Question

Assalamu Alaikum,
Is it allowed to use the term ‘Minister' in the Islamic State even though this term has its reality in the capitalist system?

Answer

Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatahu,

There is a difference between the concept of Minister and the Ministry in Islam and its concept in the Democratic system. Whereas the meaning used in democracy for the minister and the ministry is the predominant meaning over the people and if we use it, it will only be understood in the Democratic meaning. Therefore, to ward off confusion and to set the legitimate (Shar'i) meaning in of itself void of anything else, it is absolutely not appropriate without constraints to name the Mu'awen Khilafah "Caliphate" (Khilafah "Caliphate"'s Assistant) as Minister and Ministry, but to call him Mu'awen, this is its actual meaning, or place limitations with the term Minister or Ministry to ward off the Democratic connotation, and to set an Islamic definition itself as it called Wazeer Tafweed (Delegated Assistant)...

Your Brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

Link to the answer from the Ameer's Facebook page

Headlines:

• UK Prime Minister Backs £200m Islam-Friendly Bond
• Egypt Student Protests Continue
• Syria is Said to Destroy All Chemical Arms Production Sites
• Australian PM Tony Abbott Visits Afghanistan to Declare Australia's War Over

Details:

UK Prime Minister backs £200m Islam-Friendly Bond

David Cameron has made a pitch for new investment in the UK by Muslim countries, saying the UK hopes to offer a £200 million Islam-friendly bond as early as next year. The Prime Minister said he wanted London to be "the greatest centre for Islamic finance in the Western world" as political and business leaders gathered in London. A "world first" set of indices at the London Stock Exchange to help investors identify faith-compliant firms and projects was also announced as well as a £4.5 million boost to a small business growth fund. Several world leaders, including King Abdullah of Jordan and the Sultan of Brunei, appeared on stage with Mr Cameron for the ninth World Islamic Economic Forum. It is the first time the major annual event has been held outside of the Islamic world and the Prime Minister seized the chance to continue a push to secure foreign investment to push domestic economic recovery. The global market in Islamic investments is rapidly expanding, rising by 150% since 2006 and expected to be worth £1.3 trillion next year. Mr Cameron said Britain had already taken steps to ensure Muslims were not discriminated against - such as ending "double tax" on Islamic mortgages and introducing alternative forms of student and start-up loans to comply with a ban on interest payments. It already had more Islam-compliant banks than any other Western country and many law firms and university courses centred on the subject, he said. But he said that his ambition was for the country to compete with finance centres such as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur - not just other non-Islamic capitals. "Already London is the biggest centre for Islamic finance outside the Islamic world," he told the gathering of 1,800 political and business leaders from over 115 countries. "But today our ambition is to go further still. Because I don't just want London to be a great capital of Islamic finance in the Western world. I want London to stand alongside Dubai and Kuala Lumpur as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the world." He went on: "When Islamic finance is growing 50% faster than traditional banking and when global Islamic investments are set to grow to £1.3 trillion by 2014 we want to make sure a big proportion of that new investment is made here in Britain." [Source: Express & Star]

Egypt Student Protests Continue

Students at Cairo's al-Azhar University took over an administrative building Wednesday and university officials called on security forces to intervene. The incident came after Egyptian authorities detained a top Muslim Brotherhood political figure. Amateur video showed a crowd of students smashing windows and breaking into a key administrative building at the university Wednesday. Witnesses say police later regained control of the building. A number of students were reportedly taken into custody. Sporadic protests by Islamist students at some universities continue to paralyze parts of Egypt's educational system.It was not clear if the latest protest was related to the arrest Wednesday morning of a top Muslim Brotherhood leader, Essam el-Erian. El-Erian was shown in a photo smiling and dressed in a traditional robe as police placed him under arrest,.Egyptian media quoted el-Erian as saying that he expected to be released soon and that ousted President Mohamed Morsi would also be reinstated.Egyptian judicial officials, however, say that Morsi, El-Erian, and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders will go on trial on Monday. A trial of Brotherhood Guide Mohamed Badie was postponed Tuesday, after three judges recused themselves.El-Erian was the visible face of the Muslim Brotherhood for many foreign audiences, speaking on TV frequently and addressing the foreign press, often in English. In 2011, he described the group's philosophy on religion and society to VOA's Al Pessin."Shariah [law], as a whole, is a way of life. It is up to the people themselves. It is not imposed by law. It is according to their faith," he said. Many Egyptian analysts think Brotherhood supporters will try to create high-profile disruptions in the lead up to the trial of former president Morsi scheduled for next week. Veteran Egyptian editor and publisher Hisham Kassem says he expects the Brotherhood to mount fresh protests." They certainly are going to try and step up all forms of protest that they can," he said. "But, they need to make a louder noise than anything they've done [before] the beginning of this trial." [Source: Voice of America]

Syria Is Said to Destroy All Chemical Arms Production Sites

Syria was reported on Thursday to have met a critical deadline for the destruction of all the chemical weapons production and mixing facilities declared to international inspectors, meeting a timetable set under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States. News reports quoted an unidentified official from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague as saying its inspectors had visited 21 out of the 23 chemical sites Syria declared to them. While the remaining two sites were too hazardous to visit because of the country's continuing civil war, the chemical-making equipment there had already been moved to other sites which the inspectors could visit. Syria agreed to the destruction of its chemical arsenal to avert threatened American and French military strikes following a poison gas attack in a suburb of Damascus on Aug. 21 that killed hundreds of people. The O.P.C.W. headquarters in The Hague did not immediately respond to a request to confirm or deny the reports. Reuters quoted a document from the United Nations-backed body as saying: "The O.P.C.W. is satisfied it has verified, and seen destroyed, all declared critical production/mixing/filling equipment from all 23 sites." The United States and its allies backing Syria's rebels accused forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of responsibility for the Aug. 21 attack. But Mr. Assad blamed the rebels themselves. The timetable foresees Syria destroying its stockpiles of chemical weapons by mid-2014. [Source: New York Times]

Australian PM Tony Abbott Visits Afghanistan to Declare Australia's War Over

Tony Abbott has declared an end to Australia's frontline involvement in Afghanistan during a surprise visit to troops, saying the ADF's presence in Uruzgan province had been worth its "high price". The prime minister spoke at a special ceremony at the ADF-operated Tarin Kowt base in Uruzgan province. He confirmed the Australian mission in the region would wind down by the end of the year. "It has been worth it. This has been a very difficult commitment. People have paid a high price. We have lost 40 of our best. We mourn them, we remember them, we honour them, we want to work with their families. We will never forget them," Abbott said. He added that Australia's involvement was ending, "not with victory, not with defeat, but with, we hope, an Afghanistan that is better for our presence here". He described the withdrawal as "bitter-sweet". It was "sweet because hundreds of soldiers will be home for Christmas; bitter because not all Australian families have had their sons, fathers and partners return. Sweet because our soldiers have given a magnificent account of themselves; bitter because Afghanistan remains a dangerous place despite all that has been done." Australia will continue to provide support to Afghanistan beyond 2014, including training of the Afghan national security forces and development assistance. Australian forces have maintained a permanent presence in Uruzgan since 2005, with more than 20,000 serving in the country since the start of the war. Abbott was accompanied on the trip by the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, marking the first Australian bipartisan political visit to Afghanistan.[Source: The Guardian]

On October 25, 2013 Pakistan's UN ambassador condemned US drone strikes, and declared that it was a gross violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and international law. He said, "Killing unarmed, innocent civilians is a clear breach of international law. We call for the immediate cessation of drone attacks inside the territorial borders of Pakistan." Earlier in the week, Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif pleaded at the White House with US President Barack Obama to end drone strikes. He told reporters at the end of his trip that he ‘emphasised the need to end such strikes'.

Since 2004, Pakistan's territory has been violated 365 times by American drones. These robotic fixed wing planes have indiscriminately killed thousands of innocent people. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism the number of people killed by American drones is estimated to be between 2525 and 3613, this is considerably higher than what has been admitted by the UN, American and Pakistani officials.

Misreporting death figures is not the only item US and Pakistani officials have been accused of. Both inside Pakistan and abroad there is a deep belief that Pakistan's civil and military leadership is collaborating with America to conduct drone strikes. After all, robotic drones -irrespective of their technological sophistication- still require on the ground real-time intelligence to identify, track and confirm kills. This requires an extraordinary level of support andcollaboration from the Pakistani state. In the absence of such collusion, American drones would be flying blind and firing way off the mark.

A day after Sharif implored Obama to end drone strikes, The Washington Post published a damning report, revealing that the Pakistani government has for years secretly endorsed the drone strikes and routinely received classified briefings on strikes and casualty counts. The report is based on top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos. In one quote the paper states: "The documents detailed at least 65 strikes in Pakistan and were described as ‘talking point' for CIA briefings, which occurred with such regularity that they became a matter of diplomatic routine. The documents are marked ‘top -secret' but cleared for release to Pakistan.

Even present and former Pakistani officials have admitted that Pakistan and US are working in together to launch drone strikes inside Pakistan. In September 2013, Khurram Dastgir-Khan, a senior member of the current government, admitted to the National Assembly that "tacit support" for US drone strikes by organs of the Pakistan state might be continuing. During an interview in 2013, Pakistan's former President and Army Chief Pervez Musharraf acknowledged that he had given the USA qualified permission to undertake some US drone strikes in the Tribal Areas during his tenure, which ended in August 2008. Wikileaks also published details of Pakistani officials consenting to US drone attacks. In 2008, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani personally consented to American drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border to combat the Taliban.

Whilst Nawaz Sharif still likes to deny his involvement in assisting America's drone programme, the joint statement issued after his visit to the Whitehouse only serves to underscore his culpability. The 2500 word statement makes no mention of halting drone attacks, and only makes a fleeting reference to the topic as to respect ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity'. It is as if the whole visit was just intended to raise the issue and nothing more.

So clearly then, Pakistan's civil and military leaders are mired in providing America unstinting support to carry out drone attacks and to assassinate Pakistani citizens. There is no remorse and no recompense for the innocent victims. There is only high treason and a deep sense of betrayal executed on such a grand scale by Pakistani leaders that it belittles any overtures made to Washington to stop the attacks. Allah says:

((يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ))

"Do not betray Allah and His Messenger, and do not knowingly betray your trusts." [Al-Anfal: 27]

If Nawaz or any of his predecessors were sincere in halting the attacks, no begging trips to Washington are required. All they have to do is to withdraw ground support and kick-out American military personnel as well as American contractors who are free to roam the country. This action alone would render the drones ineffective. And if any drones violate Pakistan's airspace they should be blown to smithereens. These two actions are more than sufficient to bring an end to America's robotic birds and give Pakistan some respite from America's global war against Islam.

However, the long-term solution requires the Pakistani people to get rid of such leaders who hold the whole country hostage to America's whim. This can only be accomplished by ridding the current corrupt system and replacing it with the Caliphate. The Caliphate will not only defend Pakistan's borders but also teach a lesson to foreign powers that make the grave mistake to violate its territory.

((يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ))

"Oh you who have Iman! answer (the call of) Allah and His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life." [Al-Anfal: 24]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Abed Mustafa

Over the past 4 days, about 20-25 people have been killed from political violence and police shootings during strikes called by the opposition BNP Alliance in demand for a neutral election time government. This brings the death toll resulting from political violence and police shootings to about 2800 during this year (2013). But this is not all. Democracy has been killing the people of the country all along and in numerous ways. The desperate cries of those who lost their loved ones in Rana Plaza still rings loud in our ears. We can make an endless list of killings by democracy. Furthermore all of the following hold true of democracy:

Democracy = Corruption and looting
Democracy = Half the people living in poverty
Democracy = Oppression of women
Democracy = Vilifying Islam and RasulAllah (saw)
Democracy = Imperialist domination
Etc, Etc

These are the fruits of over two decades of Awami-BNP politics and democracy. So why is there a big fuss about ensuring a so-called free and fair election? And what does it matter if Hasina and Khaleda hold a dialogue or not? The Mozena-Pankaj dialogue is what matters most in this system where Hasina and Khaleda are only agents of their masters, U.S. and India. And whether there is dialogue between Hasina-Khaleda and whether there is an all-party participated election or one-sided election the results will be all the same. There will be no real change in people's lives. Real change will come only by discarding the entire ruling regime. This requires the sincere military officers to take the side of the people. The people are crying out for change but the means for change is not in their hands. The means are with the sincere officers, for they are the ones who have the material power to overthrow the regime. Thus overthrowing this regime is a duty on their neck but not for establishing military rule; rather they have to transfer the authority to the sincere and aware politicians to establish the Islamic rule - the Khilafah "Caliphate" state.

Hizb ut Tahrir therefore urges all sincere, aware and thinking people towards the following actions:

1. Reject the rule of Awami-BNP and their democratic system. Do not be the silent victims and witnesses of the deaths and destruction caused by them. And do not wait for their dialogue and their elections to once again vote and bring either of them to power;

2. Join with Hizb ut Tahrir in struggling against the current regime and working for establishing the Khilafah "Caliphate"; and

3. Demand from your fathers, uncles, sons, relatives and friends among the military officers to overthrow the ruling regime; and transfer authority to Hizb ut Tahrir for establishing the Khilafah "Caliphate".

And our call to the sincere officers in the military is as follows:

1. Fulfil your responsibility as Muslims. The duty to establish the Khilafah "Caliphate" is upon your neck as much as any other Muslim; in fact it is even more as you hold the key to authority i.e. the material power.

2. Fulfil your oaths which you took to serve the people and the country. Your oath is not to guard the regime which oppresses the people and serves their enemies.

3. Emulate the Sunnah of RasulAllah (saw) and be the Ansar for establishing the second Khilafah "Caliphate" State. With the help of the Ansar (ra), RasulAllah (saw) established the first Islamic state in Madina and that State continued until 1342 Hijri (1924 CE). If you become the Ansar for the second Islamic State, Allah (swt) will reward you in the same way as the first Ansar (ra), inshaAllah. Therefore overthrow the Hasina government immediately and transfer the authority to Hizb ut Tahrir for establishing the Khilafah "Caliphate".

((يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ))

"O you who believe! Answer the call of Allah and His Messenger when He calls you to that which gives you life..." [Surah Al-Anfal: 24]

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Bangladesh