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Why Hizb ut Tahrir Should Be Banned

Dominic Whiteman - 11/27/2006

On the evening of the 14th November, the real world became a different place for Hizb ut Tahrir, the organisation which wishes to establish a Global Islamic Caliphate, based on Shariah Law (type "Hizb ut Tahrir draft constitution" into Internet search and retrospective engines and attempt to settle back and read this lengthy document - preferably with a stiff whisky at hand).

For that evening a BBC Radio 4 Documentary followed by a BBC2 Newsnight documentary about radicalisation in Britain by Muslim extremists were broadcast - highlighting the fact that Hizb ut Tahrir is directly linked to gang violence and other crime across the UK. Exposing Hizb ut Tahrir as a group going to great lengths - in terms of propaganda expense and national media coverage - to both brainwash Britain's youths and present itself as a holier-than-thou group of non-violent political activists.

The evidence on show (mere tip of the iceberg) included a minor source from the VIGIL anti terror network (of which I am the British spokesperson) explaining how the group goes about radicalising Britain's youth and how the group has a dual recruitment policy to recruit thugs (as their future foot soldiers, set to impose their Caliphate by force) and students (who will get careers which will provide their funding and governance). Also, powerful evidence from ordinary British Muslims who have suffered at Hizb ut Tahrir's hands, either in their attempted takeover of cash-cow mosques or in getting in their way at universities and other soft radicalisation targets (these include prisons and
schools).

In short, Hizb ut Tahrir was exposed as an extremist organisation on a huge recruitment drive - threatening those who stand in their way with violence. The evidence gleaned by VIGIL, by BBC journalists and details of primary source evidence are now with Scotland Yard. Their American security counterparts have been briefed by me personally in telephone conversations and VIGIL calls openly now for a ban on Hizb ut Tahrir both in the US and the UK.

Within twenty four hours of the broadcasts, Hizb ut Tahrir had issued five press statements and were - knee-jerk - threatening the BBC with legal action. Their website's (moderated) discussion board included a charming "don't target the BBC, target Whiteman" comment. Directly after the Newsnight TV piece, a Hizb ut Tahrir spokesperson Dr Imran Waheed was interviewed about the evidence in the programme and, looking visibly shocked and sweaty, he tried to squeeze out of the allegations made against Hizb ut Tahrir, flailing his arms in the air and stuttering in his unconvincing attempts to deny evidence coming not only from VIGIL but prominent members of the British Muslim Community. Hizb ut Tahrir's blustering then continued all week from radio show to television broadcast, with its "non-violent" brethren sending threats to VIGIL members and vilifying everything and anyone who refused to believe in Hizb ut Tahrir’s innocence – they were very busy.

One can always tell the true nature of a group - by those who stand up for it. While Hizb ut Tahrir's criticisms of VIGIL as a "dark, shadowy group of vigilantes" were rebutted by the UK police and senior politicians, Hizb ut Tahrir managed to gain the support of George Galloway and some members of his misfit "Respect" Party - how those who choose to expire out in the open always attract flies.

On the 23rd November, the BBC went onto the Islam Channel (a British TV channel available on cable and satellite) and went head-to-head with another Hizb ut Tahrir spokesperson, called Taji Mustafa. The BBC (television) representative defended its broadcast and agreed he'd do it all over again. The Islam Channel interviewed some of the same British Muslims who were interviewed for the BBC Newsnight programme and they said exactly the same things - that HT members were handing out leaflets outside a South London mosque and "were the same faces" involved in gang violence. It was great to see these British Muslims speaking out – clearly good men who disrespect fear and honour the truth.

So desperate were Hizb ut Tahrir for a defence that they concocted one. They ante ceded the Islam Channel Interview by setting up a blogspot "exposing VIGIL" as a Zionist, BNP, anti-Islamic group of vigilantes connected to the FSB (Russian Intelligence), Israeli Defence Force, the Sri Lankan Intelligence Service and other state "services" - a characterisation worthy of Mitty himself.

Taji Mustafa then blatantly lied by claiming that this blogspot was "VIGIL's website". VIGIL has no website. Hizb ut Tahrir's fabrication was so amateur, it even mentioned individuals VIGIL has nothing to do with, while its author left traces too good to be true. Hysterically, digging up one (actual) member's honeytrap site (the site which brought down Abu Hamza) and claiming that this particular member was breaking anti-terror laws - dig further, Hizb ut Tahrir, for this site was sanctioned and daily used by the FBI before, for obvious reasons, it became redundant.

Look on the Wayback retrospective search engine for Hizb ut Tahrir and discover links to Al Qaeda preceding 911, as well as some appalling anti Semitic comments as recent as 2003.

Hizb ut Tahrir acknowledged only last week that VIGIL has no website - calling VIGIL "a secret bunch of squirrels".

Though I was on a golfing holiday most of last week and happily oblivious to Hizb ut Tahrir (and Al Mujahiroun's) squealing, this squirrel comment was actually texted to me by a VIGIL associate and had me giggling - VIGIL is indeed a secret bunch of squirrels in the sense that VIGIL is on a discreet nut-collaring exercise, but, alas, VIGIL has not developed the teeth to independently eat the nuts it gathers (though neither Mustafa, Waheed, let alone the mishapen nut Omar Bakri would make very tasty morcels at all). I hit the bunkers on the seventeenth and almost lost my game - rib-ache not conducive to use of the seven iron - and would have been cursing Hizb ut Tahrir's porous metaphor-makers if not for a lucky match-saving chip on the eighteenth.

Of course, VIGIL is non-political (not to say some of its members are privately political) and non-religious (not to say some of its members attend churches, mosques and temples - as believers, as well as infiltrators). VIGIL is Hizb ut Tahrir's worst nightmare because VIGIL operates within the laws of the international jurisdictions it chooses to inhabit, is level-headed, is vigilant
not vigilante, and has a splendid knack of exposing reprobates, whether they are Islamist, Tamil Tiger, Irish, Kurdish, British or Martian. VIGIL is in the business of collecting solid evidence which will stand up in court and bring down extremists and their terrorist brothers.

Mustafa's lies and Hizb ut Tahrir's efforts to discredit VIGIL, the British Government (Prime Minister Blair and Home Secretary Reid want to see Hizb ut Tahrir banned) and almost everybody, are irrelevant. Who cares? Hizb ut Tahrir are political minnows, shunned by the Muslim community who they need on their side to achieve their wacky aims and are incapable of engaging in democracy for fear of being exposed for who and what they are.

This struggle - and VIGIL continues to deliver the final nails in the Hizb ut Tahrir coffin in the UK (and they do not even know who we are!) - is all about hard evidence. Quantative evidence, including men strong enough to stand up in court and point the finger at what is an ill-conceived and dangerous group - banned in manifold Muslim countries (including Egypt and Pakistan) and in other countries such as Germany and Russia - is the name of this particular game. And VIGIL's Hizb ut Tahrir dossier (still increasing weekly) is now with the authorities.

Away from the pantomime (VIGIL has refused until now to even bother publicly speak out since the broadcasts) Hizb ut Tahrir is expecting a ban and has been for over a year. Their Swiss cheese of an organisation is so infiltrated that it is well-known Hizb ut Tahrir have been expecting a ban in the UK since 7/7 - Tony Blair even declaring publicly in August last year that Hizb ut Tahrir should be banned. Hizb ut Tahrir extremists already have in place a structure to morph into - just as Bakri's Al Mujahiroun morphed into Al Ghurabaa and the Saviour Sect when it was banned (let's not forget here who set up Hizb ut Tahrir in the UK - yes, it was Omar Bakri). But, simultaneously, away from the pantomime, VIGIL is working hard to have Britain's banning laws changed - so that extremist and terror groups who are banned are ripped apart at the heart and will never be allowed to form a boil on the face of Britain again.

To all Americans - a warning. Your Homeland Security efforts are second to none and you should be proud of your national strategies to expose the extreme Islamist enemy since 911 within your borders. Your eyes are clearly focusing in the right places and you are thwarting threats all over the globe. But - while your greatest friend Britain is still waking up to its threats and the visa waiver scheme still exists - ban Hizb ut Tahrir. For Hizb ut Tahrir despises you - you are the greatest threat to its goals. Hizb ut Tahrir is radicalising your youth right under your noses (most notably in universities) and - to use a worn theme, but precisely - it is part of the "conveyor belt" to what will be your own homegrown 7/7 unless you act now. Do not swallow Hizb ut Tahrir's lies - they allow themselves such lies under the warping of "taqiyya" to further themselves - and instead look under the surface of such groups. The brilliant British police and excellent British Security Services are working overtime to both overcome the enemy here and overcome a system of red tape which is, quite frankly, not fit for purpose. Bear with your cousins over the pond while we sort out our own mess, but protect yourself (by imposing such bans) just as you might visit a beloved cousin with a horrid dose of flu whilst wearing a mask.

At the end of the day (preferably before lunch) Hizb ut Tahrir should be banned both in the UK and the US. Let's do it now so our vulnerable youths are no longer subjected to this group's rotten ideas and dangerous dogma. Let's do it now so that we stop their recruitment process in its tracks before it gets out of control. Let's do it now because it is the right thing to do and because quantative evidence says we must act responsibly and swiftly.

A statement by a British government department - before the authorities received most of the VIGIL dossier - said they were worried that a ban on Hizb ut Tahrir now would come unstuck after a legal challenge by Hizb ut Tahrir after the ban, and that a ban may be "counter-productive". Others have commented that a ban on Hizb ut Tahrir now would be counter-productive because the group would go "underground". (These statements coming before VIGIL has exposed some members of Hizb ut Tahrir in senior positions in the UK.)

Nonsense.

The actual Hizb ut Tahrir is already underground but - like similar groups - it is in recruitment stages so needs to keep a public presence. Ban it now and fathers will tell sons to stay away, friends will tell friends to avoid it and funds will be swallowed up which otherwise would be used to fan the flames of radicalisation. How long before one of the Hizb ut Tahrir thugs takes it upon himself to read the Anarchist’s Cookbook or Mujahideen’s Poison Handbook and acts on it of his own accord?

In rugby as in American football, if you go into a tackle against the opposition thinking it may not work out, it won't come off as you hoped. Tackle hard and your tackle is no longer defensive (in rugby parlance, it becomes a "Wilkinson"). The hard-hitting tackle shows you are on the offensive and the opposition invariably drops the ball – enough times and you go onto win.

Repel the terror onto the "terrorists" themselves. Make those who thrive on spreading hatred and fear - especially those extremists who hide their true aims, like Hizb ut Tahrir – squirm and disperse.

We must continue to draw our markers for this war now. As someone in my thirties, I refuse to believe that all my years will be taken up by this struggle against madness - I'd like to retire in my sixties knowing that the war has been won.

Draw the correct markers now and I'll be applying for a new career at fifty. Get it wrong now and those who succeed me will be working for decades consumed by removing groups like Hizb ut Tahrir from the free world - and that would be an awful waste of human capital, of time and of our hard-fought freedoms.