Counterterrorism Blog

Brian Hecht of The Investigative Project has conducted additional research which expands on Zeyno Baran's July 14 post about "The Guardian" newspaper's employment of a known Islamic extremist as a reporter. This information was first made public by Scott Burgess, proprietor of the web log “The Daily Ablution,” and instantly made a splash across the internet. Burgess learned that a Guardian “trainee journalist,” Dilpazier Aslam, was a member Hizb ut-Tahrir, a radical Islamist organization, though while legal in the United States and the United Kingdom, has been banned in various countries, including Germany, Holland and several in the Middle East, for inciting violence, including advocating the murder of Jews. The National Union of Students in the United Kingdom has barred Hizb ut-Tahrir as well, stating that the group is "responsible for supporting terrorism and publishing material that incites racial hatred."

Following the July 7, 2005 London suicide bombings that killed 55 and injured hundreds more, The Guardian published an op-ed by Aslam [titled, “We rock the Boat,” July 13, 2005], in which he asked his readers not to be “shocked” by the terror attacks in London, stating that the bombings were the inevitable result of Muslim agitation with Western aggression in Iraq. Aslam wrote that Muslims of his generation “are without the don't-rock-the-boat attitude that restricted our forefathers. We're much sassier with our opinions, not caring if the boat rocks or not,” and he criticized community and religious leaders who “remain silent” in the wake of recent U.S. actions in Fallujah. Mr. Aslam ominously foreshadowed the possibility of future terrorist attacks emanating from his community, adding that the “don’t-rock-the-boat attitude of the elders doesn’t mean the agitation wanes; it means it builds till it can be contained no more.”

Hizb ut-Tahrir has a presence in North America as well. At a Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) conference held in Detroit in 1998, they passed out literature attacking the nation of Turkey for its military alliance with Israel.

The pamphlet stated “[i]t is not halal for the rules of Turkey to ally themselves with the Jewish state which is a usurpous (sic) enemy with whom we are at war. This is one of the great crimes committed against Muslims whether in Turkey or any other place in the Islamic world. The people in Turkey and outside Turkey must remove these treacherous rulers.” Their animus towards Turkey, however, is not new nor is it limited to any alliance with Israel. Hizb ut-Tahrir claims that the original Muslim Caliphate was dismantled by Kamal Attaturk in 1924, resulting in the rest of the Muslim states being “torn to pieces” and “steeped in humiliation and disgrace.” They claim it is obligatory for all Muslims to resurrect the Khilafah, because “it is the source of [Muslim] glory and the way to [Muslim] strength and unity.”

Hizb ut-Tahir, or “Party of Liberation,” is an extremist Islamic political party. Founded in Jordan in 1953 by Sheikh Taqiuddin an Nabhani, its chief objective is to re-establish the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) by attempting to force governments to “resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic Call to the world.” They want to “bring back the Islamic guidance for mankind and to lead the Ummah (Islamic community) into a struggle with the Kufr (infidels), its systems and its thoughts so that Islam encapsulates the whole world.”

Although it is unclear as to how Hizb ut-Tahrir plans to carry out the establishment of the Khilafah, it will certainly not be through democratic means. Interestingly, they claim to be a political party, but deplore Muslims who participate in democratic elections. In the recent elections in Iraq and Britain, Hizb ut-Tahrir demanded that Muslims not participate in the local elections and, at the same time, encouraged Muslim resistance to the coalition forces. Hizb ut-Tahrir members disrupted several events during the British election campaign, and were blamed for various acts of vandalism and intimidation of the electorate.

Just this past December, a Hizb ut-Tahrir manifesto titled “Methodology of Hizb ut-Tahrir for Change” was distributed at a Muslim conference in Toronto titled “Reviving the Islamic Spirit.” “Change” according to the book, means “unifying the Muslim lands under the Khilafah State, and then carrying Islam to the rest of the world by invitation and Jihad.” The book further claims that “it is not allowed for the disbelievers to have authority over the believers, because giving them authority means that the security of Muslims is in the hands of Kufr (the infidels) and not in the hands of Islam” and calls for holy war in Muslim lands, stating that “war should be declared against rules if they don’t establish the rules of Islam and display its rituals, and that we should fight against them if they establish the rules of Kufr.” And now, through the auspices of the Guardian, Hizb ut-Tahrir has the ability to spread their propaganda to a mainstream audience.

Brian deserves all the credit for this research and the results.