Something's been brewing while we were asleep...

Technorati tags: Islam, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Hizbut Tahrir, Islamization, Malaysia

Walski woke up around mid-morning on Sunday, and as usual, started to look at what had been brewing in the bloggerhood and cyberspace while he was asleep. The first thing to catch Walski's eye was Farish Noor's latest article in The Other Malaysia, entitled "They Have Taken Our Malaysia From Us". Do read it if you get the chance - Walski always catches Farish's thoughts whenever he puts anything up on the site.

Farish lays blame on the politicians and Islamists for successfully taking away, bit by bit, our Malaysia. And the scary part is that he couldn't be more spot on.

His article immediately reminded Walski of what The Malaysian had blogged about exactly one week ago - the Hizbut Tahrir conference in Jakarta on Sunday, August 12, 2007 - perhaps the largest gathering of its kind around the world, attracting some 90,000 participants, filling up the Bung Karno stadium to the brim.

So you're probably thinking - so what? What has that got to do with Malaysia?

Well, while some of the morons in Cabinet and dUMNO continue to harp on the Namawee Negarakuku issue, and continue to want to be vindictive sons of bitches, something else has been brewing in our nation that has pretty much gone unnoticed. In parallel, our own Hizbut Tahrir conference, albeit not on the same scale as the Jakarta one, had taken place on the very same day in Shah Alam.

Khilafah Conference in Shah Alam (last Sunday, August 12)

For a hint at why Walski is concerned, see this article by Anti Jihadist that was posted on Malaysia-Today earlier today. This is probably plays a part in the "backdoor Islamization" that many concerned Malaysians have voiced out about. But this is not something peculiar to Malaysia - Hizbut Tahrir is truly a global organization.

For the first time, however, they have boldly announced their presence on our shores.
(who Hizbut Tahrir are, and why the concern, in the full post)

So, who are Hizbut Tahrir? As usual, Walski uses Wikipedia as a resource (solely for the sake of convenience), but most of it tallies with what the organization's own website has to say.

Hizbut Tahrir, or perhaps more correctly, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation), was formed around 1953 in Palestine by a cleric named Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, and is now led by Ata Khalil Abu-Rashta, a Palestinian civil engineer. It has become, since then, a global organization with chapters in much of Europe and Asia, and also has its presence in Australia and the US. Several countries in the Middle East have banned the organization. Offhand, Walski is not certain whether or not they are an officially registered society in Malaysia, or of their status.

Hizb ut-Tahrir's aim is to create a Pan-Islamic government - to resurrect the Caliphate (or Khilafah) - a single global Islamic nation. Thus far, they have spread their message through non-violent means, and the organization itself speaks out against the use of violence. The groups that have been spawned out of Hizb ut-Tahrir, however, are another story.

And while ideologically they are a political party, they typically do not participate in local elections in the countries where they operate. Rather, their aim, at this stage, is to inculcate the ideology of Khilafah and why it is paramount in ensuring the survival of Muslims. Marketing the Caliphate, in other words.

They also have a Malaysian chapter, it appears, and their own website mykhilafah.com. Their activities (apart from organizing the conference) has been to publish and distribute a periodical called Sautun Nahdhah, which the organization probably distributes during Friday prayers.

And their role and aim in Malaysia?

Well, probably no different from Hizb ut-Tahrir in other parts of the world - to promote the resurrection of a single global Islamic Caliphate. But it's how they'll achieve this is what will be interesting to see. Already we are seeing signs that Islamization is happening without due process, where rules and regulations suddenly change without the need of public debate. A case in point - the regulations pertaining to Muslims and the identity card - these regulations were introduced outside of legislation.

The fact that currently corruption and crime seem to be rife in Malaysia plays nicely into Hizb ut-Tahrir's hands, lending some credibility to their assertion that in a Caliphate where the Shariah is the law of the land, none of this would exist.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is currently in the ideology-inculcation stage of their struggle - spreading the belief that a resurrected Caliphate is the only way forward for Muslims worldwide. But the Caliphate is not their end, ultimately - it is the global institution of the Shariah. The Caliphate is merely a means towards that ultimate end.

Walski thinks that we'll start seeing a lot more of pro-Caliphate rhetoric coming from the bloggerhood in the near future - more than we're already seeing presently.

The question Walski has is this: why is it that almost every Tom, Dickhead and hairy Dumbass within UMNO is so gung-ho up in arms against a creative 24-year old studying in Taiwan, and pretty much silent and/or ignorant about Hizb ut-Tahrir?

As it is, its existence and the recent conference held in Shah Alam has pretty much gone unnoticed by any media in the country, mainstream or otherwise.

Between the two, it's really a no-brainer as to which puts the soveriegnity of Malaysia more at risk. And if dUMNO don't realize this... we'll need a new word to describe the arrogant stupidity that they're exhibiting...

More worrying is this: that they know damn well about Hizb ut-Tahrir and what their ultimate goal is. As probably do their so-called nemesis, PAS. And that the tongue-lashing and politicking between the two is all another big political 3-ring circus show. Them, and the numerous agencies that form the Islamic bureaucracy in this country. They all know, and they are all in agreement. And that they're quietly paving the way...

Now, that Walski finds truly terrifying, if it were true.