SERI KEMBANGAN, Oct 3 — Hizbut Tahrir (HT), the Islamist group seeking to establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate, has again dissociated itself today from the Islamic State (IS) established by self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
According to the international religious hardline group, IS’self-styled caliphate is “null and void” as Al-Baghdadi did not obtain the “bai’ah”, or loyalty oath from the whole Muslim community to declare himself as caliph, but rather only from his allies.
“HT has openly expressed our viewpoint regarding this alleged caliphate. We find it to be null and void,” HT’s international spokesman Osman Bakhash said at the sidelines of the group’s Muktamar Khilafah 2015, a congress on establishing a caliphate here.
“Once you say you’re an Islamic state, that doesn’t mean in reality you’re also a state... Later on when Baghdadi announced the caliphate, he claimed that he took the bai’ah. But from whom? It was from his own fellows, or groups.
“This is not the Islamic concept of caliphate. In Islam a person becomes a caliph when he receives the bai’ah of the ummah. Because the caliphate is for the ummah,” he added, using the Arabic word for the Muslim community.
Bakhash insisted that even though HT wishes to establish a caliphate, it will strictly abide by Prophet Muhammad’s methodology to spread their ideology without resorting to violence, unlike the terror group IS.
“Nowadays, there is a wide misconception among many people. They think jihad is the way to establish the caliphate. But it was not the method of Prophet Muhammad,” said Bakhash, referring to the Islamic concept of “holy struggle”.
HT aims to establish a worldwide Islamic state and caliphate for Muslims across the globe where Islamic laws and way of life can be implemented, leading to comparison with the IS.
Bakhash explained that in order to replace the unIslamic democratic system with an Islamic one, HT engages in an “intellectual struggle” to spread its ideology which would then result in a revolution by the Muslims.
The Malaysian chapter of HT had previously said that Putrajaya must implement all of Allah’s laws, and not just hudud, in a comprehensive Islamic rule that encompasses every aspect of government, including its economic, social and foreign policies as well as education.
Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division head Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ayub Khan told the media this week that the police estimated that 69 Malaysians have joined the IS in Syria.
Last month, 10 suspected IS members were arrested by the police in multiple raids across the country, among them six members of the country’s security forces, a former interior designer and a kindergarten teacher.
