Why is Hizb ut Tahrir Being Fought?
(Translated)
Al-Rayah Newspaper - Issue 584 - 28/01/2026
By: Ustadh Haitham Al-Rajhi – Wilayah Yemen

It is not surprising that a party (hizb) which does not recognize the rules of the existing international order, does not seek permission from ruling regimes to promote its ideology, and refuses to derive its legitimacy from human constitutions or political recognitions, would be targeted. Since its inception, Hizb ut Tahrir has not engaged in a partial conflict with a specific regime, but instead, a radical struggle against the intellectual and political framework upon which these regimes are based. Therefore, the Hizb has been targeted more deeply and intensely than other parties.

The existing regimes in our countries require any political or Dawah activity to obtain their permission and authorization. This permission is not a mere administrative procedure, but instead a contract of intellectual and political submission. It entails recognizing the nationalistic borders drawn by colonialism between Muslim lands, when it divided them after dismantling their caliphate, acknowledging the legitimacy of the nation-state, and accepting the democratic system as the basis for ruling governance and legislation. These conditions are not merely formal, because whoever accepts them implicitly acknowledges that sovereignty belongs to the people, not to Islamic Shariah Law, that the Ummah is divided legally and politically, and that what the colonialist imposed has become an unchangeable reality.

Hence, Hizb ut Tahrir rejects the principle of obtaining permission, or asking for authorization in the first place, because it believes that the Dawah to Islam is not a gift granted by a ruler, nor a permission obtained from a ministry, but instead it is a Shariah obligation from Allah (swt), Who said,

[ادْعُ إِلِىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ] “Invite to the way of your Lord with evidenced wisdom and good exhortation” [TMQ Surah An-Nahl: 125], and He (swt) said,

[وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ]

“And let there be among you a group inviting to goodness, enjoining all that is right (ma'ruf) and forbidding all that is evil (munkar), and those will be the successful” [TMQ Surah Aali Imran: 104], and Allah (swt) said,

[مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا بِئْسَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ]

“The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not carry it is like that of a donkey carrying books. Wretched is the example of the people who deny the signs of Allah (swt). And Allah (swt) does not guide the wrongdoing people” [TMQ Surah Al-Jumuah: 5]. So how can someone who carries this message be required to seek permission from those whose system is based on the suspension of the Shariah Law of Allah (swt)?

Furthermore, the essence of the conflict is not about a particular party (hizb), but instead the ideology it espouses. Hizb ut Tahrir explicitly calls for the unification of the Islamic Ummah, rejecting nationalism and patriotism, which it considers alien thoughts that have fragmented Muslims, and transformed them into warring factions serving the interests of others. This Dawah, in particular, is what most worries colonialist powers, because the unity of the Islamic Ummah means the collapse of the instruments of control and the dismantling of the system of political, economic, and military influence built upon this abhorrent division.

Since the colonialist powers do not rule most Muslim countries directly these days, but instead through local nationalistic and patriotic regimes, the confrontation with Hizb ut Tahrir is mostly carried out by these regimes. The Hizb is suppressed, banned, its members persecuted, and concocted charges such as "extremism and terrorism" are fabricated against them — not because the Hizb has engaged in violence and armed action, but because it exposes these treacherous regimes, reveals their ties to colonialist powers, and strips them of their legitimacy to represent Islam in the eyes of their people.

The danger posed by Hizb ut Tahrir, in the eyes of colonialist powers, and their agent rulers among the Muslims, lies neither in the bearing of weapons nor in threatened military action, but instead in the Hizb’s profound intellectual project that dismantles the foundations upon which the modern, secular state in Muslim lands is built. The Hizb does not call for partial reforms, or merely a change of faces, but instead works to dismantle entire systems built upon non-Islamic rulings and governed by other than Shariah Law, and to establish a system whose legislation and sovereignty are derived from divine revelation, not from the United Nations or foreign embassies.

Therefore, fighting Hizb ut Tahrir is not a reaction to actions on the ground, but instead a preemptive measure against an idea that, if allowed to spread, would leave the existing regimes with no justification for remaining in power. The idea that sovereignty belongs to Allah (swt), that the Ummah is one, that colonialism is the enemy, and that rulers are tools in the hands of colonialism, is an idea that cannot be contained or tamed, and therefore it is not permitted to operate at all.

In summary, Hizb ut Tahrir is being fought not because it opposed a particular regime, but because it rejected all man-made systems; not because it demanded privileges, but because it refused to recognize the legitimacy of the existing order; not because it called for chaos, but because it called for a radical change that redefines politics, power, and legitimacy from their very foundations. From this, we understand that the battle with Hizb ut Tahrir is neither a security nor a legal one, but an intellectual and civilizational war.

The intensity of the attack against the Hizb will not eliminate it, nor will it frighten its members or weaken their resolve. Instead, the attack reveals the fear of its adversaries of the great idea it carries and the state it seeks to establish, which will change the course of history, just as the first Islamic state established by the Messenger of Allah (saw) did. It is the Second Khilafah Rashidah (Rightly Guided Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood. This is why the whole world stands against Hizb ut Tahrir and fights it, but nasr (supported victory) is its ally, by the Permission of Allah (swt), a Promise from Allah (swt). Allah (swt) said,

[وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُم فِي الأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُم مِّن بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا يَعْبُدُونَنِي لا يُشْرِكُونَ بِي شَيْئًا وَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ]

“Allah (swt) has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession in the land, just as He granted it to those before them, and that He will surely establish for them their Deen which He has chosen for them, and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security. They will worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient” [TMQ Surah An-Nur: 55], and Allah (swt) said,

[إِنَّا لَنَنصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الأَشْهَادُ]

“Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during this worldly life and on the Day when the witnesses will stand forth” [TMQ Surah Ghafir: 51].