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Extremists with caliphate on their minds, not bombs in their belts
Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir eschews violence, but it has no problem with incendiary rhetoric about the demise of Western democracy WITH his neat beard, wire-rimmed glasses and woollen suit coat over a checked sweater, Uthman Badar has the look of a youthful professor. But the words of the mild-mannered economics PhD student sipping hot chocolate at a Turkish cafe in western “Democracy is a bankrupt and irrational idea” and “all indicators are pointing to the decline and inevitable collapse of Western ideology”, Badar opines. In the meantime, those dedicated to justice and progress must struggle against “those who seek to live decadent lives off the sweat and blood of the vast majority of humanity”. Badar is spokesman for the Australian branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international Islamist organisation dedicated to the creation of a transnational Islamic state governed purely by sharia law. In pursuit of that vision, he and an expected 1000 fellow HT members will gather in As Badar knows, Australia`s spy agency ASIO and counter-terrorism authorities will be keeping a close eye on the event. HT is banned in many countries and, while it has avoided being outlawed in Badar insists Australians have nothing to fear, as HT is “avowedly nonviolent” and has no wish to make Australia part of its caliphate. “All we do is talk,” he says. A contrary view is this assessment from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute: “T`s platform forbids its members from acts of terror. There`s no clear evidence of HT engaging in the preparation of terrorism. HT`s incitement and encouragement of religious hatred may be enough, however, to convince Islamists to perpetrate terrorist acts.” ASIO will no doubt find plenty to listen to as HT members from Australia and abroad discuss subjects such as the Western push to ban the burka, the Australian government`s role in “the war on Islam”, and the campaign for a caliphate, described as “the obligation of the age”. The speakers will include senior Australian HT member Ismail Al-Wahwah who, along with other delegates, was banned from entering The theme of the conference, to be held in Sydney`s Lidcombe, is “The struggle for Islam in the West”. As Badar explains it, all things Islamic are under attack -- the burka, minarets, mosques, values and loyalties -- and Muslims must fight to defend them. He says the struggle is not between Islam and Christianity, but between Islam and secular Western democracy, which he believes is crumbling. He says counter-terrorism is a facade to justify attacking Muslims: “The risk of dying in a vehicle accident is 470 times higher than from terrorism, yet billions of dollars are spent on countering terrorism.” It is the vitriolic language in its literature, press releases and pronouncements that draws much of the heat on HT. Western treatment of Muslims is condemned as “brutal, vicious and inhumane``, Barack Obama`s foreign policy is ``as brutal and barbaric as that of his predecessor`` and Australia`s is ``shameless slavery to the US”. On the subject of the war on terror: “With things like the rule of law and due legal process done away with, the result is the laying bare of a worthless and animalist ideology not worthy of human subscription.” As for Hizb ut-Tahrir – “the party of liberation” -- was formed in Its central leadership, headed by a Palestinian engineer, Abu Yasin Ata ibn Khalil Abu Rashta, is believed to be based somewhere in the Williams says the central leadership controls dozens of national branches while the party follows a cell structure. Each cell typically has five members. Badar will not reveal the size of HT`s membership in Australia but says it is run by a five-member committee, headed by a longstanding Sydney member, Ashraf Dourehi. HT is banned in China, Egypt, Jordan and much of the Middle East and Central Asia, where it opposes secular regimes it regards as despotic ``agents of Western powers``. It has also been banned from public activity in HT claims to be “avowedly nonviolent” and does not condone terrorist acts aimed at civilians such as the 9/11 attacks or the “When we talk about the question of violence, we mean in regard to the establishment of an Islamic state; it`s not a case of we`re against violence, full stop,” Badar says. “When it comes to Israel, it`s a completely different issue.” He says The same applies to the war in Some Western commentators have labelled HT a “conveyor belt for terrorists”. “There`s plenty of evidence they`ve contributed to a mood where people can move easily from absorbing these extreme views to taking action,” ASPI`s Anthony Bergin says. “I think the language they`re using is dangerous in that they`re promoting an us-and-them type mentality, they`re promoting the idea of exclusion and a sense of distrust in the community. And while they`re very careful to keep under the radar in terms of promoting violence, their material is very much along the lines of what would lead a person to adopt extremist views. And you don`t become a terrorist until you`ve got extremist views.” The British and Australian governments have grappled with whether to ban HT. In 2005, in the wake of the Terrorism specialist Clive Walker of the The Australian government considered proscribing HT in 2007, when its first big conference in Australian experts such as Williams and Bergin do not support a ban, but say HT should be closely monitored. Bergin suggests spending some of the $9.7 million allocated for counter-radicalisation in the budget on a website to promote moderate Islam to counter the HT view. HT`s Australian devotees are scornful of such suggestions. Badar rejects the notion of “moderate Islam” as a watered-down version “conjured up by Western governments, that`s characterised by being secular, apolitical and localized”. Interfaith dialogue, too, is spurned. “Our view is Islam is the correct religion, to the exclusion of all others. The idea that they`re equal is baloney.” Badar says the campaign against “extremists” is just another way of attacking Muslims. “Western governments have shifted from speaking about terrorism itself to focusing on the `ideology of terrorism`. Even those who undertake no material or violent actions have also been labelled as extremist or radical, simply because they propagate Islamic ideas.” Despite all the obstacles, Badar says he`s confident the caliphate will come to pass within his lifetime. He says support is growing throughout the Muslim world and Western secular civilisation is doomed, unlikely as it may seem. “If we had predicted the end of the Badar believes the caliphate will begin with an Islamic state in a country such as “There`s nothing about our ideas that is dangerous, except to those that seek to maintain the status quo of exploitation of the masses. Certainly we are a threat to them, and they should be worried. But to those who seek mutual progress for all people, we only have good to offer.” © Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved Is monarchy the answer in the Sholto Byrnes talks to Bernard Lewis, our greatest living expert on Islam, who says that what both The name Bernard Lewis provokes very different reactions in different people. For some he is the world`s foremost historian of Islam and the Middle East, the English academic who originally coined the term `clash of civilisations` (as Samuel Huntingdon, who popularised it, freely acknowledged). For some he is a Princeton man, a neocon who celebrated his 90th birthday (four years ago) with Cheney and Kissinger; whose `Lewis Doctrine` was said to have inspired the invasion of Iraq and botched the war on terror. For still others he is an international sage, who saw the threat of both Khomeini and bin Laden before most people had even heard of them. Or, if you believe the late Edward Said, Lewis is `an old-fashioned colonialist` with `an extraordinary capacity for getting everything wrong`. `As long as I am accused by both sides, I feel justly confident, ` says Lewis laughing. `Edward Said`s ideas on orientalism were totally a historical, and some of his mistakes were so absurd I had to put them down to honest impartial ignorance. But I have lived for a very long time, and many changes have taken place within the Muslim world.` They most certainly have. For the first few decades of his life, Islam was a very positive influence in Lewis`s life. In 1937 he took the top first in his year at In his new book, Faith and Power: Religion and Politics in the Middle East, the odd sentence suddenly jolts the reader out of the glories of Islam`s past and into a more sinister present: `Either we bring them freedom, or they destroy us, ` he writes. Isn`t that a little apocalyptic? `They are advancing, there is no doubt, ` responds Lewis, who says that Lewis has consistently written with admiration about Islam, and has frequently made clear that bin Laden and his followers are wrong to claim religious justification for their activities - `at no point do the basic texts of Islam enjoin terrorism and murder. At no point do they even consider the random slaughter of uninvolved bystanders.` Why, then, does he fear such an advance? `It`s a threat because of the present form of Islam. If it wasn`t for oil and money, Wahhabism would have been a local cult in the Not that he thinks that About What about It is the type of government that Democratic ideas, in the sense of limited authority, go back to classical Islam. When a new sultan was enthroned the crowds greeted him by saying, “Sultan, do not be proud, God is greater than you.” His subjects, in effect, had rights. Sharia states quite clearly that if the ruler does something against the law he must not be obeyed and disobedience is justified. There wasn`t an electoral system, but there were very elaborate systems of consultation with tribal chiefs, field heads, merchant and craft guilds.` Lewis contrasts this with the power of European monarchies at the time. He tells the story of the French ambassador to Returning to `It`s a misrepresentation.` People talked to him, he says - Cheney in particular - and sometimes they listened, sometimes not. In fact, he claims that invading Did he think this could have led to Saddam`s regime unravelling? `I`m sure it would. They were doing an excellent job and they had extensive support in the remainder of It would have served as an example to other countries.` One idea, favoured by Lewis, was for Prince Hassan of Jordan (the late King Hussein`s brother) to become Iraq`s king. He was a member of the same Hashemite family as the country`s former monarchs, and `a number of people thought the best prospect for democracy would have been a monarchy on British lines. Of the democracies that have been democracies for a long time and continue to be so, most are monarchies.` He is, I think, a conservative (his work contains too many nuances and warnings for the `neocon` label to stick), with a great affection for the peoples and religion of the `To hate and persecute people who are different is normal. Anti-Semitism is something different, a tribute to the Jews, a diabolical quality of evil.` Jews in Islamic lands did have problems, he says, but it was the Christians who were the real threat. Jews were merely considered cowardly by Arabs. He tells an old Ottoman joke: `Before they imported European anti-Semitism, at the time of the Balkan war, the Jews in Although he is `not optimistic`, fearing for the future of the `good Islam` he respects, he sounds stoical about his own prospects. `I`m 94, and all the people I knew are dead.` To what does he attribute his longevity and vigour? `Genes, ` he says. `And I have a Scotch before dinner every evening.` Sholto Byrnes is a contributing editor of the New Statesman. © The Spectator (1828) Limited 2010 |
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