Press Release
Facebook’s Unjust Closure of the Women’s Section in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir’s Page: Women & Shariah, Seeks to Silence the Voices of Muslim Women Calling for Islam as their Saviour from Oppression Rather than Western Liberalism

On Friday 29^th November, Facebook unjustly closed down the official English page of the Women’s Section in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir: Women & Shariah, without any valid justification for their action. The account had over 40,000 likes and followers, with some of its posts enjoying a reach of almost half a million people. The page was dedicated to addressing the vital issues, problems and injustices affecting women and children globally and presented the Islamic perspective on them. It also sought to dismantle the age-old lies and misinformation regarding the position and treatment of women under Islam, by clarifying the true status, rights, roles and duties of the woman as defined by the Islamic Shariah laws and under the Islamic political system: the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood.

Over many years, the page ran important and highly beneficial international campaigns on a host of subjects, including how to address the disintegration of the family unit affecting communities globally; how to solve the education crisis plaguing states across the world; and how to deal with the many challenges and difficulties that Muslim youth face today in holding on to their Islamic identity. It also sought to bring international attention and raise the solution to the desperate plight faced by Muslims across the globe, and in particular, women and children, in lands such as Syria, Palestine, Myanmar, Yemen, Kashmir, the Central African Republic and China. The page was meticulous in ensuring all posts were based on accurate and sound information from respected sources, and that nothing indecent or immoral was promoted. This is contrast to the many lewd and corrupt pages and others which propagate outright lies against Islam which Facebook allows to operate freely with no sanction. Furthermore, the “Women & Shariah” account is one of the pages of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir, a non-violent global political party which is not restricted in most Western states, including the US where the Facebook headquarters are located. On the contrary, we operate openly in these countries where we have conducted dozens of public conferences and seminars, and where we distribute our political material and interact with the public both on the street and online. The question therefore stands as to why Facebook, a company that relentlessly flouts its supposed credentials of being a platform for free exchange of ideas and debate, should seek to censor a page whose content holds no threat to any civil society.

Clearly, there can be no other reason for this discriminatory, groundless closure of our account other than the fact that the concept of Muslim women calling for ISLAM as their path to liberation from oppression rather than Western Liberalism, goes against their terms and policies! They would rather others speak falsehoods on our behalf and peddle demeaning narratives about our identity, rather than provide a platform to allow the genuine opinions of Muslim women who support Islam to be expressed. Furthermore, the popularity of a page which presented the truth regarding how the Islamic Khilafah system would be the guardian, shield and protector of women, rather than perpetuating blatant fabrications and disinformation, was evidently unacceptable to the social media company. Through this action, Facebook joins the uncoveted category of authoritarian regimes and extremist secular governments who have sought to marginalize and mute through draconian policies, the voices of Muslim women who reject secular liberalism and who embrace Islam as the basis of their identity and seek real change in their lands through its time-tested credible laws and system. However, we refuse to be silenced! The truth will be heard, by the permission of Allah!

We call all those who support the expression of truth and justice, and who seek to truly lift the state of oppression that millions of women are subjected to today and create real change in our Muslim lands, to please support our new page by liking, sharing and following it: https://www.facebook.com/WomenandShariah2.

﴿يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِؤُواْ نُورَ اللّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللّهُ إِلاَّ أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ﴾

“They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah refuses except to perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.” [Al-Tawba: 32]

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Director of the Women’s Section in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir