Hizb ut-Tahrir/ Malaysia calls on armies to move to defend Gaza

KUALA LUMPUR 9 Jan - The Headquarters of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) at Jalan Padang Tembak experienced a totally different atmosphere today. Cry of takbeer and calls for jihad filled the air as activists of Hizb ut Tahrir/ Malaysia (HTM) assembled in front of the gate of MAF headquarters with the intention of handing over a special memorandum to the Malaysian Armed Forces calling them to move against the cruel Zionist regime in an effort to protect the Muslims in Gaza. March towards the MAF office begun after Friday prayers at the Khalid al-Walid Mosque situated near the headquarters. HTM called upon the ummah to join arms in demanding that MAF declare jihad against Israel. Jihad that needs to be declared is the real jihad - jihad fi sabilillah - with MAF moving all its Armies, Air Forces and Navy in order to protect our brothers and sisters that are currently being slaughtered by the Zionist regime in Gaza. As one of the Armed Forces of the Muslim ummah, it is obligatory (wajib) that MAF moves to Gaza without any delay!

Ustaz Umar Hussein, speaking in front of more than 1,000 Muslim after the prayers, called with full vigour and spirit to the Malaysian Armed Forces to accept the call of jihad from Gaza. In his speech, he made clear that the only real solution for the leaders to make is to send armed forces to Gaza to fight the Zionist regime of Israel who is now, as he speaks, freely slaughtering Gaza without being opposed by a single Muslim army.

Cruelty of the Zionist regime in Gaza can only be stopped by sending armed forces to fight the Jews, the enemy of Allah and of the Muslim ummah. An act of war must only be answered by act of war. Strength can only be answered by strength. Boycott of Israeli and American products, sending humanitarian aid and condemnation is just not enough!

Just before the rally, the khutbah delivered at the Khalid al-Walid mosque also talked about the slaughter in Gaza. The khatib delivered the khutbah in high spirit and lectured about how the illegal state of Israel was established. He forcefully condemned the perpetration carried out by Israel, a state which was delivered (its birth) by the British under the Balfour declaration. However, the khatib failed to present the real solution to the problem in front of the hundreds of army officers listening to his khutbah in the mosque.

Instead of calling for jihad, he called upon Muslims to read history in order to have the right perception of what is going on in Palestine. He also called for Muslims to have tawakkal, spend effort to rid themselves of wahn (love of life and hatred of death) and finally called for the boycott of American and Israeli products, conduct more exhibitions on Palestine and for Muslims to build emotional strength in order to move.

Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia was very clear in its call after the Friday prayers, right in front of the mosque, that the only right and rational solution to the problem of Palestine is to move the armed forces of the Muslim ummah for jihad fi sabilillah. The armies must be directly involved in the fight (jihad) against the Zionist regime who is at the moment without any mercy killing our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

Ustaz Isa Abdullah, an HTM activist continued the speech by reminding the military that as he is speaking, hundreds of children have lost their parents, wives losing their husbands and suffering seems far from subsiding - houses continue to be bombed and destroyed by the Zionist regime of Israel leaving our brothers and sisters exposed and shivering in the freezing winter of Gaza. He also reminded the armed forces of the Muslim ummah that they are in fact, strong. It is however unfortunate that the leaders of the ummah have stopped the armies from moving and declaring jihad. The armed forces and their weaponries are instead made objects of exhibition and show.

At the end of his speech in front of the Khalid al-Walid mosque, the rally, which consists of HTM members and the ummah started to move towards the main gate of the MAF headquarters in order to deliver the memorandum to the The Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces. along the parade, which took about 15 minutes, roars of jihad slogans directed towards the military filled the air - "Aina jundul Muslimin! Li Tahriri Falastin" (Where are the Muslim armies! To free the land of Palestine) "Khaibar Khaibar Ya Yahud! Jaisyu Muhammad Saufa Ya'ud" (Khaibar Khaibar oh Jews! The armies of Muhammad shall surely return). Takbeer and tahmeed also filled the air and these were repeated until the parade reached the gates of MAF headquarters (Ministry of Defense).

Upon reaching the main gate, Ustaz Umar Hussein gave instructions to the masses to control themselves and not to obstruct the traffic. Cry of takbeer and tahmeed continuously filled the air.

Ustaz Abdul Hakim Othman, the President of Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia headed the HTM delegation to meet and deliver the memorandum to the Chief Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces. The delegation included Ustaz Umar Hussein, Brother Tarmizi Salleh and Brother Norazman Mustafar who are all members of the Central Committee of HTM.

The memorandum reminds MAF that the only solution to the problems in Gaza is to send the Malaysian armed forces there. This responsibility is not only on the shoulders of the Malaysia Armed Forces but it is also the responsibility of all the armed forces in the Muslim lands. HTM also reminds that the weaponries of MAF are not meant to be objects of exhibition and training but should be used to help our brothers and sisters in Palestine and must be used to destroy the enemies of Allah.

The leaders of the Muslim ummah have committed a grave crime by not moving our armies to Palestine. They instead continue to betray the ummah by putting their hopes on kufr organizations such as the UN to save Palestine although in fact it is the UN that was responsible for the creation of Israel and have always supported it.

The HTM memorandum instills in MAF the spirit of jihad to save the Muslims in Palestine who are still being slaughtered by the Jewish army la'natullah. HTM reminds MAF that it is the army who is most capable of carrying out this duty (jihad). The army is advised not to betray the Muslims by supporting the coward leaders that have betrayed the ummah. HTM stressed that jihad is the only solution to this problem, and if jihad is launched, our brothers and sisters will be delivered from the evils of the enemies of Allah and InsyaAllah, Israel will be destroyed. This is because Allah and His Angels will be with the Muslims armed forces when they fight the enemies. Allah says:

"Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands, and disgrace them and give you victory over them, and heal the breasts of a believing people" [TMQ at-Taubah (9):14].

Probably due to the fact that the MAF is not used to this new situation (handing over of such memorandum) or probably due to tight protocols, the delegation headed by Ustaz Hakim had to wait for quite a while before the memorandum was successfully handed over. Initially HTM was told that the Chief of MAF had been informed of the intention and would receive the memorandum himself or via a representative. After a short while, the main gate was closed and the HTM delegation was left outside the gate and faced a long delay in delivering the memorandum. All the while takbeer and tahmeed filled the air consistently.

In the wait, there was no sign that the Chief of the MAF or his representative was prepared to receive the memorandum. The HTM delegate was also asked to leave the area, without handing over the memorandum. Nevertheless, after some negotiation, a number of MAF staff was willing to accept the memorandum on behalf of the Jeneral of MAF. We would like to express our gratitude to the MAF staff who was ‘brave' enough to accept such memorandum.

Alhamdulillah, the delivery of the memorandum went on well. HTM hopes that the memorandum will indeed arrive at the hands of the Commander of MAF or the Prime Minister of Malaysia himself, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also the Minister of Defence.

At around 3.00pm, the occasion ended with the making of do'a by Ustaz Isa, asking help from Allah SWT so that the Malaysian Armed Forces realises its responsibility and so that they and all the Muslim armed forces be aided in destroying Israel if they were to move in jihad against the illegitimate state. If they do not move, HTM makes do'a to Allah that this government is replaced by the Khilafah "Caliphate" that rules by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Rasul. This state will then send armed forces for jihad to defeat the enemies of Allah and to free Muslims all over the world from their clutches and domination. Amin ya Rabbal ‘Alamin.