wont, for health reasons perhaps, to keep some cucumbers under his bed. Often I saw him extend his hand, grab two or three pieces, wipe them with his hand, and then extend one towards me inviting me to partake in his banquet of cucumbers.

3. A testimony sent to me by Brother Muhammad Ali Abd al-Hamid (Abu Bakr) from the Shabab of the Hizb, Amman.
In the name of Allah, most Compassionate, most Merciful

"A Testimony from a Fair Man"

A few days after ‘Ata Abu al-Rashtah assumed the leadership of Hizb ut Tahrir, and after our exiting Zamili Masjid in Amman after performing prayer in congregation, the engineer Salih Abdullah al-Jaytawi (from the Muslim Brotherhood) came to me and warmly shook my hand saying, "Congratulations, may Allah make it blessed." "For what?" I asked. He replied, "For our brother, the engineer, ‘Ata Abu al-Rashtah assuming the leadership of Hizb ut Tahrir, and by which I am now certain that Hizb ut Tahrir is a sincere party, because it allowed ‘Ata Abu al-Rashtah to reach the ranks of leadership. I know this man very well. He was a colleague of mine and a very dear friend."

"I know him since the days of secondary school. I accompanied him to Beirut for the entry examinations to the American University in Beirut. However, Allah did not will that we would enter that university. We then travelled to study engineering in Cairo and lived together there and completed our engineering studies together. I bear witness that during this time that I knew him, he was an exemplary man in his taqwa, morals and refined etiquette. We later used to visit each other in Amman. If you see him, pass him warm greetings from me."

Perfect is your Lord, the Lord of honour, above what they attribute him with, and select peace be upon the messengers, and all praise is for Allah.

Source: http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.info/info/index.php/contents/entry_31932