International political group Hizb ut-Tahrir (logo at left) will be hosting a “Khilafah Conference” in the United Kingdom on July 9th, one that will promote the ideas of a world governed by Islamic law. Now the group just announced that it will host yet another one of those conferences in the Netherlands on July 3rd. The Blaze notes the irony of the conference’s timing, as it will be taking place just days after the acquittal of Geert Wilders, who has been leading the fight against “the Islamization of Europe.”
According to Tahrir Organizers, the event will answer all questions regarding Islamic unity and the establishment of a world caliphate.
For those who are unaware, a caliphate is an Islamic state that draws its authority from Sharia law. In February, The Blaze wrote of a caliphate:
What exactly a caliphate looks like depends on whether you are a Sunni or a Shia Muslim. Sunnis believe a caliphate should be a constitutional republic, whose leaders are elected by Muslims. Shias believe the head of state is divinely chosen via a lineage of religious clerics called Imams. Within Egypt, Sunnis outnumber Shias.
During the revolution in Egypt, conservative pundit Glenn Beck warned that for some of the revolutionaries, the end goal was the establishment of a caliphate in Egypt, citing Egypt’s history as part of the Ottoman Empire from the early 16th century to the late 19th century. The Ottoman Empire was the last great caliphate. Four hundred years as a caliphate explains why Islamic law is entrenched in Egypt’s penal code.
Though many scoffed at the possibility of a caliphate, it seems that there are many radicals pushing for such a thing. The organization behind the conference, Hizb ut-Tahrir — meaning “Party of Liberation” — is an international political group that seeks to bring about the formation of a caliphate. Of this particular organization, The Blaze says it is “firmly planted against the United States, accusing the Super Power of colonization, among other offenses.” The group has also been strongly anti-Israel, calling Israel “illegal” and demanding it be dismantled.
The organizers released a video advertisement in anticipation of the event. The Blaze explains:
The video depicts dramatic footage of imams and hordes of worshipers chanting about the “prophetic method” — apparently the method by which the caliphate will come to fruition. Included in their cries is the rather unsettling line: “Then there will be a Khilafah on the prophetic method and it will be for as long as Allah wills…”
The group’s vision is so extreme that it has lumped Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama together as accomplices in the “colonialism” and “oppression.”
The trailer for the conference asserts:
In 1953 a group arose to re-establish the Khilafah — 6 decades of challenging tyranny, 6 decades of resisting oppression, 6 decades of exposing colonialism. An Islamic call spanning the globe, east to west, 44 countries…Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain presents an international conference, our vision for change.”
A graphic promoting the conference reads:
Obama, Cameron, and Hague have said their vision is that Islam must not emerge from the Arab Uprisings now overthrowing their dictators.”The purpose of the Afghan war” is to stop the “return of the Caliphate…” (Former UK General Richard Dannatt)
Rasulullah (saw) gave a vision for this Ummah; east to west, united under the rule of Islam.”…And then there will be a Khalifah based on the Prophetthood.” (Ahmod)
Whose Vision Do You Support?
It’s worth noting that the United States has not escaped these conferences. In 2009, Hizb ut-Tahrir America hosted its Khilafah Conference on “The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam” in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago.
At the conference, speaker Imam Jaleel Abdul Adil said, “If they offer us the sun, or the moon, or a nice raise, or a passport, or a house in the suburbs or even a place to pray at the job, on the condition that we stop calling for Islam as a complete way of life — we should never do that, ever do that — unless and until Islam becomes victorious or we die in the attempt.”
Also during the conference, a member of the audience asked whether the United States should be governed by Shariah or the Constitution, the Imam answered “Over the Muslim world? Yes, [the Constitution] would be gone. If the United States was in the Muslim world, the Muslims who are here would be calling and happy to see the Shariah applied.”
Just several days ago, on June 26, Hizb ut-Tahrir hosted a Khilafah Conference in Oak Brook, Illinois. The website for that conference reads:
For the past few months our attention has been transfixed on the events occurring in the Muslim World. From Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Syria people are rising up against the tyranny that has plagued our Ummah for decades. For months now the Muslim Ummah has been coming out on the streets, especially after Jummah salah to account their governments, to call for change and to call for these tyrant rulers to step down.
The shackles that had imprisoned the Muslims have been broken. No longer are the Muslims afraid of these regimes who have oppressed the masses and who have suppressed the call for change. Just a few years ago we could not have imagined the scenes that we see now on our TV screens. These images have brought tears of joy to our eyes, they have brought happiness to our hearts and they have given us a renewed sense of hope.
At such a moment in history where revolution is in the air, we are faced with questions about the future. Questions about where these winds of change will take us and how will they shape the world as we know it? How has the West reacted to these events in the Muslim World? Will the Muslim World rid itself of Western colonial interference? Will these events lead to the application of Islam and the re-establishment of the Khilafah State?
All of the conferences taking place across the globe seem to share the same philosophy-that the formation of a caliphate fulfils a significant prophesy, and that Western nations, as well as Israel, pose a threat to that process.
One important thing worth mentioning is that those behind the conference do not deny that the uprisings taking place across the Muslim world are motivated in part by this desire to achieve a caliphate. One promotional poster for the 2011 International Khilafah Conference reads:
“The uprisings we have witnessed are of historic proportion, yet analysing their reality poses many key questions. Are these uprisings the fruit of deeper causes at work in the Muslim World, or are they the spontaneous results of short-term causes? Where is the place of these uprisings in the Islamic revival, and work for Khilafah? Join us in the important conference which will place the uprisings in their broader historical, ideological and political context in discussing these key questions.”
One wonders where Israel would stand should Hizb ut-Tahrir have its way and the Middle East be transformed into a caliphate. Knesset Member Masud Ganaim has one solution: “an Islamic caliphate should be established and it should include Israel.”
Well, it seems they have it all figured out.
