Press Release
The Secular Elite Refuse to Seriously Address the Real Underlying Causes of Youth Knife Crime in Britain

As more young lives are tragically lost to the rising knife violence that now characterises life for many of the young people of Britain, the Home Secretary can promise nothing but more face-saving gestures.

As each new Home Secretary arrives in the Home Office, they are shown charts which show crime rising inexorably and told “It is going to continue to go up and the first thing, Home Secretary, that you have to understand is that there is nothing you can do about it."

The British elite who run the government know well that in order to solve the endemic rising crime in the country, they would have to address the true underlying causes of crime, which is something they have no desire to do.

Lord Hogan-Howe, who led the Metropolitan Police force from 2011 to 2017, said a 93% rise in the number of under-16s stabbed over five years - revealed by Channel 4's Dispatches - was a "terrifying statistic" and "something has to change".

Yet, only the same tired solutions are offered: more policing, more stop and searches, more money for projects, more knife amnesties, and so on. The focus is always on the weapon, but not the behaviour and values of the people who carry the weapon, nor that of the people around them. Ever avoiding tackling the circumstances and values that lead the youth to carry and use weapons, their sense of hopelessness and feeling trapped in a gang-riddled and violent culture, the politicians and elite know well that such questioning will soon come back onto them and how they not only have failed the youth, but actually promote the same destructive and divisive values that are destroying the beauty of life itself.

It is not surprising that many youth do not feel like they belong in Britain, especially when more stop and searches mean more racial profiling in practice. Or, the “unwelcome foreigner” message is driven in bluntly with the hostile environment for immigration policy and the removal of citizenship from anyone who may have a claim to dual citizenship elsewhere.

The truth is that young people need to feel valued and protected, and that they have opportunities to succeed. But, even suggesting trying to understand the situation of the youth brought the haughty mocking of the press as they labelled it “hugging a hoodie”, instead, writing the youth off and serving cruel and harsh punishment on them.

This thoroughly emotional and irresponsible response of the wealthy elite and their media lackeys who live in affluent areas and so imagine that their own children are less likely to become victims, but really just exposes them burying their heads in the sand, to avoid the self-reflection that is so badly needed today.

The youth do not need to be surrounded by a culture that promotes selfish egos, power, uncontrollable lusts, devaluing other humans, devoid of spirituality and highly materialistic. However, these are the very values that liberal secular democracy is built upon; too valuable to be set aside by the secular elite whose only concern is their own enrichment, despite the harm that it brings to millions every day.

Less than a year ago we, Hizb ut Tahrir / Britain, commented on the causes of this ever increasing self destructive trend: “To understand the root cause of the huge levels of violent crime affecting the UK and other secular states, one needs to put the focus on the secular, materialistic and liberal beliefs and values which define these societies. Secularism itself has increasingly marginalised religion and the concept of accountability to a Creator, producing a spiritual void within societies and promoting individuals to sanctify their desires and use it as the measure of right and wrong. Materialism, one of the toxic fruits of capitalism, has led to individuals measuring their value and success based on possessions and wealth, creating the ‘get rich quick’ culture and the pursuit of lavish lifestyles, leading to countless robberies, muggings and even murders over monetary issues. This concept, has also nurtured an environment that has fuelled the formation and joining of gangs for material benefit – whether wealth or power; where there are ‘turf wars’ between groups of youth over something as superficial as domination over certain postcode areas in a city; and where the sanctity of human life has diminished to such a degree where someone can be attacked or killed over the most minor disagreements.” [1]

As Muslims, we believe the Islamic thoughts and Islamic rules offer a better way of life for humanity that gets to the root of the crime epidemic.

The Deen of Islam was revealed to save humankind from this chaos. The concept of taqwa, accountability to a Creator, the fulfilment of one’s desires according to His laws and regulations and the rejection of materialism, liberalism, and sexual freedoms creates societies where crime is minimal and the family has meaning and is protected.

[1] http://www.hizb.org.uk/comment/the-rise-of-murders-on-british-streets-is-the-inevitable-fallout-of-secular-liberal-materialistic-culture/

Yahya Nisbet
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain