Hizb ut-Tahrir's Global Reign of Terror: A Chronicle of Violence Across Continents

In recent news, the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) have emerged as a global concern, with its members having documented ties to incidents of Islamic violence and radicalization.

From Syria to Germany and from Bangladesh to Australia, members affiliated with this organization have routinely participated in acts such as suicide attacks, targeted killings, taking individuals hostage, plotting bomb attacks, planning to attack restaurants, military and civilian airports, nightclubs, and attacking American and Israeli embassies. Hizb-ut-Tahrir supports not only violence against Jews, Christians (and other non-Muslims) in general but also offensive jihad against Israel and America in particular.

A Timeline of Violent Islamic Acts carried out by Hizb ut-Tahrir Affiliates

Let us now dive straight in and take a look at the timeline of some of the violent acts carried out by Hizb ut-Tahrir’s members that span across continents. This only helps to reiterate the all-pervasive nature of the global Islamic threat, which does not recognize any geographical borders and constraints. The organization has been linked to many violent incidents carried out by Muslim extremists. Additionally, a significant number of young Muslims who have been influenced by the group’s teachings, including infamous ISIS member “Jihadi John,” have joined extremist organizations.

1) April 2015:

British media reports that individuals associated with Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Nusra Front attacked civil activists in Aleppo, Syria. Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain denies the reports. (Link)
 
2) Late March 2015:

Turkish police stopped nine British citizens as they were attempting to cross over into Syria to enroll in jihadist organizations. The British police have disclosed that one of the nine people was Waheed Ahmed, a pupil at Manchester University and the son of Rochdale town councilor Shakil Ahmed. It has been found that Waheed Ahmed is related to Hizb ut Tahrir, but Dr. Abdul Waheed, the chairman of HT Britain, refuted these claims and denied Ahmed was a member. (Link)

3) March 2015:

Bangladeshi authorities arrested Farabi Shafiur Rahman, an Islamic blogger, in relation to the assassination of Avijit Roy, a writer, on February 26, 2015. The police have charged Rahman with being associated with Hizb ut-Tahrir and making death threats against Roy through various social media platforms before the fatal knife attack took place. (Link)

4) December 2014: 

Haron Monis, an Australian citizen of Iranian origin, held over a dozen individuals hostage at the Lindt Chocolat Café in Sydney. Following a 16-hour standoff with law enforcement, Monis and two hostages were killed. Monis had previously attended an HT lecture in June 2014 that criticized the West’s shortcomings and proclaimed the superiority of Islam. (Link)
 
5) November 2012: 

During the beginning of November, the Russian authorities apprehended 18 individuals, consisting of both Russian and Tajik citizens, who were suspected of planning bomb attacks in the vicinity of Moscow. Following a thorough search of their apartments, the authorities discovered a substantial amount of counterfeit currency worth 2 million Euros, along with several firearms and explosives. On November 16, charges were filed against nine individuals, comprising both Russian and Tajik citizens, for their alleged affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that is prohibited in both countries. (Link)

6) November 4, 2010: 

Russian police prevented a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell from blowing up a railway track near a Moscow train station. (Link)

7) September 2007: 

German police report that they arrested three members of the HT splinter group IJU (Islamic Jihad Union) for plotting to carry out massive Jihadist attacks on several restaurants and military and civilian airports. All three members were indoctrinated by Hizb ut-Tahrir literature and ideology. (Link)

8) July 29, 2006: 

Two Lebanese men were caught on surveillance cameras carrying suitcases filled with propane-gas explosives onto trains in Germany. According to investigators, Youssef Mohammed el-Hajdib, one of the men, had connections to Hizb ut-Tahrir. However, the group has denied any affiliation with Hajdib. (Link)
 
9) May 13, 2005: 

In the Uzbek city of Andijon, security forces put down a prison break and an anti-government demonstration. President Islam A. Karimov of Uzbekistan accused international terrorist groups and Hizb ut-Tahrir of orchestrating the violent uprising, while the latter denied any involvement. (Link)
 
10) July 2004: 

HT splinter cell Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) attacks the American and Israeli embassies in Uzbekistan. (Link)
 
11) 2004: 

British authorities arrested an HT member for joining al-Qaeda and plotting to attack key financial targets in New York, United States. (Link)

12) April 30, 2003: 

Asif Muhammad Hani, a British citizen, carried out a fatal suicide bombing at the entrance of Tel Aviv bar Mike’s Place, resulting in the loss of three innocent lives and injuring 50 other civilians. Israeli authorities had identified another British citizen, Omar Khan Sharif, as a second bomber, although his explosives did not detonate on time. It is worth noting that both individuals were affiliated with al-Muhajiroun, a splinter group of Hizb ut Tahrir. (Link)

Hizb ut-Tahrir presents and claims itself to be a non-profit social-political organization; however, a closer inspection reveals a stark and glaring contradiction to its purported bеnеvolеncе. 

Behind the scenes, it is evident that the organization does indeed radicalize its Muslim members, who then go on to commit acts of violence, as illustrated above. This deceptive duality establishes the fact that Muslims often cloak their true motives and intentions in the guise of charitable endeavors, NGOs, and social organizations to appear discreet and avoid scrutiny.

It is evident that the organization, which started as a splinter organization in 1953 from the Muslim Brotherhood, has stayed true to its original radical Islamic roots. The now global organization Hizb ut-Tahrir was established by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani, a jurist who received his education from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He expressed his disapproval of the Muslim Brotherhood’s partnership with secularists like Gamal Abdel Nasser, which led to a significant number of the more extremist members of the Muslim Brotherhood leaving to join Nabhani’s new emerging movement.

As part of its efforts to subvert democracies, the organization is known for regularly sending SMS messages, emails, and fax statements to its members, as well as to newspapers, columnists, writers, and TV journalists. These communications implore them to ‘rectify their course, reject friendship with the United States, and adhere to the teachings of the Quran.’ They exploit events like the Muslim customary celebrations of Ramadan, Eid ul-Fitr, or the anniversaries of 9/11 to disseminate a narrative that closely aligns with other violent Islamic networks such as Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hizb ut-Tahrir poses a significant security challenge due to its radical perspective and the narrative it shares with transnational Islamic organizations. The statements and speeches delivered by its leader’s statements easily feed into the Islamic hopes and aspirations of ignorant Muslims, who then become very easy to radicalize.

The terror-affiliated Hizb ut-Tahrir has also infiltrated major colleges and universities in the UK, where Christian men and women (and other non-Muslims such as Hindus and Sikhs) are targeted by fellow Muslim students and then brainwashed gradually into accepting Islam.

Each country has a local chapter led by an “emir” who answers to Hizb ut-Tahrir’s overall emir, Ata Abu Rashta. He continues to lecture at Islamic conferences worldwide, and new hateful rhetoric from him regularly appears on Hizb ut-Tahrir’s websites. Ata Abu Rashta, who had worked closely with the organization’s founder, Taqiuddin Al-Nabhani, is currently the global leader of the Islamic political party.

In the United States, Hizb ut-Tahrir has a significant presence and following among many American Muslims who are drawn to the “highly romanticized dream of a global Islamic Caliphate.”

Hizb ut-Tahrir America has held multiple rallies and conferences throughout 2016, including the annual Khilafa Conference at the Ramada Inn in Glendale, Illinois, that May.HT America returned to Ramada Inn in April 2017 for its annual conference, which the group dubbed as “a global call to Muslims worldwide to stand up and fulfill the obligation to resume the Islamic way of life, as decreed by Allah (SWT), by re-establishing the Khilafah on the path of the Prophet Muhammad.

In order to gain more followers, HT America also recruits and influences university college students and teachers, the unemployed, and factory workers. Many authorities and cops believe Hizb ut-Tahrir America also recruits heavily inside prisons.

Tackling the Menace : Charting A Way Forward

There should be an intensive and joint initiative toward campaigns and appeals for banning Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United States and Europe. A multi-pronged approach consisting of online petitions, awareness campaigns, and advocacy is definitely the need of the hour to tackle the menace posed by such outfits, who seem to gain more influence with each passing day.

Patriots and other concerned members of the public could start an online petition to collect signatures and call for the necessary measures to be taken. Parliamentarians, Congress Representatives, policymakers, and relevant authorities should come together to lobby and call for a comprehensive investigation and possible legal measures against Hizb ut-Tahrir’s activities.

Proper mobilization of collective public voice by using campaigning and petitions as tools can bring change. In other words, such grassroots efforts can influence the right decision-makers to enforce laws that should hopefully ban such radical Islamic outfits. Campaigns allow like-minded people to unite to accomplish much more rather than individual voices.

Petitions present an organized manner in which the people are able to indicate their support or opposition towards a given proposal. Petitions show the strength and depth of public support through signatures as actual evidence of how widespread the problem is. A good petition becomes a strong argument for policy modifications and to take action when presented before the decision-makers. Also, the campaigns create the necessary momentum while petitions crystallize public opinion into actionable facts. 

By leveraging the tremendous power of collective action, we can surely make an impact together and compel the necessary bodies and watchdogs to take swift, proactive, and decisive measures against a radical Islamic outfit like Hizb-ut-Tahrir and ban its operations and activities in the United States and Europe.

Sources:

• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3034733/100-members-controversial-Islamic-group-linked-radicalised-British-students-including-Jihadi-John-joined-forces-al-Qaeda-Syria.html
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3026024/UK-jihadi-linked-group-PM-tried-bar-Labour-councillor-s-son-believed-member-extremist-group-advocates-global-Muslim-caliphate.html
• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31690514
• http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/lindt-cafe-gunman-man-haron-monis-was-honoured-guest-at-hizb-ut-tahrirs-lakemba-hate-fest/story-fnpn118l-1227265393578
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/16/russia-islam-charged-idUSL5E8MG1TP20121116
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/16/russia-islam-charged-idUSL5E8MG1TP20121116
• http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/combating-hate/Hizb-ut-Tahrir-Emerges-in-America-2013-07-25-v1.pdf
• http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/23/world/europe/23german.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/04/world/asia/israel-evacuates-staff-from-uzbekistan-as-instability-worsens.html
• http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/134296.pdf
• http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2003/Pages/Details%20of%20April%2030-%202003%20Tel%20Aviv%20suicide%20bombing.aspx