Malaysia not just for Malays, but for Muslims, says hardline Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir
(Malay Mail Online) – The Malaysian chapter of hardline Islamists Hizbut Tahrir chided local Muslims today for their preoccupation with race, warning that tribalism is stopping the community from uniting with their brethren worldwide.
Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia (HTM) said many Malaysian Muslims have been influenced by “unIslamic thoughts” that cause them to insist that the country belongs solely to the Malays.
“The Muslims in Malaysia, who are mostly Malays, are still fighting for the Malays, their race. Whereas, in Islam that is haram [forbidden],” HTM spokesman Abdul Hakim Othman told reporters at the sidelines of the group’s Muktamar Khilafah 2015, a congress on establishing a caliphate.
“Malaysia is not owned just by the Malays. For Hizbut Tahrir, we are fine with any Muslims that come here, as this is a country for Muslims. Where anybody deserves to be here.”
In a speech made in the congress, HTM activist Omar Hussein accused Western powers of dividing Muslims into nation-states, causing them to identify more with their nationalities rather than their faith.
“Verily, the reason behind Muslims’ weakness and disunity is because Muslims these days are separated and segregated by the tribal divisions,” Omar told hundreds who attended the congress.
“With nation-states in which political games have been arranged by the West since the fall of the caliphate on March 3, 1924.”
The date refers to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire’s caliphate, following the Turkish national movement led by Turkey’s first president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
HTM’s remark today came amid claims by several Umno leaders that racism is in line with Islamic teachings, with Tan Sri Annuar Musa saying in a pro-Malay rally last month that acting in defence of Malay honour was permitted in Islam so long as other races were not oppressed in the process.
Similarly, another leader in that #Merah169 rally, Sungai Besar Umno chief Datuk Jamal Md Yunos also claimed in an interview this week that Islam requires him to prioritise his race before his nationality.
HTM aims to establish an Islamic state in Malaysia and a worldwide caliphate as part of its global network, although it has never explained how.
It 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.
