Praise be to Allah, prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah and on his family, companions, and allies... and upon those who followed in his footsteps, and made the Islamic faith the basis for his thought and the divine rulings as the criterion for his actions and the source of his judgments...O Muslims everywhere...
A Message from the Director of Central Media Office of Hizb-ut Tahrir
Osman Bakhach Congratulates the Muslim Ummah on the occasion of the Blessed Eid al-Adha
May Allah (swt) Restore Our Glory and Authority on Eid al-Adha al Mubarak of 1433 Hijri
Beirut, Lebanon
Headlines:
Details:
Russian Foreign Minister: U.S. Playing Geopolitical Game in the Middle East:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the daily newspaper, Rossiiskaya, that the United States is playing a geopolitical game in the Middle East. Lavrov said accusations against al-Assad "are only a camouflage to cover a big geopolitical game. Another round is playing now, aimed at re-making the Middle East geopolitically. And players are taking pains to secure their geopolitical positions." According to Lavrov, the orchestrated Arab Spring uprisings that swept Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa and led to the proxy war against Libya and now the al-Assad regime in Syria are the fruit of George W. Bush's labor and his Middle East "Pro-Democracy Policy," reports The Voice of Russia. Bush's Middle East policy was crafted by the American Enterprise Institute and other neocon think tanks. "Of course he should be getting credit because he socialized the world to the notion that somehow democracy was possible in the Arab world," Daniele Pletka, described as a foreign policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told McClatchy last November. "This was an almost ridiculous notion before his presidency. And we shouldn't discount the liberation of 50 million Muslims who'd lived under oppressive Afghan and Iraqi rule." In June, the benefactor of the Arab Spring hatched by the CIA, the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, staffed with former Mubarak loyalists, put a capstone on its victory and declared a military dictatorship in Egypt. After the Muslim Brotherhood was installed in the Egyptian parliament, it engaged in a predictable purge and began jailing opponents and journalists like Egyptian television presenter Tawfiq Okasha, who was imprisoned for defaming Salafist president Mohamed Morsi, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood from its inception has served the interests of British intelligence and later worked with the CIA. Without the British, "Radical Islam would have remained the illegitimate, repressive minority movement that it has always been, and the Middle East would have remained stable and prosperous," notes John Coleman, a former British Intelligence agent. The clash of civilizations agenda fomented by the globalists and the neocon faction requires endless discord and sectarian violence if the balkanization of the Arab and Muslim world is to be accomplished. In his translation of Oded Yinon's "The Zionist Plan for the Middle East," Israel Shahak notes that the idea of sowing discord and fragmenting the Arab and Muslim world "is not a new idea, nor does it surface for the first time in Zionist strategic thinking. Indeed, fragmenting all Arab states into smaller units has been a recurrent theme." Shahak points out that the American neocons who dominated foreign policy under Bush - and may once again do so under Romney - enthusiastically adopted the Israeli plan, which was conceived in the early 1950s soon after the establishment of the Israeli state. It resurfaced in the "Clean Break" document prepared in 1996 by a study group led by Richard Perle for Benjamin Netanyahu, at the time the prime minister of Israel.
Qatar Aims to Rehabilitate Hamas Image in the Eyes of the West:
The Emir of Qatar's visit to Gaza on Tuesday was a daring move according to analysts who believe the aim is to rehabilitate Hamas' image in Western eyes. This could coax it into the peace camp at a time when the Arab Spring revolts, and civil war in Syria, have been reshaping power balances across the Middle East. The Emir, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, who is rare among Arab rulers in having met senior Israeli officials, denounced Israel's policies and praised people in Gaza for standing up to it with "bare chests" - but he also urged rival Palestinian leaders to abandon their feuds. The Gaza Strip is all but cut off from the world under a land and sea blockade by Israel and Egypt that is intended to obstruct the import of arms to Hamas. A Sunni Islamist group like several others supported by Qatar elsewhere, it has long been aided by Shiite Iran and its allies Syria and Hezbollah. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' arch-rival, said it hoped the Qatari visit would not hinder the rebuilding of Palestinian unity, nor endorse a separate Palestinian territory in Gaza. This was the first visit to Gaza by any national leader since Hamas seized control of the enclave where 1.7 million people live from Abbas' forces in 2007. Israel had pulled out its troops and colonists from the territory two years earlier.
'Pakistan to Remain at Receiving End Regardless of Whether Obama or Romney Wins':
White House race between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney is a curious affair around the globe, but not for Pakistan, according to an editorial in a Pakistan daily. The editorial in the Express Tribune said that for Pakistan, it will make a very little difference which candidate ultimately wins the election. Both the candidates clearly dislike each other, have scant regard for their opponent, yet, closely agree to what the other believes on a lot of issues than they disagree. Most importantly, both Obama and Romney are wholly committed to drone strikes in Pakistan. According to the report, Romney tried to differentiate himself from Obama on his Pakistan policy by claiming that he would attach strings to the aid given to Pakistan, but seemed unaware that this has already happened under the terms of the Kerry-Lugar Bill. Traditionally, Republicans have maintained warmer ties and given more aid to Pakistan, but have also been more comfortable dealing with the country's military dictators, the report said. That history will not matter too much, though, since there is a bipartisan consensus in Washington that Pakistan is brimming with rogue actors and that a military option, in the form of drone strikes, is completely necessary, it added. According to the report, the military and civilian governments will breathe a sigh of relief after both candidates rejected the debate moderator's proposal that the US "divorce" Pakistan. The aid spigot will remain even if there is a change of guard in Washington, it said. Foreign policy has barely been a blip in this election both because of the tiny substantive difference between Obama and Romney and also because elections are settled on economic, not international, issues.
Hudud will not Impact Non-Muslims, Malaysian Minister Says:
Hudud will not have an impact on non-Muslims in Malaysia, Umno Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom has said, disputing the repeated warnings by political ally MCA to the Chinese community on the controversial Islamic penal code. In a written reply to Tan Tee Beng (IND-Nibong Tebal), the minister for Islamic affairs, explained that hudud, which prescribes the amputation of hands for theft, could only be applied to those who come under the jurisdiction of the Syariah court - Muslims. "Therefore, hudud law will not impact non-Muslims," he concluded. MCA has been using the hudud issue to warn the non-Muslim community away from voting for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the coming polls, insisting that the pact's "dominant" partner PAS would insist on its implementation despite its ties with secular DAP and PKR. Hudud has remained a sensitive touch point in Southeast Asia's third-largest economy, which has a 60 per cent Muslim population, with political parties continuing to spar over the subject in the run-up to the 13th general election. The idea of an Islamic criminal code has been used to either scare the minority Chinese voters, or shore up support among the majority Malay-Muslim community. The Malay community is seen today as split three-ways among the ruling BN's mainstay and the country's biggest Malay party, Umno, the opposition's Islamist PAS, and PKR, which is seen as an urban liberal party.
East Turkistan: Chinese Authorities Multiply Raids on Uyghur Homes
Authorities in China's troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang are carrying out raids on the homes of local residents following clashes between ethnic minority Muslim Uyghurs and armed police in the region's central city of Korla, an exile group said. Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said there had been deaths and injuries among police and protesters on Friday after angry Uyghurs gathered outside a police station on Tuanjie Road in the city. "There were deaths and injuries on both sides during the violence," Raxit said. "The local authorities have enforced a news blackout since the clashes took place, and have been conducting raids." Uyghur residents of Xinjiang frequently report midnight, house-to-house raids on their homes during "strike hard" anti-terrorism campaigns, and after violent incidents. Xinjiang has been rocked by sporadic violent incidents in recent years, including three days of deadly ethnic riots in Urumqi in 2009 that left at least 197 people dead, according to official figures. The region is currently under tight security ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha on Friday and a crucial leadership transition for China's ruling Communist Party at a national congress on Nov. 8. Security and surveillance personnel are stationed in mosques across the region, and public assembly is forbidden, Raxit said.
Abu Hashim
On Monday 22/10/2012 (The Moscow Times newspaper) investigated the headscarf ban and Putin's comments on Thursday 18th October 2012, according to Reuters and other media agencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the recent hijab bans in schools in Russia's southern Stavropol region by stating, "We must always treat the religious feelings of people with great respect. That must be shown in the state's activities, in the nuances, in everything," adding however, "We have a secular state and we must proceed from this basis." He also suggested that European states which implement school uniform policies that prohibit wearing of religious dress should be viewed as a model for Russian schools with regards to how they respond to female students adopting the Islamic headscarf. His comments have been interpreted by Russian and other media outlets as open support for a hijab ban in the country's schools. His stance emulates the position of other extremist secular states such as France, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Turkey, and Uzbekistan that have also imposed hijab or niqab bans in their society.
Central Media Representative of Hizb-ut Tahrir, Dr. Nazreen Nawaz responded to Mr. Putin's comments saying:
"The blatant hypocrisy and flagrant lie of Putin's call for the Russian state to demonstrate respect for the religious beliefs of its citizens is truly breath-taking considering that this is a state that has a long track-record of pursuing authoritarian repressive policies against its Muslim minority, as also confirmed by the Russian Human Rights Institute. Over the last few years, Muslim women related to men carrying the Islamic dawah have been harassed, imprisoned, abused and threatened with knives by Russian security agencies in order to pressure their men-folk to leave their Islamic duty. The children of some have even been placed in orphanages as part of the Russian state's "anti-extremism" alias "anti-Islam" policies. Now, not content with the persecution of innocent Muslim women, Putin has clearly set his sight on excluding pious Muslim girls from Russian schools, simply for dressing according to the tenets of their religious beliefs in an attempt to fight the rising adherence and commitment of Russia's Muslim women to Islam and to force-feed them flawed secular beliefs."
"While talking of respect for religious faiths, he simultaneously backs the relegation of Muslim girls to second-class status with regards to access to education for practicing their Islamic obligations. He proudly expresses the secular credentials of his state, while this is an ideology that has repeatedly demonstrated its intolerance towards religious minorities and its fault lines, and inadequacy in accommodating rights for all, illustrated by hijab, niqab, and minaret bans in secular states. Muslim women have understood clearly that "respect" in secular states is a privilege only for those who sign up to its beliefs, while marginalisation, stigmatisation, and discrimination are the diet which those devout to their religious faith have become accustomed to under the secular system. This is an ideology that has long-lost the intellectual debate on how to organise just, fair, and harmonious societies."
"Furthermore, how dare Mr. Putin speak of respecting the religious feelings of Muslim women when his government pursues a domestic and foreign policy that has terrorised the innocent Muslim women of Chechnya and supported mass-murder by the butcher Assad of the daughters of this Ummah in Syria whose only call is to live in dignity under the system of Islam."
"Moreover, what has the secular system that he celebrates actually brought Russian women? Today, Russian women face an epidemic of exploitation, trafficking, violence, and discrimination in pay. The secular liberal values promoted by Russia's government have created a social identity for women where they are condemned to be seen as nothing more than a sexual tool to be used and discarded like any other economic commodity. So those secularists who enjoy accusing Islam of oppressing women need to look in their own backyard, as well as recognise that it is not Islam that has stripped Muslim girls of an education and denied them their basic rights but fundamentalist secular systems and the imposition of fanatical liberal ideals upon Muslim women."
"As the women of Hizb-ut Tahrir, we call our dear, devout Muslim sisters in Russia to hold fast to their Islamic beliefs and noble Islamic dress that exemplifies the noble and virtuous value of modesty and dignity. Do not be intimidated or pressured into leaving obedience to your Creator by hijab bans or other anti-Islam policies that are nothing but desperate, weak tactics employed by a state that realises that it is unable to shake your intellectual conviction in Islam or strip from your heart your pure love for your deen. So reject the flawed secular beliefs and be steadfast in your Islamic beliefs and obligations, in the knowledge that you are the ones who have the gained the Pleasure of the Creator of the universe, Allah (swt). And work hard for the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" state under which you will be able to wear your Islamic dress with honour and fulfil your Islamic obligations in an environment of security and true respect."
((إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ ۚ فَسَيُنفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ ۗ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُونَ))
"Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth to hinder (men) from the Path of Allah, and so will they continue to spend it; but in the end it will become an anguish for them. Then they will be overcome." [TMQ Al-Anfal: 36]
Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Central Media Representative, Hizb-ut Tahrir
With great joy from our inner most hearts, we in Hizb ut Tahrir East Africa would like to extend our warmest greetings of the blessed Eid al-Adha to the Muslims in the East African region and the whole world in general. We pray Allah (swt) accepts our righteous deeds and guide us to next year's Eid
Continuing with the Hizb-ut Tahrir/ Wilayah Egypt campaign to explain the draft constitution of the Khilafah "Caliphate" State titled, "Egypt's Constitution Must Be an Islamic Constitution." On Friday, 03 Dhul Hijjah, 19 October 2012, Hizb Activists set up a mobile information tent was set up in front of Al-Istqameh Masjid in Giza. Alhamdulillah, large numbers poured into the tent sparking positive discussions with inquiring questions.
On 9th October 2012, a young girl Malala Yousafzai from Swat was attacked along with two other girls when they were going back to their homes, after attending their school in Swat valley. Immediately, TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) claimed responsibility for this attack. After the incident, the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaque Pervez Kayani reacted to this attack in an unusual manner. Just after the attack, he went straight to visit injured Malala and said, "We refuse to bow before terror. We will fight regardless of the cost." He hurriedly called the meeting of the military leadership, discussed this incident and the need for operations in North Waziristan. Then Kayani met the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, in order to take him on board as well. In the mean time the electronic and print media made this incident a headline story and gave very extensive coverage, to an extent that no other news got enough space to even appear as headline news. The government and its allied parties made a hue and cry and called for an immediate North Waziristan operation. All over the country, members of civil society and NGO's started demonstrations and streets were filled with banners praising Malala and condemning the attackers.
In the first two days after the attack, the atmosphere was as if every person in the country wanted an operation in North Waziristan. But as America intervened, with President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton showed their solidarity with Malala, people started to raise questions regarding this attack and the demand for the North Waziristan operation. The public opinion changed dramatically and so quickly, that the military establishment began to distance itself from the demand of the operation in North Waziristan and through the Director General ISPR said that it is up to the political leadership to take a decision regarding this matter. And the government also changed its position and said that they have no plan to go in North Waziristan and that they are not finding excuses for the North Waziristan operation. Finally, in order to dispel the impression that rulers are working on the orders of their American masters, Special Envoy of America for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Marc Grossman, said on Saturday 20 during his recent visit to Pakistan that, "On particular question of North Waziristan offensive or any other question, that is the decision for the government of Pakistan and solely for the government of Pakistan."
In this incident, two major things appeared:
Firstly: regarding the stature and influence of main stream media, the social media and the live interaction. In changing the public opinion so quickly, social media played a very important role to an extent that even well known anchor persons on live shows admitted the fact that in spite of main stream media support to Malala incident, the social media overwhelmingly gave the other side of the story and the people are more trusting of the social media, then the main stream media. Moreover, the people had strong live interaction on the matter, almost every person would check the others' opinion upon this matter and would correct any naivety. We can say now that the main stream media has lost the monopoly of making or shaping the public opinion in Pakistan. This is the price that was paid by the media because some of the media people chose to become mouthpieces of the government.
Secondly: the awareness of the people. The social media and the live discussions would not have been so effective, if the people had been naïve in matters. The basic level of awareness of the people has risen. This time, people did not buy into the government and the main stream media story, as they did three years ago when a fabricated video was aired on media channels showing the flogging of a woman at the hands of the Swat Valley Taliban and the agent rulers quickly capitalized the public opinion and started military operation in Swat. Even after Hizb's campaign against the Swat Valley operation people generally were resistant to the Hizb's opinion, that America and the agent rulers arrange such events to justify America's war. However, the Hizb persisted in exposing the role of American private military organizations in organizing false flag attacks, blamed on the Muslims through shadowy claims. It added to the people's agenda the need to end America's war, close the supply lines to the American forces, close the embassies and bases as well as expelling all of its military and diplomatic personnel. It continued to discuss with the people and issue leaflets and press releases over many months. And this time and I would say the first time in the history of dawah in Pakistan; people took the view of the Hizb very rapidly, Alhamdulillah. People quickly realized that it is the same old tactic of agent rulers, with new characters, and they themselves established the evil nexus of America and agent rulers. Moreover, the discussion widened to talk about the presence of America within Pakistan. Also significantly, before this incident, people generally blamed the political government for the treacheries being made against Pakistan by General Kayani, who hid behind his confidante President Zardari, in order to maintain his standing within the armed forces so that he could implement the American agenda. His masters are anxious that he does not make the same mistake as Musharraf, who as both President and Army Chief became the subject of the anger of the armed forces before he was forced to step down. But now the opinion within society, including within the armed forces, has widely accepted the view of the Hizb that the actual ruler of Pakistan is Kayani and he is the real and biggest traitor. Upon reading the latest leaflet from the 000 in Pakistan, many people immediately expressed their anger at Kayani's persistent treachery. So, the awareness of the Ummah has risen and they are no longer ready to be made fools by the traitors' conspiracies. Now it seems that the time is not far away when the traitors within military and political leadership will be thrown out and the people will look towards Hizb as their only and true leadership.
Shahzad Shaikh
Deputy to the Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan
Last week, Pakistan's Federal Minister of Defense Syed Naveed Qamar met with top leaders in Serbia's House of Guards to lay the frame work for an MOU between the armed forces of the two countries. The proposed military agreement with Serbia is to provide Pakistan's armed forced with ammunition, armoured vehicles and assault rifles amongst other weapons. Notwithstanding the cementing of defense ties, Qamar also proposed the idea of Serbia to establish an embassy in Islamabad and engage with Pakistan through a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). The announcement is yet another example of how Pakistan's ruling establishment is determined to embrace enemies of Islam, as it once again the muddles through another foreign policy blunder.
It is no secret that Pakistan's embracement of America's war on terror-in truth a vicious crusade against Islam- has prompted the Pakistani ruling elite to make several overtures of friendship towards the enemies of Islam, and when appropriate grant concessions to them that greatly undermines the country's integrity and stability. Some of the highlights of this appauling foreign policy are: an American installed government in Afghanistan that is ferociously hostile to Pakistan, capitulation over Kashmir to please India, gestures to recognize Israel, silence over Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims, preferred ignorance over the plight of Muslims in the Caucasus in return for closer ties with Russia, and now embracement of Serbia-the butcher of Bosnia and the author of Kosovo's the killing fields of: What is next we ask?
By surrounding themselves with such a distinguished company of war-mongers and bigots, it is not surprising that Muslims residing in the affected areas show any affinity at all towards Pakistan's leaders. Palestinians, Kashmiris, Chechnyans, Rohingyas, Bosnians and Kosovans have every right to be upset with Pakistan's establishment. In some ways, the oppression of these Muslims is a result of Pakistan's foreign policy relations with America, which has accentuated their predicament after September 2oo1.
The same can be said for the repression of Muslims inside Pakistan. Pakistan's continuous subservience to Washington has enabled America to dominate Pakistan's domestic scene, and foreign relations. America's reluctance to withhold certain arms and technology from the Pakistani army, while simultaneously demanding actions against militants in North Waziristan has spurred Pakistan's elite to explore relations with Serbia. Belgrade was virtually shunned by Islamabad, until 2009 Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani stated that Pakistan considered Serbia a very important country and described relations between the two countries as warm and friendly.
The gesture coincided with America's public chastisement of Pakistan's leadership to fully commit to military operation against the militants in the tribal areas.
Thereafter, Pakistan worked with Serbia to form cordial relations, despite the horrific crimes perpetrated against Bosnian and Kosovo Muslims. In the mid-nineties the Pakistan army was deployed in Bosnia to protect its populace from the marauding Serbian hordes. And now seventeen years later, the Pakistani army wants to befriend a country that still harbours ill will against Muslims. Serbia's vehement opposition to Kosovo's independence epitomizes this deep seated hatred. The arrest and trial of war criminals Karadzic, Mladic, and Hadzic should serve as a painful reminder of Serbia's past atrocities.
It is all too obvious that Pakistan's leadership is not motivated by bonds of brotherhood founded on Islam to protect the Muslims of Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere. However, the leadership prides in the vision of Mohammed Ali Jinnah who is supposedly held in high regard by them. Jinnah said, "We believe in the principle of honesty and fair play in national and international dealings and are prepared to make our utmost contribution to the promotion of peace and prosperity among the nations of the world. Pakistan will never be found lacking in extending its material and moral support to the oppressed and suppressed peoples of the world..." So why is the material support not being extended to Palestinians, Kashmiris, Rohingyas and other Muslims who are being persecuted for their faith. Clearly then, Pakistan's elite is not motivated by Islam or "nationalism" then on what bases do they engage in foreign policy matters?
The answer is that both the civil and military leadership is bereft of any rational ideas that underpin Pakistan's foreign policy. The Pakistani elite follow a simple rule. Blindly submit to American stipulations or run around like headless chickens when America is displeased with them. This master and slave relationship has only one outcome and that is political suicide.
What Pakistan requires is a sound independent foreign policy that matches the aspiration of its people and is rooted in Islam. This can only be achieved through the re-establishment of the Caliphate, which will not only provide political independence, but also ensure that Pakistan integrity is fully protected.
Abu Hashim
