Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir, to the Questions of the Visitors to his Facebook Page "Fikri"
To: Mohamed Ali Bouazizi
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum,
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A short while ago, I read an article by one of the excellent youth whom I consider to be a pillar among the men of the Party. He said: "...and at the moment we are able to create sufficient public opinion for the Islamic political project embodied in the Islamic State and its unique political system in at least one of the countries, accompanied by sufficient support from the people of power and Nusrah (support) who will wrest authority from the puppet usurpers, the Islamic State will stand on its feet to change the face of history."
When I discussed this article with him, his response was: "Public opinion has not yet given us its leadership, even though we have a credit of respect and trust in some countries. Furthermore, the people of Nusrah usually do not give their leadership to those who do not have a popularity of significant weight in society."
I was disappointed by this opinion, along with a group of youth around me, as we were living with the idea that public opinion had already been established.
By virtue of the environment I live in and my contact, along with the group around me, with some lawyers, I can say with all confidence and comfort that public opinion exists in the Ummah regarding the inevitability of change on the basis of Islam.
As a Party, we want public opinion accompanied by general awareness of the Islam we present, and we want to bring the Ummah to the highest level if possible. However, in my opinion, this is not a condition for beginning the process of seeking Nusrah. This is because the Ummah has always chosen Islam emotionally; it did not research the Islam presented by the Nour Party, the Tunisian Ennahda, the Brotherhood, or Erdogan when it elected them. If they had found us on the scene involved in the international system, they would have chosen us before them, as they trust us and even urge us to participate in elections so they can choose us. Islam will return as something strange just as it began. To say that if we take power before the Ummah understands the Islam we present, it will turn away from us or say, "This is not the Islam I want," is inaccurate. This will not happen because the Ummah accepted ideas that were not from Islam at the end of the Ottoman State on the basis that they were from Islam, simply because "scholars" or the Sheikh al-Islam said so, without researching their correctness. To this day, it accepts what the polished Sheikhs on satellite channels say. When the Messenger ﷺ migrated to Madinah and took authority, public opinion was with Islam even though legislation was not yet complete.
When the Taliban reached power now, several topics were raised on Al-Waqiyah Channel about the Taliban: Should we ask them to announce the Khilafah? Should we advise them that their reference must be Islam and not to engage in the international system, etc.? Suddenly, the same young man whose opinion I quoted on public opinion says: The Taliban must have Islam as its reference, the Ummah as its support, and it must have depth in its surroundings, so it does not consider the borders between Muslim countries. This is correct and good talk, but he did not take into account public opinion as he sees it.
Is a specific public opinion required if the Party takes power, but not required if the Khilafah is announced by others?
Please benefit us, and may Allah have mercy on you.
Answer:
Walaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
May Allah bless you for your kind prayer for us, and we pray for goodness for you.
Regarding the answer to your question: Public opinion emanating from general awareness is a condition for seeking Nusrah. Any country in which this condition is fulfilled, then Nusrah is sought in it, provided that the country possesses the components of a state. If public opinion is realized in any country within the field of work, then seeking Nusrah becomes mandatory in it and in any other country that possesses the components of a state. That is, if public opinion is realized in any country of the field in the aforementioned manner, seeking Nusrah becomes obligatory in every country that has the components of a state, whether that country is to be a point of support (nuqtat al-irtikaz) or to be annexed to another country.
This public opinion was achieved in the mid-sixties of the last century, and thereafter the Party began to seek Nusrah across its entire field according to the circumstances of those countries and according to what the Party leadership deems appropriate. I mention below some relevant matters:
1- We mentioned in the "Answer to a Question" dated 5 Rabi’ al-Akhir 1389 AH, corresponding to 20/06/1969 CE, the following:
[...In early 1964, the Ummah's response to the Party was found in Jordan, i.e., in one of its provinces (and the joining of a neighboring country was confirmed, i.e., public opinion emanating from general awareness was found, as well as the components of a state). Thus, the response to the Party as a whole occurred as if it happened in its entire field. Therefore, the seeking of Nusrah was restricted to one of the two matters (one is to enable it to carry the Dawah, and the second is to bring it to power); it was restricted to seeking Nusrah to take power. From that time until now, it has been working on seeking Nusrah to take power. Seeking Nusrah to take power is a Tariqah (method) and not an Uslub (style); meaning it is a Shari'ah rule that must be adhered to, and not one of the actions necessitated by reality. Therefore, the Party adhered to seeking Nusrah. However, the actions of seeking Nusrah are massive and dangerous, and not every member is capable of performing them, nor is it right for the Party to assign them to just any member. Therefore, it was not possible to assign them to all members... The Messenger ﷺ sought Nusrah from tribal leaders or heads of states, and he sought Nusrah from the delegations that came to Makkah, and from the strong men who frequented the House, meaning he sought Nusrah from the strong group that is capable of providing support. Mus'ab bin Umayr sought Nusrah from the leaders of Madinah, and sought Nusrah from the strong men, then he gathered them one by one and took them as a single bloc to the Messenger ﷺ to actually provide support, hand over the authority of Madinah to him, defend the Dawah, and face death in the way of protecting it.
This reality is the exact same reality that the Party follows in seeking Nusrah. It seeks it as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sought it and as Mus'ab sought it, whether by the Messenger’s method of seeking Nusrah from a single group, or by Mus'ab's method which the Messenger ﷺ approved, which is seeking Nusrah from strong individuals one by one and then gathering them into one group to actually provide the Nusrah...]
2- We mentioned in the "Answer to a Question" dated 12 Muharram 1390 AH, corresponding to 20/03/1970 CE, the following:
(The point of support (nuqtat al-irtikaz) is the place where the state is established, i.e., the place where the Party takes over the authority... meaning if it does not possess all the components of a state, it is not suitable to be a point of support unless... there is another place, i.e., another entity that is certain to respond to it if the state is established there, and all the components of the state can be provided by both of them together or by one of them...
...Jordan responded by itself without effort from the Party, so it became necessary for the Party to work to take power in Jordan. The Party began to work in Jordan and elsewhere to create the sufficient material power capable of taking authority through seeking Nusrah, especially after the response was confirmed by another entity. Thus, it became possible for Jordan to be a point of support, and it became possible to take authority in it, because the conditions for a point of support were fulfilled in it.
...Madinah was suitable to be a point of support because it possessed the components of a state relative to the states of the Peninsula; in fact, Taif was also suitable to be a point of support because it possessed the components of a state relative to the states of the Peninsula...
Seeking Nusrah is an extremely difficult and dangerous matter; it requires extraordinary manhood and courage, extraordinary persistence and methods, and it requires patience, deliberation, and good judgment...)
3- As for "actual leadership," this is difficult to achieve in current circumstances before the establishment of the state because public opinion achieves "intellectual leadership," and it is not accompanied by "actual leadership" unless the Ummah is governing itself, as was the case in the era of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Today, however, Muslim countries are ruled by colonial disbelievers directly or indirectly. Therefore, if public opinion emanating from general awareness—i.e., intellectual leadership—is achieved in any part of the field and the components of the state are present in it, seeking Nusrah becomes obligatory. As for actual leadership, it is achieved upon the establishment of the state in situations such as those we live in.
4- We issued a clarification on these matters in an answer to a question similar to yours, issued on 20/09/2011, which stated:
[- General Awareness:
- Awareness (Al-Wa'i) comes from wa'aa. Linguistically: (Wa'i: The heart's preservation of something. He wa'aa the thing and the Hadith means he preserved it, understood it, and accepted it. He is wa'in (aware). So-and-so is aw'aa (more aware) than so-and-so, meaning more preserving and understanding. In the Hadith:
نَضَّر اللَّهُ امْرَأً سَمِعَ مَقالَتي فوَعاها، فرُبَّ مُبَلَّغٍ أَوْعى مِنْ سامِعٍ
"May Allah brighten a man who hears my words and understands them; perhaps the one to whom it is conveyed is more understanding than the one who heard it.") [Lisan al-Arab].
- General (Al-'Aam) means that this perception covers the most prominent aspects of the issue. For example, awareness of the Khilafah is not just partial knowledge of the word Khilafah, but also some prominent rules regarding it: that it is an obligation, one Khalifah, a pledge (Bay'ah) based on consent and choice... and knowing some of the prominent powers of the Khalifah, such as managing internal and external affairs... We say "some" because general awareness does not mean knowing all the details; rather, a general overview is sufficient for a person to be aware of the Khilafah with general awareness... and so it is for other matters.
General awareness has indeed been achieved in parts of the field of Dawah, and as is known, if it is achieved in one of the fields, the stages of work proceed together in other regions to catch up with the parts where it was achieved... until it is achieved in all aspects of the Ummah, by Allah's permission.
Achieving general awareness is a condition for beginning to seek Nusrah... but it is not a condition that it be achieved in all fields. This general awareness has been achieved in more than one field since the early sixties, so the Party began seeking Nusrah. In every country where it is decided to seek Nusrah, the Party intensifies its work on public opinion emanating from general awareness so that the two matters are achieved in two parallel lines.
The realization of general awareness in a place does not mean it cannot be shaken or disturbed by local and international forces, nor does it mean those forces cannot spread deception and falsehoods...
We have mentioned in more than one place "public opinion emanating from general awareness"... if we sometimes mention "public opinion" alone, or "general awareness" alone, it is correct because the required public opinion is that which emanates from general awareness; they are in one chain, and mentioning one part of the chain without the other is correct...
The Party has taken the intellectual leadership of the Ummah in more than one place... but since the Ummah does not rule itself, and does not make its own decisions—rather the decision is from the masters of its rulers who are agents to those masters—then intellectual leadership is not necessarily accompanied by actual leadership. If the Ummah were ruling itself, and its ruler was from it by its choice, then actual leadership would be linked with intellectual leadership; if the Ummah responded to you intellectually, its actual leadership would be yours...
As for the reality today, actual leadership might be achieved in some aspect, but it is more likely that actual leadership in general is truly achieved after taking power, Allah willing.] End.
As you see in the previous answer, what you mentioned and what the "excellent" brother mentioned are both correct, and there is no contradiction between you, because:
The brother is apparently speaking, according to what you quoted, about taking the actual leadership of the people, where he says: ("Public opinion has not yet given us its leadership"), so he is speaking of public opinion reaching a degree where the people give us their actual leadership... and this has not been achieved in this manner... and the realization of actual leadership is not a condition for seeking Nusrah. Rather, public opinion emanating from general awareness is sufficient—meaning our ideas have respect from many people in at least one province as we explained above, and likewise the Khilafah for which we work has gained public opinion, and thus this is sufficient for the obligation of seeking Nusrah.
As for you, you are speaking about public opinion emanating from general awareness that makes the Party seek Nusrah from the people of power and protection, and this is undoubtedly occurring...
I hope this is sufficient.
Your Brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
29 Safar al-Khayr 1443 AH Corresponding to 06/10/2021 CE
Link to the answer from the Ameer's page (may Allah protect him) on Facebook