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Showing posts from January, 2012

American Iranian Tensions: Brinkmanship or War?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم American Iranian Tensions: Brinkmanship or War? Recent tensions between Western powers and Iran have again embroiled the region in a diplomatic frenzy, as nations scramble to shield themselves from the fallout of America's renewed confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme. Iranian military exercises laced with fiery rhetoric emanating from Tehran, and the presence of Western warships to enforce sanctions in the Persian Gulf has caused international panic. Against the backdrop of Iranian threats to close the Straits of Hormuz, oil prices have spiked and speculation is forever mounting about Israeli and American military strikes against Iran. For instance, the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hinted at military action in the event Iran went too far. He said, "We have to make sure we are ready for any situation and have all options on the table. We must keep all capabilities ready in the event those lines are crossed." (Tensions high,

Speech of Sheikh Ahmad al-Qasas on the occasion of the UN's ESCWA Conference

This is the text of a press conference given by Ahmad Al Qassas, the head of the Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir-Lebanon, on the occasion of the Conference of ESCWA [United Nations Regional Economic and Social Development Commission in Western Asia] in Beirut, which was inaugurated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations under the title of "Reform and Transitions to Democracy". وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ عَلَى مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ * وَإِذَا تَوَلَّى سَعَى فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ وَاللَّهُ لَا  يُحِبُّ الْفَسَادَ (And of mankind there is he whose conversation on the life of this world pleases you (Muhammad), and he calls Allah to witness as to that which is in his heart; yet he is the most rigid of opponents. And when he turns away (from you) his effort is to make mischief in the land and to destroy the crops and the cattle; and Al

Introduction to The Essential Elements of the Islamic Disposition (nafsiyyah)

The following is the translation of the introduction of the book 'The Essential Elements of the Islamic Disposition (Nafsiyah)' issued by Hizb ut Tahrir and published in Beirut, Lebanon in 1425 AH. The personality ( shakhsiyyah ) of every human being is composed of the mentality ( ‘aqliyyah ) and disposition ( nafsiyyah ). His physical characteristics and all other aspects have no bearing on his personality - these are only superficialities. It would be pointless for anyone to think that such aspects have any relevance or bearing upon the composition of the human personality. The mentality ( ‘aqliyyah ) is the tool used for understanding things; meaning it is the mode for passing judgement on reality according to a specific standard which man believes in and trusts. If his understanding of things in terms of passing judgement upon them is based on the Islamic ‘Aqīdah , then he has an Islamic mentality, if not he has a mentality other than the Islamic mentality. The behav

The Islamic Khilafah - the difference between sticking to principles and compromise

The newspaper 'Al-Masriyoon' published on 29/11/2011 the statements of the general guide (leader) of the 'Muslim Brotherhood' Dr Muhammad Badee' which he made in his weekly address when he said: "That the group was close to achieving its greater objective as specified by Imaam Hasan Al-Banna the founder of the group, and that is the establishment of the just and rightly guided ruling system, its institutions and elements which would comprise a government which would be followed by the rightly guided Khilafah and leadership of the world". These statements stirred up outrage from the secularists in Egypt (those who have been battling to preserve the secular system in Egypt since the outset of the revolution on the 25th of January 2011 and who reject in a decisive manner any talk about there being an Islamic form of governance). As a result Dr Abdur Rahman Al-Barr (a member of the leadership council of the group) reacted to address what had r