There have existed men throughout the ages who have been exceptionally close to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, in their belief and trust in Him. First and foremost there have been prophets, next down were the righteous who assisted the prophets in their arduous task of imparting God’s message to mankind in the face of stubborn and subsequent tyrannical, but ultimately futile, resistance. But a few have been righteous men across the centuries, many living after the time of the last Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. They have come forth during periods when Allah’s سبحانه وتعالى final set of universal decrees and guidance to humanity, Islam, has been strayed from in one form or another and thus in need of dedicated and sincere followers to return it to its standing in society as the sole, unadulterated and dynamic ruling system for man.
However the last 100 years or so have been unique in the sense that mankind has not merely drifted away from Islam, but rather the very basis and backbone of Islam – the Khilafah system, which gives Islam the structure and absolute authority across the state – has been uprooted and dismantled by its opponents, leaving Islam to marginally linger on at the level of individual set of ritual practices and morals.
But in this predicament, believers have emerged nonetheless who have clung hard and fast to the truth, with the determination of fulfilling their obligation in overseeing Islam’s implementation across society once again with the reestablishment of the Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood.
Naveed Butt is one such individual.
Born in Pakistan, Naveed Butt progressed outstandingly throughout his academic and professional career, culminating in the role of a Software Engineer with a leading US technology firm. It was around this point that Naveed Butt came across the revolutionary idea of Islam as a political system that was absent in the world today and thus in need of radical and comprehensive implementation to fulfil the commands of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, that have otherwise laid dormant after the demise of the Uthmani Khilafah in 1924. Naveed Butt readily accepted and championed these Islamic concepts, enthusiastically working with the global, intellectual and peaceful political party that introduced these to him – Hizb ut Tahrir.
Naveed Butt particularly understood the need to carry this call back in Pakistan – a land bursting with Islamic emotion, but crucially a country with the strongest, and only nuclear armed, Islamic army in the World today. Combined with the region’s immense agricultural and mineral wealth, along with an excellent geo-political location, Naveed Butt understood that this placed Pakistan in an excellent position to witness the rebirth of the Khilafah and give it a solid base to then expand into the rest of the Muslim world.
In Pakistan, Naveed Butt committed his life to the cause of reviving the Khilafah system eventually becoming the Spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir in the country, in the process bravely accounting both the civilian and top most military rulers for their treachery against Islam and the Muslims and further for capitulating to the interests of foreign masters and their heinous designs over Pakistan.
This ultimately led to Naveed Butt’s disappearance. After a lengthy and exhaustive effort, regime thugs in the shape of security services’ agents finally managed to abduct Naveed Butt on 11th May 2012 – in front of his children whilst they were being innocently dropped off to school by him.
With the fourth anniversary of his kidnapping looming, Naveed Butt’s condition and whereabouts remain unknown. However through facts collected over a period of time, via mysterious and often threatening phone calls to his family members and the occasional leaked patchy information from internal sources, what is clear is that Naveed Butt has been brutally tortured by his captors, the Pharaohs and Abu Jahls of today, and interned in the darkest depths of the regime’s dungeons, no doubt at the behest of foreign masters fearing the return of a genuine Islamic State in a powerful country like Pakistan. Not only do the executors of this heinous crime stand guilty, but also those of influence that choose to remain silent at this great injustice, particularly those that knew Naveed Butt and personally experienced his sincerity and dedication to Islam.
But perhaps this is the greatest testament to Naveed Butt’s closeness to Allah سبحانه وتعالى – that despite the oppression and betrayal of people around him, he has remained firm in his commitment to uphold the truth and make a stand against tyranny, refusing to make any form of compromise with the regime to dilute and distort his call, in return for granting him freedom.
I pray to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, and look forward to the day, that justice is delivered and our brother is released. I look forward to the day the Islamic Khilafah upon the method of the Prophethood. is established in the country and Naveed Butt, a truly worthy leader, heads the Muslims in the Wilayah (Province) of Pakistan as Wali, and one day quite possibly as the Ameer-ul-Momineen, aka Khaleefah, of the entire Ummah. Ameen.
Asif Salahuddin