A few years ago, a colleague and I met a journalist who had just returned from living in the Middle East and who was quite amazed at the hysterical media reporting about Muslims in the UK. They wanted to understand the issues affecting the Muslim community. "Why is there a higher proportion of Muslims in prison compared to the number of Muslims in the wider UK population?" they asked. That got me thinking. Indeed, why are Muslims 3% of the UK population but 11% of the UK prison population?

I was reminded of that conversation recently as last week's newspapers reported three horrific crimes committed by some Muslims. A Muslim boy repeatedly stabbed and murdered his former girlfriend after she had broken up their relationship. Another befriended two well-to-do pensioners then murdered them because he wanted to steal their money to pay off his debts and in another horrific case two young boys murdered a shop keeper as they stole sweets, cash, cigarettes and alcohol. Subhanallah!

What values lead these Muslims to commit such horrendous crimes? What will happen if more Muslims assimilate and embrace some of the Western values that David Cameron, Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and others continuously lecture us about?

Since 1993, the number of Muslim prisoners has risen threefold and Muslim prisoners constitute an increasing proportion of the prison population. The sad reality is that like many in the wider population, most Muslims end up in jail because of involvement in petty crimes, drugs, alcohol and violent offences. How did our community get here?

Parents were law abiding citizens

The first generation of Muslims who arrived in the West in the 1950s and 60s came with Islamic views and practices different to those in the society. An example is the Islamic believe in marriage as the only valid framework for intimate relationships between men and women, as opposed to cohabitation or having boyfriends and girlfriends.

They also came with Islamic values including a belief in abiding by the Creator's commands in our daily lives as opposed to the wider society's ‘freedom' to live as you like. Muslims believe in accountability to the All Aware Creator and that when if commits a crime, even if they are not caught or punished in this life, there is no evading accountability by the Creator in the next life.

"Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that believer who has At-Taqwa  [consciousness of Allah]. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware" [TMQ Surah 49:13]

This idea forms a powerful deterrent against vile, unruly and violent behaviour and that is why many of the first generation of Muslims turned out to be amongst the most respectful and law-abiding members of society.

Western values and crime

As their children grew up with a constant diet of ‘freedom' and ‘life is about what makes you happy', it was inevitable that some forgot this concept of accountability to Allah (swt) and simply sought material pleasures at any cost. After all, a popular mantra in the west says ‘you only live once, enjoy life to the max'. So we started to witness an increase in the number of Muslims committing the type of crimes prevalent in the wider society. In terms of values, these Muslims have embraced the culture of freedom, disrespect for elders and authority, and licentiousness which are some of the prevalent values in the West.

More assimilation, more problems

As a more aggressive assimilation agenda sweeps across Europe, more and more strident voices are demanding that Muslims must embrace western values. Muslims should challenge these voices by highlighting the consequences of some of these values in the wider society. Neglect of the elderly, the degrading objectification of women for profit, high levels of crime and reoffending, and increasing drug and alcohol abuse by ever younger children are just a few effects of the freedom, licentiousness and ‘do whatever makes you happy' culture that even some in the West are starting to question.

So the more Muslims succumb to this intimidation and demands to give up some of our Islamic beliefs in order to be accepted, the more we will see Muslim families being afflicted by the same problems that are prevalent in society. The more we let go of our values of modesty, abiding by Allah's (swt) shariah, respect for elders, accountability to Allah (swt) and other Islamic concepts, the more we will see some Muslims involvement in committing heinous crimes against other members of society and a consequent contribution to the ever rising prison population.

In a recent report, Anne Owers the Chief Inspector of prisons wrote that "Many Muslim prisoners also stressed the positive and rehabilitative role that Islam played in their lives, and the calm that religious observance could induce in a stressed prison environment". So for some in prison, it is actually a discovery of Islam that helps them to start living a crime free life which is why 30% of the Muslim inmates are said to be converts.

As ambassadors of Islam, we Muslims need to stand for Islam, stand by our noble Islamic values, teach them to our children, reinforce them in our Mosques, madrasas, schools and other institutions and discuss them with the wider society, especially when some demand  that we leave them. One result will be that non-Muslim teachers and the elderly will marvel at the respect afforded them by Muslim students and youngsters who embody these values, Muslim families will be seen as strong, loving and united, and Muslims will end up being under represented in the prison population. And we should also be at the forefront of challenging those western values which are wrecking havoc with the lives of people in the west and in the east.

Taji Mustafa

Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain

     On 15^th October (2010), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended a Hindu religious ceremony in a temple and lied about the interpretation of the ayah of the Noble Qur'an. While talking to the devotees about communal harmony in the country she stated that Islam permits adopting secularism and to support her view she misquoted the last ayah of Surah Al-Kafirun as ‘to each is their religion.' In truth by her statement opportunist Sheikh Hasina is giving false meaning to the noble ayah of Allah (SWT) in order to achieve her lowly political goals. The ayah does not use the word ‘religion' at all; rather it uses the word ‘deen' which means ideology or way of life. The ayah says, ‘to you be your deen, and to me my deen.'

We are noticing that Sheikh Hasina, who is an expert at playing with the people's Islamic sentiments at the time of elections under this corrupt system which denies the people their rights, is frequently and deliberately lying to the people about the meaning of this ayah. The true meaning of the ayah is evident from the timing and the events surrounding its revelation. The whole of Surah Al-Kafirun was revealed when the disbelievers of Makkah, after failing to desist the Prophet (SAW) from conveying the Dawah to Islam through persecution, offered a compromise that they will accept to worship Allah (SWT) in exchange for Muhammad (SAW) accepting to worship their idols. Their offer was unequivocally rejected by Prophet (SAW); this is very clearly elucidated in the Surah:

"Say (O Muhammad): "O Al-Kafirun! I worship not that which you worship. Nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping. Nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your deen and to me my deen." [Surah Al-Kafirun: 1-6]

Sheikh Hasina should know that by adopting secularism and taking the role of a legislator she is committing the unforgivable sin of associating partners with Allah (SWT), who is Al-Hakim. Allah (SWT) says,

"The command (or the judgement) is for none but Allah."  [Surah Yusuf: 40]

"And whoever seeks a deen other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [Surah Ali-Imran: 85]

By her silence and negligence of these ayat Sheikh Hasina has also exposed herself as a lying deceiver to the Muslims of the country. The creed of secularism by which she has made herself sovereign like Fira'un has no place in Islam. And by the leave of Allah (SWT), the Muslims will soon end the reign of this secular system which forces hundreds and thousands of the people in the country to sleep under the open sky, failed to satisfy the basic needs of the people and solve their daily problems. They will soon establish the Khilafah "Caliphate" which will satisfy the needs and secure the rights of all people, Muslims and non-Muslims.

London, UK, September 23rd 2010 - On Thursday 23rd September, a Federal US Court in Manhattan, New York sentenced Dr. Aafia to 86 years in prison for the attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan. It follows a farce of a trial and courtroom circus based upon bogus claims that resulted in a guilty verdict despite the absence of any credible evidence.

    Yesterday US State Department's spokesman P.J. Crowley told the reporters: "We have made no secret of the fact that we've told Pakistan clearly that we believe that the existential threat to Pakistan is not India; the existential threat to Pakistan involves extremism within its own borders".   This is not the very first time America has tried to "teach" Pakistan what its security paradigm should be.  US has found Pakistan's ‘India-centric' military training and defence paradigm counter-productive to her "war on terror".  Sincere elements within the Pakistan army have always resisted increase in troop deployment in the Tribal region and Pak-Afghan border, sighting Indian threat on the eastern borders.  America wants Pakistani officers fully concentrating on capturing and killing Muslim "extremists" and "terrorists" rather than thinking about India.  Also, US wants to eliminate any feeling of threat and animosity within the Muslims of Pakistan as she wants to achieve a long term strategic objective in the region whereby Pakistan and India as a block will be used against China.  Actually, State Department's statement shows its naivety as they believe that people of Pakistan are going to buy it!  The Ummah sees US as the biggest threat to their existence followed by India.  This type of childish statement is not going to change Ummah's deep rooted feelings towards US and India which are based on pure hard facts.

P.J. Crowley's issued the above statement on the backdrop of a high-level delegation visiting US for the next round of "strategic dialogue" between Pakistan and America.  This delegation includes Pakistan's Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and Foreign Minister Shah Memood Qureshi.  The most important agenda point in this dialogue is operations in Tribal region including North Waziristan.  Pakistan has already quietly restarted operations in all major areas including, Swat, Orakzai, Khyber, Kurram Agency etc. which were halted during flood relief activities.  The government was successful in doing it without attracting attention and criticism of the masses as they used the issue of termination of NATO supply-line as a smoke screen.  But they have still not been able to start a new operation in North Waziristan due to huge internal pressure within the Army and patriotic factions of the intelligentia.  US have been pushing Pakistan for a new operation in North Waziristan against the Haqqani network for quite some time now.  Spokesman of Pakistan's foreign office said yesterday that "If we need to launch an operation in NWA then we may launch it tooth and nail".  He further added that some 34,000 troops are already stationed in Waziristan.

One views is that US and Pakistani leadership may not be really interested in a large scale military operation rather they are only using this threat as a ‘stick' against the Haqqani network so that they may provide help in negotiation with Afghan Taliban.  Recently, there have been media reports that members of Haqqani network has already  started to play an important role in establishing US contacts with Taliban for negotiations.

As the whole government is sucked into "dialogue" with US, Pakistan remains plunged into darkness and chaos.  The electricity outages continue even though the weather is no longer hot.  Karachi bleeds on a daily basis; tens of people are gunned down every day in what is known as "target killings".  Sui Southern Gas and Petroleum Limited (SSGPL) have already announced Gas load-shedding for this winter - another fake crisis which will engulf the masses for the next four months.  The US's strategy for Pakistan has not change i.e. keep the masses entangled with their day-to-day problems while US consolidates its hegemony of the region.  And the Pakistani rulers are fully cooperating with America in fulfilling this plan.  People are fed-up and the call for ‘Change' is gaining strength with the passage of each day. Hizb ut- Tahrir has launched a full-fledged campaign to seize the moment.  To educate the Ummah that ‘Change' means uprooting these agent rulers and establishing the Khilafah "Caliphate", Hizb ut-Tahrir has announced country-wide Khilafah "Caliphate" rallies on 5^th of November 2010.  We are confident that this campaign will put us a step closer to our destination - the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate".  May Allah put Barakah and Khair in this endeavour.  Ameen!

Naveed Butt

The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan