Hizb ut Tahrir issued the first edition of Al Raya newspaper on the twenty-eighth of Thul Qidah 1373 AH corresponding to 28/07/1954 CE, the last issue, number 13, was issued on Wednesday 29 Safar 1374 AH corresponding to 27/10/1954 CE, according to what we saw from the remaining Al Raya issues we have received. Thus the number of issues published are thirteen in number, some of the brothers were quoted to say that the numbers of issues published were fourteen, it seems that there was an issue under preparation for issuance when the Jordanian regime’s decision came to shut down the newspaper as of 28/10/1954 CE. It seems that the issue has been published after the closure, therefore there were fourteen issues in number, although we have not yet seen this issue to be certain, but we will resume publication of Al Raya from the fifteenth issue, just in case, for the consideration mentioned above.
The Speech of the Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir, the eminent Scholar Sheikh Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, may Allah protect him –
On the occasion of the resumption of the issuance of Al Raya Newspaper and the Commencement of Editorial Issue Number 15 Issued on Wednesday, 13 Jumada I 1436 AH / 04 March 2015 CE
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Welcoming Al Raya … a Memory and Glad Tidings
Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon His family and companions and those who follow Him…
Hizb ut Tahrir issued the first edition of Al Raya newspaper on the twenty-eighth of Thul Qidah 1373 AH corresponding to 28/07/1954 CE, the last issue, number 13, was issued on Wednesday 29 Safar 1374 AH corresponding to 27/10/1954 CE, according to what we saw from the remaining Al Raya issues we have received. Thus the number of issues published are thirteen in number, some of the brothers were quoted to say that the numbers of issues published were fourteen, it seems that there was an issue under preparation for issuance when the Jordanian regime’s decision came to shut down the newspaper as of 28/10/1954 CE. It seems that the issue has been published after the closure, therefore there were fourteen issues in number, although we have not yet seen this issue to be certain, but we will resume publication of Al Raya from the fifteenth issue, just in case, for the consideration mentioned above.
The newspaper was published in Amman from a small office near Al-Husseini Mosque, on Wednesday of each week, it was a weekly newspaper. The editor of Al Raya Newspaper was the eminent scholar Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zaloom, may Allah’s mercy be upon him, who later became the second Ameer of the party, the editor’s secretary was Munir Shiqayr, and one of the editors as we learned was Brother Nabih Al Jaza’iri, whose focus was the translation of important matters of relevance reported in newspapers and magazines published in English.
The newspaper was distinct from other newspapers, it did not contain advertisements or illustrations or decorated pieces, but was proclaiming the haqq and pronouncing the truth. It discussed the political situation and addressed it from the perspective of Islam; its four pages were sold for a penny and a half back then, it was a pot overflowing with its content, filled with what would benefit the people, it was used completely for the advantage of the good and fighting evil, fearing no one but Allah.
The newspaper’s weapon was the word of truth, however, it was heavy upon the oppressors, heavier than shells and rockets… Therefore the party, especially its newspaper, when it opposed the law of preaching and guidance which was intended to prevent the party’s members and all the faithful from giving lessons in mosques, this law was issued by the Interior Minister on the orders of Glubb the Jordanian army commander at the time, when the party challenged the law, the Jordan regime could not tolerate the impact of the word of truth thus it launched arrest campaigns against the party members, and also fought the newspaper and pursued its writers, even the published issues of the newspaper did not escape their prosecution, they were considered as criminal evidence against those found to possess them!… This is how the newspaper was banned from publication after the thirteenth’s edition on Wednesday, 29 Safar 1374 AH, corresponding to 27/10/1954 CE as mentioned above.
After that the party tried to publish the newspaper in Lebanon but was unable to do so, so it hired the weekend edition of one of the Lebanese-owned newspapers of George Sa’adah. The party began writing in it under the name of “Al Hadara” and the duration of the lease contract was six months, after the end of duration the party requested to renew the contract but the owner refused, saying that the amount he received for the lease was not sufficient to pay for his taxi trips between the different Lebanese security services department and his house, because of the objections of the security agencies to what was published in the newspaper! This was at the time when Lebanon boasted of its freedom of expression and was full of newspapers from every direction, but the regime was bothered with this weekly edition, and they pressured the newspaper’s owner to cancel the lease, and that’s what took place after the six months…
Then in the late fifties of the last century and the subsequent years, the party suffered oppressive campaigns filled with hatred and maliciousness against the party and its members. As a result the party abandoned its attempts to publish the newspaper and took advantage of its capabilities available in other direct party work, especially since the means of communication (social media) were not available then as it is today, where it is possible to issue any newspaper through these means without security trouble as was the case previously. And so the party continued its usual Hizbi work of building the body of the party, creating public opinion, and seeking the Nusra. In the nineties and beyond it added the media offices, then the broadcast and televised broadcasting and the different media sites benefitting from modern Internet technologies that have helped in the establishment of web and telecast, and the different sites.
As for the resumption of the newspaper the party preferred to start issuing it with the actual announcement of the Khilafah, especially that in the Hizb’s perception it was almost established more than once, but as Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:
لِكُلِّ أَجَلٍ كِتَابٌ
“For every term is a decree”
(Ar-Ra’d: 38)
Although the party was not successful in actually establishing the Khilafah, but by the grace of Allah it has succeeded in finding a robust public opinion for it, and it has become the demand of the Muslims, all of them or the majority of them, and it seemed as if the Khilafah is established in principle. The party decided to resume the issuance of the newspaper asking Allah سبحانه وتعالى that the publication of the paper will be a sweet memory to the initial publication and glad tidings that brings joy to the breasts of the imminent establishment of the Khilafah after it seems like it is established in principle.
In conclusion, we have exerted effort to find some issues of the newspaper that survived the authorities’ arrests at the time i.e. before sixty years ago, so as to convey to the readers some of what came in the issues that survived the injustice of such authorities. We found a few issues, including those which can be read with difficulty, and those ripped apart from each other. One of the brothers who was interested in the acquisition of those issues said that he kept copies of the newspaper, and as a result of persecution and harassment, which was carried out by the government against members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, he was forced to hide them in a hurry in a place that didn’t have the necessary protection for them, which caused damage to the copies of the newspaper after those long years. In any case, we will convey to you, Allah willing, in subsequent issues of this newspaper some of what we can read from those aforementioned issues, but now I will limit myself to convey four news pieces:
1. On the first page of the eighth edition of Wednesday, 24 Muharram 1374 AH corresponding to 23/09/1954 CE it featured an article under this title: “The most terrible crime that will be perpetrated by the Arab politicians … peace with “Israel” a heavy blow to the Islamic Ummah … the Ummah considers any settlement reached in the issue of Palestine as a major betrayal …”
The details of this news piece are long we might publish them in the upcoming issues, InshaAllah.
2. In the same issue, an article in the second page was featured under this title: “Egypt and military aid: WASHINGTON- the Egyptian military mission headed by Major General Mohamed Ibrahim, Chief of Staff of the Egyptian army, visited US Army Secretary Mr. Stevens and talks were held on the subject of American military aid to Egypt which held preliminary talks with the US ambassador Mr. Jefferson Caffery in Cairo and Egyptian officials.”
3. On the first page of the twelfth edition issued on Wednesday 22 Safar 1374 AH, corresponding to 20/10/1954 CE, it stated the following: “So that people do not know: they are trying to conceal the crime … Selwyn Lloyd asked to work for peace secretly.
LONDON- news agencies- Selwyn Lloyd the head of the British delegation at the United Nations stated in response to a question on the issue of Palestine in the press conference by saying:
There will be no progress in relations between Jews and Arabs, only if the two teams agreed on steps to be taken in this way.
He said that one of the difficulties in the way of an agreement is that the dissemination of information to the public means that everyone passing this way or that rejects the proposal.
I believe that it is far better to try to work more secretly to see perhaps it is possible to find a way to reconcile these differences.”
4. On the fourth page of the twelfth edition issued on Wednesday, 22 Safar 1374 AH, corresponding to 20/10/1954 CE an article under this title was published: “In a new diplomatic maneuver … Russia conducted a military agreement with Communist China … in response to the southeast Asia Pact… designed to isolate America from the Far East.”
The details of the news piece are long; we might publish them in future issues inshaAllah.
In the final conclusion, I convey to the readers of Al Raya Newspaper my best regards, and remind you and remind myself of what came in the advice of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم to Abu Zhar (ra), he said:
«أَوْصَانِي خَلِيلِي صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِخِصَالٍ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ… وَأَوْصَانِي أَنْ لَا أَخَافَ فِي اللَّهِ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ وَأَوْصَانِي أَنْ أَقُولَ الْحَقَّ وَإِنْ كَانَ مُرًّا وَأَوْصَانِي أَنْ أُكْثِرَ مِنْ قَوْلِ لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا كنز من كنوز الجنة»
“Allah’s Khalil (friend) صلى الله عليه وسلم advised me with good qualities … and advised me that I must not fear anyone but Allah, he advised me to speak the truth though it is bitter and he advised me to increase uttering: (la hawl wa la quwata ila billah) that there is no power but from Allah, for it is one of the treasures of Paradise.”
Narrated by Ibn Haban in his Saheeh, and Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, and Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musanaf… Narration of the texts are by Ibn Haban.
Wasalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu
Your brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir
Wednesday 13 Jumada I 1436 AH
Corresponding to 4/3/2015 CE