Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) Britain denies aiming to establish a Muslim Caliphate in the UK, rejecting government allegations that the group’s propaganda contributed to radicalize sectors of British society.

HuT Britain is the British national chapter of a global, trans-national organization that aims to re-estabilsh the Muslim Caliphate that was abolished in historical Muslim lands in 1924. According to the party’s literature, the Caliphate would rule over the Muslim Ummah - the community of believers - in compliance with the Sharia Law. With a membership of 10,000 associates, HuT is the largest Muslim radical organization in Britain. Banned in several Middle Eastern and European countries for reasons ranging from opposition to the region’s dictatorial regimes to alleged anti-Semitic propaganda in Germany and Russia, HuT has never been linked to terrorist operations, nor has it been known to have supported terror operatives in the country.

In the aftermath of the 7 July terrorist attack in London, Hizb-ut-Tahrir was specifically named by Prime Minister Tony Blair among the radical organizations likely to be banned under new anti-terror legislation currently being drafted by the Home Office. Rumors about HuT members having “infiltrated” several high-profile British organizations began circulating earlier this month. In August, a trainee journalist was forced to resign after refusing to give up Hizb-ut-Tahrir membership. Reuters and IBM have also come under scrutiny for employing HuT members in Great Britain. The group has been widely criticized for publishing extremist propaganda - occasionally of an anti-Semitic nature - on its website as recently as last year. In the last few months, the website’s content has been substantially revised, softening the group’s stance on many sensitive issues.

Imran Waheed, a psychiatrist in London, is HuT’s spokesperson in Britain and a high-profile exponent of the group’s leadership. Dr. Waheed says freedom of expression is at risk in Britain. On 13 September, Dr. Waheed gave ISN Security Watch’s Claudio Franco an exclusive interview in London.

Security Watch: What kind of image are you hoping to portray to the various segments of the British public, and how have the July bombings in London affected your organization’s image in Britain?

Imran Waheed: Although our primary political aim is the re-establishment of the Caliphate, we are not working to establish such a state in the UK. In the UK, our work with the Muslim community is focused on directing Muslims to make a positive contribution to society whilst preserving their Islamic identity. Our members are the embodiment of this vision - they are men and women, young and old, from different walks of life and from different ethnic backgrounds. Many of our members have senior roles in IT, economics, medicine, teaching, and engineering, and some of our members were involved in treating the victims of the 7th July bombings in London’s hospitals. We also work to direct the sentiments of Muslims about events in the Muslim world into non-violent politics - this channels the anger and frustration with events in the Muslim world into positive political work. Our activities - including public protests, petitions, conferences, and seminars - have been attended by thousands of people. Recently, we have held panel discussions with non-Muslim politicians, intellectuals, and personalities. These events have helped to break the seemingly inevitable cycle of intellectual entrenchment. Furthermore, we believe the Muslim community, thanks to its Islamic values and culture, can contribute a lot in solving many of the social problems affecting Western society such as racism, alcohol and drug abuse, family breakdown, sexual abuse, and the decline in morality.

SW: HuT claims to seek the non-violent overthrow of secular governments and the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in historic Muslim lands. Have those goals, or the means to that end, changed at all in recent years?

Waheed: Hizb-ut-Tahrir was established in 1953 as a non-violent Islamic political party with the objective of establishing Islam in state and society in the Muslim world underpinned by the support of the masses. This was not welcomed by the unelected dictators and despots who rule the Muslim world without tolerating dissent. As a result, our members have been silenced, imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for their beliefs. Throughout all of this and up until the current day, our members have never resorted to armed struggle or violence as a way of bringing about political change. Resilience in the face of intense oppression comes from the passionate belief of our members that societies do not change through coercion or violence, but through intellectual advancement, debate, and dialog.

SW: Does HuT feel that violent actions, such as 9/11, the Madrid train bombings, and the London bombings in July, negatively effect your organization, or do they help in some way to work towards the goal of eventually creating an Islamic Caliphate in the desired territories?

Waheed: We do not see any place for violence or terrorism in working towards our goal of re-establishing the Islamic Caliphate in the Muslim world.

SW: Would you comment briefly on HuT’s future status and the rumors about a possible ban of the organization?

Waheed: We are working hard to avert a ban in the UK, as we believe it is a serious misjudgment to ban a non-violent Islamic political party with a 50-year-plus history of peaceful political struggle. The British prime minister declared that we are involved in a war of ideas, but has as good as admitted early defeat by announcing a ban upon a peaceful Islamic political party: Hizb-ut-Tahrir. This surprised us. For 50 years, we persevered in non-violent political and intellectual struggle with many crude and despotic regimes that did not hold back from arresting, torturing, and killing our members throughout the Muslim world. We had not thought that a British prime minister could on the one hand avow freedom of speech as a principle worth sending armies around the world for, only to end up fighting our ideas, not with ideas of his own, but with physical repression.

SW: Have you been informed - officially or otherwise - about the legal details of a possible restrictive measure? In other terms, can you foresee what would be the legal basis of a ban?

Waheed: We have received no official notification of a ban on Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Britain. As an organization which has no involvement whatsoever in violence or terrorism, we can see no legal justification for a ban. It should shock people that we may be proscribed. Not even Sinn Fein [Northern Ireland’s political party linked to the Irish Republican Army, IRA], with declared links to a terrorist organization […], was banned. By banning a non-violent Islamic political movement, we are descending down a very slippery slope. It will lead many to question the talk of freedom of speech, tolerance, people power, human rights, and democracy. If we descend down this slippery slope, then it will not be the rules that will have changed, but society.

SW: Has the organization been contacted by government officials in relation to problems - if any - posed by HuT propaganda?

Waheed: We have received no communication whatsoever from government officials in relation to any problems posed by Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

SW: According to your perception and experience, how did the great majority of British Muslims react to the terrorist attacks in London? Did the event change significantly the Muslim community’s relationship with the rest of the population?

Waheed: The entire Muslim community has made its position on the London bombings clear - these actions have no justification as far as Islam is concerned. Such actions have been clearly denounced by Muslim leaders and the Muslim community. In fact, the reality in the Muslim world today, from Tashkent to Tripoli, is that the vast majority of work against Western imperialism comes through non-violent political struggle.

SW: How would you criticize the government’s response to the London bombings, including efforts to push through tougher anti-terror legislation, the new immigration/deportation policies, and efforts to convince the EU to sign on to telecommunications surveillance?

Waheed: While it is undoubtedly the case that any nation must protect its security, we do not feel that holding an entire community responsible for the actions of a few will be productive. We tend to agree with [British justice minister] Lord Hoffmann when he said: “The real threat to the life of the nation [...] comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these.”

SW: Can you comment on the exclusion from Britain of Omar Bakri - the self-styled Islamic cleric who founded and led the extremist outfit Al-Mouhajiroun, which officially disbanded in 2004, and who is well know for praising the 9/11 terrorists as the “magnificent 19”? Was Bakri ever part of the movement? Or, what was like the relationship between Al-Mouhajiroun and HuT Britain?

Waheed: Omar Bakri was expelled from Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 1996. We have had no relationship with him since then. We have no relationship, past or present, with Al-Muhajiroun.

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