News Right Now: From Bad to Worse

Welcome to today’s episode of News Right Now- From Bad to Worse.

Earlier this month Sri Lanka announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools and madrassas, claiming –in the words of the minister of public security, Sarath Weerasekaraas- that it is a “direct impact on national security” and that the face covering a sign of “religious extremism.” In the same week, Weerasekaraas also declared to parliament his intention to ban Hizb ut Tahrir and arrest its key members in the country. He accused the Hizb of terrorism and being an extremist movement posing a threat to the security of Sri Lanka. Interestingly though, he has completely failed to provide a single piece of evidence to prove his made-up claims. On the contrary, we then ask –What exactly is the offence committed by Hizb ut Tahrir? Why does the minister feel the need to ban the party? What is its member guilty of?

Is her crime to work for the return of the Islamic Khilafah system? Wanting to live by the just laws and systems of Allah swt or wanting the Ummah of Muhammad (saw) to have the peace and security under an imam, the Khaleef?

Hizb ut Tahrir, since the 1950s, on its same methodology, has worked to expose the flawed secular liberal system we live under and show the Ummah that all her problems begin and worsen through its existence. It’s only when this system is replaced with the Khilafah, will our Ummah truly be liberated. The Aim of Hizb ut Tahrir is to resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic message to the world. This objective means bringing the Muslims back to living the Islamic way of life in Dar al-Islam, such that all of life’s affairs in society are administered according to the Shari’ah rules. This method is exclusively intellectual and political in nature and devoid of violence, just as we saw at the time of Rasool Allah SAW when he established the first state built upon Islam in Madinah al-Munawwarah.

Unsurprisingly however, Sri Lanka’s recent show of abhorrence for Islam is nothing new. Hostility towards the Muslim population in Sri Lanka has been brewing for years. The anti-Islam rhetoric has become mainstream, expressed openly by politicians, journalists and on social media. This has led to Muslims battling systemic Islamophobia and have lived under a cloud of suspicion and abuse, facing violence and vilification -from Muslim women being harassed and told to remove their headscarf when entering shops or buildings, to campaigns against the ‘Halal’ labeling of food; to facing arbitrary arrests; to attacks on mosques, Muslim homes and businesses - They’ve faced it all. Just when it couldn’t get any worse, the government issued its policy mandating cremation for all Covid-19 related deaths or any dead body suspected to be infected with the virus. SubhanAllah! The Sri Lankan government have shown with their discriminatory behaviours towards the Muslim community that they wish to terrorise them into abandoning core Islamic beliefs and practices.

However, no matter how they hard they try and regardless of what methods they resort to – The honour, love and yearning the Muslims have for Islam only grows stronger! The Muslim knows and believes with all his heart that the strength of the Ummah lies in her unity. RasoolAllah (saw) says,

"مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ مَثَلُ الْجَسَدِ إِذَا اشْتَكَى مِنْهُ عُضْوٌ تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّى ‏"‏ ‏

“The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

Enough is enough! We’ve seen too much pain and too much suffering. For how much longer will we watch as Muslims fall prey to the enemies of Islam? Burma, Xinjiang, Kashmir, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, CAR, Palestine!!! how many more? Which country’s next? Now is the time for its end! Now is the time for the honour and dignity to return to our Ummah and allow her to live in the peace and security that Islam promises to the whole of mankind.

May Allah (swt) hasten its return Ameen!

Ummah Voice Podcast