Activism, Central Asia, Side Feature

“…Although the disbelievers dislike it”

[وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ]

Today, Social Media sites play an important role in exchanging information between people. Sincere Muslims strive to make the most of it. Of course, such attempts irks the enemies of Islam; therefore, they show enmity as part of their anti-Islamic activities on Social Media, and use various tricks to put barriers between the people and the Dawah.

It is known that the regime in Kyrgyzstan considers 21 organizations in the country as extremist and terrorist organizations and their activities are banned. Among them is the non-Muslim Mon sect. The regime included this sect within these organizations to hide the reality that the myths of extremism and terrorism are weapons to fight Islam. Although the Kurdistan People’s Party and the East Turkestan Liberation Organization belong to Muslims, but they have nothing to do with Islam, Kyrgyzstan banned them, following Turkey and China. As for the rest of these organizations, they are all Islamic organizations. Members of Hizb ut Tahrir are the most persecuted and oppressed by nearly 90% more than these organizations, because the colonialists and their agents are trying to create a barrier between the people and the true call. In this regard, the law prohibits publishing, storing, carrying and distributing certain leaflets in Kyrgyzstan under the pretext that they “contain signs of extremism”. While all pages on some websites are blocked, only certain pages are blocked in some. The total number of these websites is 155, of which more than 100 are related to Hizb ut Tahrir. The enemies of Islam are trying to exploit people’s simplicity to portray their fight against Islam as a struggle against extremism and, more precisely, against Hizb ut Tahrir.

Since Facebook is the most popular Social Media platform today, we will provide some evidence for what we have said.

The Kyrgyz government linked to the Kuffar, the State Committee for National Security and the Department for Combating Terrorism and Extremism of the Ministry of the Interior run a factory of Internet trolls who work specifically against Islam and its propaganda on social media.

Their main groups can be divided into two parts; the first group are Internet trolls who present themselves as nationalists and Shamans (Tenirchi). This group has been operating on a large scale since the spread of Facebook in Kyrgyzstan during the presidency of Almazbek Atambayev. Although three governments have changed since then, the group did not stop its activities under each government; instead, it gained the support of governments and continued to fight Islam instead of being accused by the authority of extremism! They have several groups on Facebook and many of them do not work because they are not supported by users. However, there is a permanent page called “The New Era” that coordinates their work. In this page, anti-Islam messages and comments are publicly posted.

For example, there are messages such as “Build a school instead of a mosque”, “Seek the light of knowledge and not the darkness of Islam”, “If you want Islam, you will be like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria”, “You are not a Muslim but you are a polytheist”, “Islam is the religion of Darkness”, “Returning to Islam is Returning to the Middle Ages”… Yet this page is not banned; it is secretly supported by the state! On the other hand, the “Turkiston.biz” website, the “Azatkg” website, the “Turkistonkg” and “Politumma” pages of Hizb ut Tahrir / Kyrgyzstan, and the “Al-Qadam” and “The Solution in Islam” pages of members of Hizb ut Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan were closed, because these sites and pages contain a true Islamic call, in which a clear Islamic doctrine and Shariah rulings related to today’s problems are always announced, and articles and news containing political analysis. But if it turns out that a Facebook user presses “like”, then anti-extremism officers will immediately come and arrest him, and the state will start the persecution. Think about it, what is the position of the state? Who are you fighting for?!

In addition to that, Shamanic trolls also have accounts opened for known people. They control the affairs of others through their anti-Islam and anti-Muslim articles and publications, which culminate especially during Islamic campaigns and gatherings. The home addresses of these account holders are known, their places of work are also known but law enforcement officials never care. For example, during the campaign to defend the sanctities of the Prophet (saw),theseShaman insulted our Prophet (saw) and no action was taken against them. However, the Muslim activists who participated in the march are being tried in court! The officers stormed the homes of those who pressed ” like” for the video of the march, accusing them of extremism!

As for the second group, in addition to hiring trolls to the shamans from special services in Kyrgyzstan and supporting them in their work, they also use trolls in their fight against Islam. And as it is said, “The handle of the axe is made of wood.” “Secularists” who learn “moderate Islam” from some Islamic countries participated in this work. They spread the spirit of sectarian strife among Muslims. In this way, they deliberately mislead people by preventing them from thinking. For example, when Hizb ut Tahrir protested the ban on group prayer during the pandemic, they become Hanafis, saying: “Hizb ut Tahrir is not Hanafi!”

In fact, Hizb ut Tahrir explains the Hanafi rulings in this field and calls for adherence to them, but those ones explain the decisions taken by the colonizers, conspirators and their agents, and urge their obedience! Another example, when Hizb ut Tahrir discusses the sighting of the crescent moon of the blessed month of Ramadan, they become Salafis and claim that Hizb ut Tahrir’s creed is misguiding! And when they can’t find a way, they say, “We are a secular country, we must obey our head of state!” Shamans participate in this discussion and encourage sectarianism or moderation, depending on the topic.

From all this it becomes clear that the special services control all trolls against the Deen. Thus, no one says anything to the enemies of this Deen, while those who hold the pure creed and the correct Shariah are described as “extremists”.

When the enemies of the Deen cannot differentiate between the people and Hizb ut Tahrir through the social media, they resort to such repressive measures. However, these actions of theirs will not be a barrier to our call and we will overcome all their obstacles as we did before, Allah willing.

Allah (swt) says:

[يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِؤُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ * هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ]

“They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses except to perfect his light, although the disbelievers dislike it * It is He Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of the truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate others with Allah dislike it” [At-Tawba: 32-33]

Abdul Hakim Karahani
Head of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Kyrgyzstan

(Translated)