KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — The Selangor Fatwa Committee has declared Hizbut Tahrir a deviant group and said followers of the pro-Caliphate movement who continue to spread their ideologies and teachings in the state will face legal action.
In the edict published in the Selangor Gazette on September 17 this year, the committee listed several reasons for declaring the group deviant, including its labelling of MPs, rulers and Islamic scholars here as infidels for accepting and following a government system that it claims to be against God’s will.
Other examples are Hizbut Tahrir’s claim that other existing Islamic countries are all “negara kafir” (infidel countries) for accepting contemporary government systems, as well as their rejection of hadiths sourced from the Quran, known as “hadith Ahad”.
The edict said that all Muslims, whether as individuals or as a group, are prohibited from partaking in and accepting the teachings of Hizbut Tahrir, including celebrating festivities that are linked to the movement, practising and spreading Hizbut Tahrir ideologies in Selangor, as well joining groups that aim to invigorate the movement.
It also said that Muslims are prohibited from spreading the group’s teachings and the like in printed materials as well as on social media platforms like blogs, Facebook, Twitter and others.
“Any variation, version, form or branch of any teachings, or new understandings that have similarities with elements of Hizbut Tahrir teachings is to be considered contradictory to the beliefs of true Islam,” the fatwa said.
“Any Muslim practising any of the above is committing an offence and action can be taken under the laws that are enforced in the state of Selangor,” it added.
The local chapter of the hardline Islamist group, Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia (HTM), which seeks to establish a global caliphate, has been vocal in its demands, most recently for declaring Malaysia’s welcoming of US president Barack Obama in November as “haram”.
It had also previously declared that Muslim men do not need their wives’ consent to have sex, and that it was not sinful even if it was by force.
