Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem
Opening speech of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Conference in Lebanon 1st May 2012
Shaikh ‘Ata ibn Khaleel Abu Rashta – Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Dear brothers:
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Praise be to Allah; prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, his household, his companions and all of those who allied with him.
Allah, subhanahu wata’ala says:
{وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُونَ إِنَّمَا يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ تَشْخَصُ فِيهِ الْأَبْصَارُ*مُهْطِعِينَ مُقْنِعِي رُءُوسِهِمْ لَا يَرْتَدُّ إِلَيْهِمْ طَرْفُهُمْ وَأَفْئِدَتُهُمْ هَوَاءٌ}
(Do not think Allah is heedless of the deeds of those who do wrong. He but gives them respite against a Day when the eyes will fixedly stare in horror. They run forward, with necks outstretched, their heads lifted up, their gaze returning not towards them, and their hearts a (gaping) void!)
The Messenger, salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, as narrated from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him): « Allah gives respite to the tyrant till He seizes him and He will not let him go, » Then he read:
{وَكَذَلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ القُرَى وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ}
(Such is the chastisement of your Lord when He chastises communities in the midst of their wrong: grievous, indeed, and severe is His chastisement.) [The hadith is narrated by Bukhari and Muslim; while the wording is from Bukhari].
Allah, Subahanahu wa Tala, has given us Pharaoh as an example of the first tyrants, who transgressed all bounds, oppressed, showed arrogance and said ‘I am your Supreme Lord’:
{فَأَخَذَهُ اللَّهُ نَكَالَ الْآخِرَةِ وَالْأُولَى}
(But Allah did punish him, (and made an) example of him, – in the Hereafter, as in this life.)
He used to silence the people and prevent the word of truth from being spoken, and did not allow any word unless he authorized or wished it.
{قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ مَا أُرِيكُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَرَى }
(Pharaoh said ‘I but point out to you that which I see (myself)’). Moreover; if anyone made even a semblance of protest against him they were accused of violating his authority and of foreign conspiracies to destroy the country.
{قَالَ فِرْعَوْنُ آمَنْتُمْ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ آذَنَ لَكُمْ إِنَّ هَذَا لَمَكْرٌ مَكَرْتُمُوهُ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ لِتُخْرِجُوا مِنْهَا أَهْلَهَا فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ}
(Pharaoh said: ‘do you believe in him before I give you permission, surely this is a trick which you have planned in the city to drive out its people: but soon you shall know (the consequences).’)`
But in the end the Pharaoh vanished and left behind the luxury he owned and enjoyed. No one in heaven and earth cried for him. He was condemned and rejected.
{كَمْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ * وَزُرُوعٍ وَمَقَامٍ كَرِيمٍ * وَنَعْمَةٍ كَانُوا فِيهَا فَاكِهِينَ * كَذَلِكَ وَأَوْرَثْنَاهَا قَوْمًا آخَرِينَ * فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ}
(How many gardens did they leave behind, and water-runnels, and fields of grain, and noble dwellings, and [all that] life of ease in which they used to delight! Thus it was. And [then] We made another people heirs [to what they had left], and neither heaven nor earth shed tears over them, nor were they allowed a respite.)
Dear Brothers:
The current tyrants copied Pharaoh’s first and second crimes, but did not reflect on Pharaoh’ end:
They silence people, not allowing any speech unless it is hypocritical; praising them; glorifying and applauding everything, whether good or bad, that come from their mouths. They lost all goodness and are left surrounded on all sides by their own evil.
They have described every protest, even small ones, as unauthorized and as plots dictated by a foreign agenda – though everyone knows that they (the tyrants) are the product of the foreign agenda, appointed to fight Allah and His Messenger and the believers, and to realize the interests of Zionists and disbelieving colonialists.
These are the two crimes they copied from Pharaoh, following his path. But they did not learn the lesson from Pharaoh’s end, where he tasted the evil result of his conduct and was forgotten, except for the curse of the blaze that befalls him in this world and the hereafter.
They did not learn the lessons from the end of every oppressive tyrant, but instead continued in their reckless transgression.
One tyrant ran away, a fugitive, panicking, rejected; his plane flew through the air looking for a place that would receive him, but was refused repeatedly until he found another tyrant to maintain and accommodate him!
Another moved between courtrooms carried on a stretcher, looking hopeless, and answering in humiliation and subservience “yes sir!” –though at the prime of his power he used to point with his finger to get whatever he wanted!
The third did not think there was anyone above him. He used to execute suspects without charge. Not content with executing the good and righteous people, he would tie them behind a “pickup” truck before they finally died, dragging them across coarse ground so they would die with their bodies cut to pieces! That tyrant ended up hiding in a lizard hole, finding no sanctuary other than a sewer pipe before he perished. He had described the people as rats, yet became what he himself had described the people!
The fourth used to order and forbid, but he became ordered and forbidden. He stays one day in his country, and then two days in Najd, and now finally tours the country in search of solace that comforts him or mourns his luck. He stops in Oman, and then at his masters in Britain, and then to the physical therapy station in Washington – before returning to where his authority was lost, so as to practice corruption bit by bit!
The fifth that lost both foresight and insight sees what the tyrants around him suffered. However, he has not quenched his thirst from drinking of the blood of the innocents who rose up against his tyranny. So, he kept killing hoping that he might extinguish the torch lit by those uprising – forgetting (or pretending to forget) that the flame of the truth which was illuminated by the Will of Allah cannot be extinguished until it makes him taste the evil of his conduct and throws him into a far-distant place, condemned and rejected like his predecessors, removes his oppressive regime, and brings Sham back to its right path as described by the Messenger of Allah (SAW): «Indeed the centre of the believers’ abode is Sham», as reported by Ahmad, and «the centre of the abode of Islam is in Sham», as reported by Tabarani in al-Kabeer.
Dear Brothers:
You have seen and heard how the tyrants that nobody expected to vanish in this way have vanished. You can also see and hear how the huge barrier of fear that no one thought would break down has collapsed. Verily in this is a Message for any that has a heart and understanding; or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses (the truth) -that the days are turning and that the end of the darkness is near, except for the murder, fire and steel!
The collapse of the barrier of the fear of dictators gives a broader room for goodness in which we should make effort to promote more good.
So, the Ummah is required to carry out strong and wise actions that have attracted attention, and address the deception and disruption that have befallen her, to the point that some confusion has reached the desired fruits!
The movements and the “revolutions” we have seen started independently after the burning incident of Bouazizi. Then they spread like wildfire. However, the international powers, which were surprised by the timing of events, could not protect their puppets before the advance of these “revolutions”. Thereupon, they have started to work tirelessly to restrict the change to the removal of the tyrant, without threatening the foundations of the system itself. When they saw the march of the people from the mosques and their prayers in squares in the thousands, they feared of the destruction of the structure of this system and its replacement by the rule of Islam. Therefore, they deliberately worked their best at two things which they still strive to achieve:
Firstly: They have tried to channel Islamic emotions (of the people) by disinformation using so-called “moderate Muslims”, who are no different from the pure secularists except by bringing an Islamic character with their names. Had they not done this, they would have been swept away along with the secular crowd without distinction. They are calling for a civil secular state and secular democracy as secularists do!
Secondly: They have proceeded to stand strong with various types of harassment and abuse – sometimes directly and at other times through their agents, against those working honestly for the application of Islam properly through the establishment of the Khilafah, as commanded by Allah Almighty, and as implemented by the Messenger of Allah (SAW) and the guided Khulafaa’ after him.
This is what they aim to do. But as for us, our duty is to make effort to culture the people, especially the organizers of these popular movements, and to draw their attention to the danger of the poison spread amongst them by the disbelieving colonial states and their agents, and of the danger of deception carried to them by the so-called “moderate Muslims”; namely the civil state and secular democracy, … lest these calls influence them and make their sacrifices be in vain, and their blood be lost!
Furthermore, the Ummah has to make effort in seeking the help of the people of power, namely her sincere soldiers, in parallel with directing moves towards the right change, which removes the basic ideas and rules that constitute the foundation of the manmade regimes subject to the West. This is the change through which the Ummah implements Islam, in a single Islamic state, the rightly-guided Khilafah state, which pleases Allah, His Messenger, and the believers.
Activity within the Ummah and her army is the guarantor of making the right change.
There have been offers of help from the international organizations and the colonial powers; and plans from the Arab League, and Kofi Annan and other lackeys of the colonial powers, especially America; and sending of observers for ninety days as stated in Security Council resolution number 2043 in the 21/04/2012 – though these observers are weaker than monitors at a major football match!
Furthermore, we heard deception from the U.S. Secretary of Defence before Congress on 20/4/2012, by saying: “The Syrian president still enjoys wide popularity and loyalty among the ranks of the Syrian army”
All these, and their deadlines indicate encouragement given to the regime for more killing and oppression, until America finds an alternative puppet to its current agent, Bashar. Since he has been rejected by the Syrians, America fears he cannot implement its interests.
These plans are of no worth. They are rather in fact deadly poison that does not make the right change, but rather a terrible and fatal change – which might look good superficially, whilst causing damage. For it assumes that dialogue with this butchering regime, whose thirst for pure blood is not yet quenched. How can dialogue be conducted with a butcher regime?!
America and the West do not want good for this Ummah, for they have conspired against the State of the Muslims, the Khilafah, then ripped apart Muslim lands, severing their ties, making travel within them impossible. They are also the ones who created these tyrant regimes. Therefore, the Ummah has to depend upon her forces, and beware of these countries, their agents and their plans. They are as Allah the Almighty describes them:
{هُمُ الْعَدُوُّ فَاحْذَرْهُمْ قَاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَ}
(They are the enemies; so beware of them. The curse of Allah is on them! How are they deluded (away from the Truth)!)
In conclusion, I open your respected conference: “The Ummah’s revolution: the plans to terminate it and the inevitability of the Islamic plan, Insha’Allah“ asking Allah the Almighty success to you, and blessed good fruits that please the eye; and our final prayer is to praise Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.