The non-violent jihadists, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, are not going to go gentle into that good night. From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
Among the measures Blair announced Friday is the outlawing of the Muslim group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. The government did not elaborate on why the group was being proscribed, only naming it as part of the drive to uproot Islamic extremism.A Hizb-ut-Tahrir spokesman, Nasreen Nawas, said at a news conference Saturday that the government's aim is "the curtailment of legitimate Islamic political debate."
Hizb-ut-Tahrir, formed in Jerusalem in 1953, has a presence in several European nations and has been active in Britain for almost two decades. It insists it is a nonviolent political organization, although it has been outlawed in Russia and several Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries and faces restrictions in Germany.
The group's aim is to overthrow "unelected dictators and despots who rule the Muslim world with the West's approval," Nawas said.
He said Hizb-ut-Tahrir advocates establishing a caliphate including all Muslim lands — a state he said would have a democratically elected government, independent judiciary and respect for human rights.
So says Nawas via AP. Here, from Forum 18, is a bit more forthright report about the organization's goals:
Hizb-ut-Tahrir, whose headquarters is illegally based in Jordan, is banned or treated as illegal in all the Central Asian republics. It aims to achieve the unification of Muslims worldwide under a single caliphate and believes that western democracy is unacceptable to Muslims. Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel are considered to be the work of the devil. Blatant anti-Semitism is a characteristic of the party's ideology. For example, Hizb-ut-Tahrir leaflets distributed illegally in Uzbekistan invariably call the Uzbek president Islam Karimov a "Jewish kafir". One Uzbek member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir expressed his regret to Forum 18 that Hitler had not succeeded in eliminating all Jews.Hizb-ut-Tahir members told Forum 18 that ideally an Islamic state should be formed, as the prophet Mohammed decreed, at the initiative of citizens. However given today's conditions, it was said that such a step "would become a farce, like the so-called European democracy", and so the decision to form an Islamic state should be taken by the most "influential people" (i.e. powerful politicians and businessmen). Ideally it was said, all the countries of the world would join the caliphate although Hizb-ut-Tahir plans to allow non-Muslim countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, not to join the caliphate provided that they pay a tax to it. They would then fall under the protection of the caliphate and it would defend their interests. If non-Muslim countries refused to pay the tax, the caliphate would launch military attacks against them.
In the caliphate itself Christian and Jewish communities would be permitted because, according to the Koran, adherents of these religions are "people of the Book". Other religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism and the Hare Krishna faith, would be considered pagan sects and would be banned. In particular, the caliphate's leadership would oppose what it regards as sects within Islam itself (including Ahmadiyya, Bahai'ism and Ismailism). In Hizb-ut-Tahrir's view, the only true Muslims are those who adhere to the four Madhabs {i.e. the four separate schools of legal interpretation within Shariah law). Those who depart from the Madhabs would be considered as apostates and liable to punishment according to Islamic law.
All citizens in the caliphate would have to abide by Sharia law when outside their homes. For example, all women would have to wear long dresses and scarves when in public places. However, Hizb-ut-Tahir members told Forum 18 that in Christian and Jewish quarters women could wear clothes permitted by the laws of their own religion. Christians and Jews would also be allowed to drink alcohol within their own communities, if that was required for religious rituals. Although all citizens of the caliphate would be subject to Sharia law, Christians and Jews could administer justice according to their own laws in what were described as internal matters (i.e. marriage, divorce and the assignment of possessions).
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Here is their English website
http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/english/english.html