Concepts, Political Concepts, Side Feature

Terrorism: A Dangerous Concept to Attack Islam and Consolidate the Western Culture

This is a chapter from the book ‘Dangerous Concepts to Attack Islam and Consolidate the Western Culture’, by Hizb ut-Tahrir published in 1997. The full book can be downloaded from here.

Since the 1970s, America has generated national and international public opinion according to her viewpoint of what constitutes terrorism. She has consistently exploited actions aimed at civil targets for her own ends, whether these actions came from political or military movements not linked to America, or from movements connected to the intelligence services of America. For example, many reports have indicated that some actions described as terrorist were backed by personnel from the CIA, like the hijacking of the TWA aeroplane at Beirut at the beginning of the 1980s. The United States also exploited the explosion that occurred at the American al-Khobar base in Saudi Arabia. In 1996, at the G7 Conference in Paris she made forty recommendations regarding the fight against terrorism. Even before knowing the identity of the bombers, she used the incidents of the World Trade Centre bombing in New York and the bombing of the FBI offices in Oklahoma to promote anti-terrorism legislation approved by the US Senate in 1997.

Linguistically, Al-Irhab (terrorism) is a noun derived from the verb Arhaba (to terrify) with the meaning to frighten or scare.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى said:

تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ

(turhibu) to threaten the enemy of Allah and your enemy.”

(Al-Anfal: 60)

i.e. you should frighten the enemy.

However, this has been altered to give a new meaning to the word. In a seminar in 1979 both the American and British intelligence services agreed to redefine terrorism as ‘the use of violence against civil interests to achieve political objectives.’

Thereafter, many international conferences and seminars have been held and legislation and canons passed to define those actions which can be described as terrorism, clarifying the types of movements, organisations and parties which practise terrorism and highlighting those states supporting terrorism. The Kufr states contend that this was done to adopt the necessary measures to fight terrorism and to control its spread.

It is clear from the legislation and laws relating to terrorism that they are not accurate. These anti-terrorist laws are subject to the political bias of the states that enacted them. For example, we see that the United States considered the assassination of Indira Ghandi as a terrorist act, but not the assassination of King Faisal nor the murder of Kennedy.

At first, she described the blowing up of the FBI building in Oklahoma City as a terrorist act, but when it became clear that those behind the explosion were American militias they changed their portrayal of it from being an act of terrorism to a simple criminal act.

The United States in particular describes certain movements as popular opposition movements like the rebels of Nicaragua and the IRA and others. She considers the fighters of these movements, when arrested, as prisoners of war according to Protocol (1) of the 1977 Geneva Convention. On the other hand, every movement opposing American interests or the interests of its agents is considered a terrorist movement and is placed on the list of terrorist organisations. This list, periodically issued by the US State Department, regularly includes most of the Islamic movements in Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Algeria etc.

Since the 1970s, America has generated national and international public opinion according to her viewpoint of what constitutes terrorism. She has consistently exploited actions aimed at civil targets for her own ends, whether these actions came from political or military movements not linked to America, or from movements connected to the intelligence services of America. For example, many reports have indicated that some actions described as terrorist were backed by personnel from the CIA, like the hijacking of the TWA aeroplane at Beirut at the beginning of the 1980s. The United States also exploited the explosion that occurred at the American al-Khobar base in Saudi Arabia. In 1996, at the G7 Conference in Paris she made forty recommendations regarding the fight against terrorism. Even before knowing the identity of the bombers, she used the incidents of the World Trade Centre bombing in New York and the bombing of the FBI offices in Oklahoma to promote anti-terrorism legislation approved by the US Senate in 1997.

The G7 recommendations and the anti-terrorism legislation gave the United States the authority to pursue any suspected terrorists worldwide. The United States believes she has the right to arrest and kidnap any person she considers guilty of any terrorist act and implement any punishment she deems appropriate, for example, prison, exile, withdrawal of residential and/or national rights and so on. All this can be done without giving the accused the right to defend himself or to be represented before a civil court or jury.

In addition, the United States regularly stereotypes those countries opposing US interests as terrorist states, for example North Korea, China, Iraq and Libya. She has accused many Islamic movements of terrorism; movements like Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Jama’ah Islamiyyah in Egypt and FIS in Algeria. In this manner, she has also exploited bombings against the Jews in Palestine and the acts that took place in Algeria on the eve of the military’s abolition of the parliamentary elections.

According to these laws, resolutions and recommendations, the United States can pursue and attack anyone she considers to be a terrorist, whether individual, organisation, party or state, by using her military forces or political influence to impose economic sanctions, as was seen in Iraq and Libya. This viewpoint was expressed by her former Secretary of State George Schultz when he said: ‘However much terrorists may try to escape they will not be able to hide.’

Thus, the anti-terrorism law adopted by the United States is one of the strategic weapons she uses to tighten her hold on the world, especially with respect to those countries which have the capacity to rebel against US policy.

Since the United States has identified Islam as her greatest enemy after the fall of communism, the Islamic countries are now seen as strategic areas in which she will use the anti-terrorism law in order to increase her influence and keep them under control. This is because Muslims are now seeking the path of revival to re-establish the Khilafah, which the United States and other Kufr nations know to be the only State capable of destroying the capitalist ideology, which America heads.

This is why we will find no Islamic movements that have not been labelled as terrorist by the United States. Even political parties and movements that do not use material actions to realise their objectives are not exempt from this label. Thus the United States considers the activity of any movement, party or state calling for the return of Islam as a terrorist action breaching international law. With this justification, and by compelling those nations who have adopted the anti-terrorism legislation, she is able to mobilise the forces of these nations under her leadership to strike these movements, parties or states.

Therefore it has become incumbent on those Muslims working for the re-establishment of the Khilafah, being a direct target of the so-called policy of anti-terrorism, to expose the reality of this law to Islamic and global public opinion. They must also expose the reality of US policy which works to dominate the world through this law, and that she is the real perpetrator of many of the bombings and explosions worldwide that have been attributed to Muslim individuals, groups or states.

It is also incumbent on the Muslims to be Islamic in their actions and behaviour. Islam has a specific way of realising its aims and objectives. This is manifested in carrying the call to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Khilafah. Adherence to this method, which relies on intellectual and political struggle to the exclusion of material actions, is adherence to the Shara’i method ordered by Islam, and not out of fear or desiring to escape from the label of terrorism.

It is incumbent on Muslims to be clear that the task of the Islamic State after its establishment is restricted to Shar’a. Whether it is internal such as looking after the affairs of the people and implementing the Hudood (penal code), or external such as conveying Islam though Jihad to the all mankind and destroying the material obstacles that are a barrier to the implementation of Islam.

The Muslims must be clear that the comprehensive implementation of Islam by Muslims on themselves and others does not originate from the whims of Muslims nor does it aim at realising certain specific interests. Rather it is in compliance with the orders of Allah سبحانه وتعالى who created man, life and the universe and ordered man to organise his life in accordance with the rules of Islam, which He سبحانه وتعالى revealed to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Thus the description of Islam and the Muslims as terrorist by the United States and other countries is a biased description. It is contrary to the reality and contradicts what Allah سبحانه وتعالى wishes from Islam.

He سبحانه وتعالى said:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ

“And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the ‘Alameen (worlds).”

(Al-Anbiya: 107)

Allah سبحانه وتعالى also said:

وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ

“And We have sent down to you the Book (the Qur’an) as an exposition of everything, a guidance, a mercy, and glad tidings for those who have submitted themselves to Allah.”

(Al-Nahl: 89)

This mercy is clearly shown by the implementation of the rules of Islam. There is no difference between prayer (Salah) and Jihad, between Du’a and frightening the enemy. There is no difference between Zakah and cutting the hand of the thief, nor is there a difference between helping the grieved and killing those who commit aggression against the sanctities of the Muslims. All of them are Shara’i rules which the Muslims or the State will implement in practice and when its time comes.