The year 2011 has passed. In general, there are not many fundamental changes that have occurred in the Islamic world. The Islamic countries are still objects of the imperialist Capitalist countries. Iraq and Afghanistan are still occupied. The American military bases spread across the Islamic world especially in the Middle East, are a reflection of the American occupation with the consent of the puppet governments.
by: Farid Wadjdi,
Chairman of Lajnah Siyasiyah of Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia
Western Colonialism in the Islamic World
The year 2011 has passed. In general, there are not many fundamental changes that have occurred in the Islamic world. The Islamic countries are still objects of the imperialist Capitalist countries. Iraq and Afghanistan are still occupied. The American military bases spread across the Islamic world especially in the Middle East, are a reflection of the American occupation with the consent of the puppet governments.
Although the U.S. had withdrawn its troops from Iraq in early December, the country strengthens its position in Middle Eastern countries. The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff told members of Congress that the U.S. must strengthen its military presence in Kuwait to counter the growing Iranian influence in Iraq and in the Gulf region. The U.S., which has 29,000 troops in Kuwait, 7,000 in Bahrain and Qatar, 3,000 in the UAE, and 258 military personnel in Saudi Arabia, wants Kuwait to accommodate its troops withdrawn from Iraq, which is estimated at 24,000 troops.
While the U.S. Defense Secretary, Leon said on Thursday (13/10) to members of congress that thousands of U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan before the end of this year as planned, 23,000 troops sent by Barack Obama to Afghanistan will remain to occupy the region until the summer of 2012.
In the field of economy, the rich Muslim countries became the objects of exploitation by multinational companies of the imperialist countries from Morocco to Marauke (Indonesia), while most people of the Islamic world are still living in poverty.
The U.S. is still using the repressive puppet regimes to suppress the struggle of sharia and the Khilafah, as happens in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazhastan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Uznews.net published a report entitled: “Torture of prisoners indicted for religious crimes continues, new reports say” explaining how human rights activists reported new cases, such as tortures, and new forgery charges in Uzbekistan prisons in order to jail people for religious reasons and those whose sentences are close to being served. The leader of the Initiative Group of Independent human rights campaigners in Uzbekistan (IGNPU), Surat Ikramov, has raised the case of two brothers, indicted for their membership of the banned Hizb ut Tahrir movement.
On 22nd of September 2011, the Kazahstan regime passed a law that bans performing prayers at the governmental institutions and departments. This includes the prohibition of spreading Islamic propagation in any places that belong to the government. Under the law, all mosques and places of prayer in all government premises should be closed.
In Bangladesh, as reported by www.islamtoday.net on January 18th, 2011 citing The Guardian revealed the involvement of British intelligence in the torture centers in Bangladesh, which was adopted by the former Labour government. According to a report made by Jacqui Smith, the former UK Home Secretary, they were very concerned about the use of torture in Bangladesh. Besides the political opponents of the ruling party, the victims of the torture in Bangladesh are the Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir activists who fight for the establishment of Islamic sharia.
The fate of Muslim Minorities
Meanwhile, the fate of Muslim minorities in the areas mostly controlled by the kuffar is very sad. Massacre, discrimination, harassment are among the recurrent cases experienced by the Muslims in Russia, in Pattani in Thailand (under the Buddhist regime), India, Kashmir, and Sri Lanka (under the Hindu regime), Moro (Phillipines), and Xianjiang (under China communist).
According to www.islamtoday.net dated August 12th, 2011 based on a report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life revealed that Muslims are harassed in 117 countries, including in the European countries which ban face veil (niqab) and calls for prayer. China is the most imposing county in the restriction on religious freedom and the implementation of religious rituals, followed by France which ranks third for the banning of the face veil (niqab).
Muslims in Uighur are prevented from performing hajj. “We cannot get a passport,” said Mehmet Ali, not his real name, who told the newspaper The Hindutimes.com, on Monday October, 31st. Mehmet said to perform hajj, the Muslims in Uighurs have to pay 70,000 yuans. It is not the cost of the pilgrimage that is the problem, but the difficulty to get a passport. The Chinese government deliberately complicates for a passport to perform the pilgrimage.
Almokhtsar.com site, (23/11/2011) reported the destruction of a mosque in the district of Mullaitivu, in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka by the Hindu extremists, which they then built a center for meditation and yoga. In fact, the Muslims have lived in this area since 1965, and there were 165 Muslim families at the time. The Mosque of Paradise has so far become the place for the Muslims to perform the daily prayers.
The fate of Muslims in the Western Countries
The same fate has been experienced by Muslims in countries that claim to uphold human rights and democratic values. Islamophobia which is mixed with Xenophobia has increased in Europe. The support for ultranationalist groups has grown. The hatred and violence against the Muslims start from vandalizing mosques, insulting Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, doing criminal actions due to the difference of religion and race, until the action of the state’s official such as banning the use of Muslim clothing (niqab), and banning the construction of mosques. All is done in the name of the state security and the obligation of the states to maintain secularism.
According to the FBI, the crimes and the misdemeanors against Muslims has increased by 50% from 2009 until 2010. Islamtoday.net (15/11/2011) reported the statistics from FBI that the total number of acts of violence against Muslims has increased from 107 cases in 2009 to 160 cases in 2010, which increases up to 49%.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provides assistance to the District of New York Police Department (NYPD) to spy on American citizens, especially Muslims. Since 9/11, with the help of the CIA, NYPD has sent undercover officers into the minority environment as part of the human mapping programs, AP news agency reported on Wednesday (24/8).
French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, named Prophet Muhammad as “chief editor” for its latest edition to mark the victory of the Islamist party Ennahda in Tunisia. The magazine will be renamed to Sharia Hebdo. “To celebrate the victory of the Islamist party Ennahda in Tunisia, Charlie Hebdo, named Muhammad as its chief editor for the upcoming issue,” the magazine said in a statement.
Interestingly, despite the massive and systematic stigma against the teachings of Islam and the Muslims, the number of native European and the American who have converted to Islam keeps increasing. It happens especially among the educated of the middle and upper class European women. Based on the research of a British institute “Faith Matters”, it shows that the number of the British citizens who embrace Islam actually reach 100 thousand people, in which there are 5,000 new converts who embrace Islam every year.
The teaching of Islam which comes from Allah سبحانه وتعالى is in accordance with human nature, and satisfies the rational thinking of humans because it is built on the principle of tawheed (oneness of Allah), which is capable of defeating the negative stereotypes which attempt to be built to keep people away from Islam.
Although practiced partially, the comprehensive Islamic Sharia like the doctrine of love in the family, integrity to maintain the honor of women and family, respect of the elderly, to clothes that keep Muslim women from being exploited cruelly by capitalism, has attracted many people to embrace Islam.
The Change of Direction in the Middle East
What makes it different in the Islamic world is the developments in the Middle East; the collapse of the repressive regimes. It all started with the fall of Zainal Abidin bin Ali in Tunisia, the resignation of Mubarak in Egypt, until the end of Gaddafi’s repressive regime in Libya. Currently, some areas in the Middle East are still in the period of upheaval such as Yemen and Syria.
The courage of the people’s movement is able to subvert the regimes. While the movement is at a crossroads, the U.S. and its allies want to change the direction of the movement. They intend to change it to democratization. The U.S. shamelessly claims to be the hero that drives the change in the Middle East, even though it is the violent country that has been supporting the repressive regimes in the region. Then, they change the direction as it sides with the people, after knowing that they cannot take advantage of their puppet regimes.
However, the West knows that the change in the Middle East cannot be separated from the Islamic factor that has become the culture and the emotion of the Muslims there. No wonder they disguise their ideas of capitalism with Islam. So, they come with the terms of ad daulah al Madaniah (civil state / civil society), al-Islam al mu’tadil (moderate Islam) which are poisonous terms. It is dangerous because the core of all the ideas is the acceptance of the system of secularism, democracy, and pluralism which are contrary to Islam. What they mean by moderate Islam is Islam that accommodates the Western thought such as democracy, human rights and pluralism and those who accept the policy of the Western colonialism in the name of openness and inclusivity.
The question is whether the West is able to succeed with this strategy? Will they bring a meaningful change for the Middle Eastern societies? The answer is very clear. The West will fail again. In addition, the offer of their Western ideas wrapped with Islam will also fail. It is because those ideas preserve the Western colonialism which is the core problem in the Middle East and Islamic countries while preserving the ideology of capitalism and foreign intervention.
Unfortunately, the parties in the elections-which are the Islamic parties-are trapped by the Western pressure to uphold the Western ideas such as democracy, liberalism and pluralism. The party that won in Tunisia, Nahdha, promised that it will not change the principle of secularism that has become the state principle of Tunisia. As quoted from the site http://english.alarabiya.net (5 / 11), an Nahda Party that will rule Tunisia after the collapse of Zainal Abidin bin Ali will focus on democracy, human rights and a free market economy in the plan to change the constitution. The party will not use religion as a reference and a draft constitution will be prepared to ensure that Tunisia remains a secular state.
Some Islamic-based parties are making secret cooperation with the Western countries, which is an act of political suicide. From the point of view of Sharia law, this is also unlawful to cooperate with the muhariban fi’lan countries (countries which are openly fighting the Muslim countries) which have killed millions of Muslims and plundered the natural wealth of the Islamic world. Once again, without sharia and Khilfah, this will surely fail. It is because only the Islamic Sharia and Khilafah will solve problems in the Islamic world including that in the Middle East.
Only by implementing Islamic sharia comprehensively which is a proof of faith and devotion to Allah, will the victory be achieved. This is confirmed by Allah سبحانه وتعالى in the Qur’an:
وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْقُرَىٰ آمَنُوا وَاتَّقَوْا لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ بَرَكَاتٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِنْ كَذَّبُوا فَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
“If only the people of the cities had had iman and taqwa, We would have opened up to them blessings from heaven and earth. But they denied the truth so We seized them for what they earned.” [Al-A’raf: 7:96]
Waiting for the 5th Wave
Insha Allah, the ummah will enter the final wave of the journey after the collapse of the Muslim Khilafah of Islam in 1924. The first wave was the era when the colonial countries directly occupied the Islamic world.
They sent troops to the Islamic countries; however, they realized that this would lead to failure. The Muslims would easily move, because the enemies are clearly in their sight namely the foreign troops. This would fail besides it was also expensive.
The second wave was the time when the Western colonialist gave ‘quasi’ independence to the Islamic countries. Their independence was quasi because they did not really grant the independence. Though the majority of colonial troops were withdrawn from Islamic lands, the occupation was continued through the hands of the puppet rulers in the Islamic countries. They also ensured what is applicable is the Western system, not the Islamic law.
Then, the Muslims entered the third wave. At that time, the western-backed puppet rulers repressively acted against their own people, because they preferred to serve their imperialist masters. To gain support from the Western countries, they let the natural resources in the Islamic countries be plundered and exploited while their people lived in poverty. On the other hand, every effort of the struggle for Islamic sharia was crushed repressively because this would threaten the interests of colonialism.
They arrested, tortured, and killed those who struggle for Islamic sharia. These types of rulers come one after another in the Islamic countries either in the form of kings, presidents or prime ministers. Among them were Suharto in Indonesia, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Zainal Abidin bin Ali in Tunisia and Gaddafi in Libya.
Then came the Muslim ummah in the fourth wave, where the West was forced to give democracy wrapped by Islamic terms. They are trying to mislead the Muslims. However, this effort will surely fail. The condition of failure is reinforced by the weakening of the major countries of the capitalist world such as the United States and Europe. The crisis in the Western countries will make them unable to fully support the new puppet rulers whom they rely on.
Insha Allah, the Muslims will enter the fifth wave, in which the ummah can no longer be deceived. They realize that any system which originated from the Western colonial ideology will not provide the goodness, whether it is wrapped by Islamic terms or by misleading words or not. The ummah will in turn firmly reject democracy, pluralism, liberalism, and other misleading ideas.
At that time, the ummah will trust in Islam with its sharia and Khilafah. There is no other choice for the ummah except supporting the establishment of sharia and Khilafah. Then the ummah will give their trust entirely to a group of da’wah carriers who seriously fight for the implementation of sharia and Khilafah. They no longer believe in the wicked scholars who become the accomplices of colonization. It is at that time the establishment of Khilafah is in sight. Insha Allah!
The above is a draft translation from the article below.
http://hizbut-tahrir.or.id/2011/12/23/refleksi-dunia-islam-2011-menanti-gelombang-ke-5-dunia-islam-tegaknya-khilafah/