Over three successive months, Britain has witnessed a host of bloody attacks that have led to the deaths of civilians. Actions which Muslims know are a violation of the shariah of Allah (swt).
In a shameless speech in the aftermath of the London Bridge attacks, Theresa May has done what we have always warned about after such events – that politicians use such events to further their own political agendas against Islam and Muslims.
She used this speech to justify the continuation and escalation of a destructive British foreign policy and domestic policies like ‘Prevent’ – as well as to seek her long held desire for internet providers to comply with ever more-intrusive state security policies.
She followed Blair and Cameron’s hate speech – demonising Islam and Muslims with talk about the “evil ideology of Islamist extremism” – emotive catch-all terms, to justify oppressive policies.
She argued that would-be killers believe in “a perversion of Islam”, yet continues policies that effectively criminalise the teaching of real Islamic values in mosques and madrassahs. She is instead insisting that the solution is to teach secular “British values” – proving that the agenda is about an enforced assimilation, not a desire to deal with the problem.
It is our view that death and destruction continue to plague the world – not only these islands – because of a foreign policy rooted in the secular belief that man is free to do what he likes, to possess as much as he can, even if he has to colonise and subjugate others to do so. Within the same period as the tragedies on Westminster Bridge, Manchester and London Bridge, 484 innocent people were killed in a US airstrike in Iraq, and over 90 people in Afghanistan – which is so destabilised by the war on terror.
In this blessed month of Ramadhan, we reiterate our call for Muslims to remain steadfast upon their deen, despite the pressures and yet more hate speeches from politicians who sow the seeds of hatred and division.
We repeat our call for Muslims to engage with the wider society based upon our noble Islamic values – to ask them to look at this noble deen that brought dignity and harmony to so many in the world. Episodes like the latest London attacks show that many ordinary people in Britain are sceptical of Muslims, migrants and minorities being used as a political football by politicians – and are open to hearing from our community.
We are also aware that others who may be hostile to Islam, are actually victims of divisive policies that serve to demonise Islam, destabilise the world, and deflect attention away from the real systemic causes of these problems – the same secular capitalist system that has failed ordinary people pushing them to look for alternatives in the likes of Brexit, Trump or Le Pen! Mrs May may have sounded triumphant about so-called ‘British values’, but all too many people can see that these are hollow words. She talks up human rights, whilst closing arms deals with despots; she talks up democracy when members of her own party are investigated for electoral malpractice; she champions pluralism, whilst insisting Muslims must be taught her values! Like so many, she would never admit that these values have failed to successfully harmonise the countries of the Union, never mind others from different faiths and backgrounds.
Ultimately, Muslims should understand what alternative Islam can offer to the world – an example of how human beings can live together. Indeed, until a righteous guided Khilafah exists in the Muslim world, there will not be the legitimate authority to bring order to the chaos and security to those lands plagued for so long by bloodshed.
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَىٰ لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا ۚ يَعْبُدُونَنِي لَا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ
“Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that – then those are the defiantly disobedient.” {An-Nur: 55}
Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain
10th Ramadan 1438
5th June 2017