Press Release
As One Ummah: Muslims Stand with the People of Bangladesh Against the Tyrant Sheikh Hasina

[إِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَحِدَةً وَأَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونِ]

“This Ummah of yours is one single Ummah, and I am your Lord, so worship Me” [Quran 21:92]

The people of Bangladesh—over 92% of whom are Muslim and part of one of the largest Muslim populations in the world—have risen in peaceful student-led protests against the tyrant Sheikh Hasina.

The latest protests erupted after the Hasina-led government attempted to extend quotas for government jobs that favour regime loyalists over merit-based candidates. This policy is just the latest in a series of corrupt and oppressive actions by the Awami League government since they came to power in 2009.

Bangladesh under this oppressive regime has experienced rigged elections, rampant government corruption, persecution and execution of political and religious leaders, racist policies against Rohingya Muslims seeking asylum, normalisation steps with the Zionist entity, cooperation with the Islamophobic Indian Prime Minister Modi, and the collapse of the economy, to name a few. The people of Bangladesh, like the rest of the Ummah, have had enough of their tyrants, who are propped up by their colonial backers.

Just weeks ago, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with Sheikh Hasina to "deepen their economic relationship," ignoring the corruption and brutality of the Hasina government. This is unsurprising, given the long history of Western leaders supporting dictators in the Muslim world to gain access to the Ummah's resources and markets. More recently, Australia has shown blanket support for the Zionist entity in its horrific genocide in Gaza.

The brutal violence meted out against peaceful protesters in Bangladesh is another example of the Ummah’s struggle to rid itself of the foreign systems and their dictators imposed by the colonialists. These colonialists divided us, gave us new identities, set us against each other, and plundered our wealth after their violent invasions of our lands.

The only possible solution is to unite as one Ummah under the political system revealed to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw). A system that grants authority to the people to choose and contract into power a ruler of their choice who rules by Allah’s (swt) Deen. A system that keeps the natural resources in the ownership of its citizens and not the multinational corporations whose royalties are pocketed by the corrupt. A system whose economic priority is to ensure the fair distribution of wealth so that the needs of every citizen are satisfied. A system that brings together people based upon an objective and rational belief system that is mandatorily upheld and protected by the Ummah by accounting the rulers for any deviance away from that which they were contracted upon. Allah (swt) says:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاء لِلّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقَيرًا فَاللّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ]

"O believers! Stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives. Be they rich or poor, Allah is best to ensure their interests. So do not let your desires cause you to deviate from justice" [Quran 4:135].

Regardless of our geographical differences, every Muslim stands for the rights and justice for our brothers and sisters in Bangladesh as they face horrifying violence amid a communication blackout and the deployment of the army against them. We ask Allah (swt) to liberate the Ummah from the tyranny of colonial-backed rulers and to grant us a righteous and just leader.

[وَاللهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ]

“And Allah hath full power and control over His affairs” [Quran 12:21]

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Australia