Dear Brother, honorable Editor-in-Chiefof the Khartoum NewspaperAssalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu,,,

Topic:Reply to Author of Article: “Islamification of the Sudanese Opposition”
(Translated)

We read in your respected Khartoum Newspaper, Issue No. 8517 on Thursday 15 Rabii' al-Awwal 1435 AH corresponding to 16 January 2014 CE, an article by Mr. Yaseen Hasan Basheer titled: "The Islamification of the Sudanese Opposition", where the writer criticized Islamic parties and groups, among them Hizb ut Tahrir, and said that these parties and groups oppose the regime on the basis of political Islam; which he described as slogans that have no clearly defined agenda, and therefore focus on the corruption of the rulers. And in his article the writer concluded that the flaw lies in political Islam, which he describes as a delusion, and requested effort and intellectual work to develop clear features of Sudanese political thought.

We are not intent on speaking on behalf of the Islamic groups and parties that the writer mentioned, but we will reply to what the writer's article contained considering that it concerns us, because he mentioned Hizb ut Tahrir as one of the Islamic parties and groups, and we respond to the points raised with the following:

First: We in Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Sudan do not oppose the regime, but we hold him to account on the basis of Islam, because in Islam there is no government and opposition, but in Islam the ruler is a servant of the Ummah, who implements the Ahkam Shariah that pertain to governance and politics and such, and the Ummah, individuals and groups, hold the ruler to account if he is inadequate in tending to the affairs, or deviates from the straight path, and the Messenger (saw) says:

«سيد الشهداء حمزة بن عبد المطلب ورجل قام إلى إمام جائر فأمره ونهاه فقتله»

"The master of the martyrs is Hamza ibn Abdul Mattalib, and a man who stands (in front of) an oppressive ruler and enjoins the good and forbids the evil and so is killed for it."

As for opposition, it is in contemporary political systems, where the people are satisfied to distance religion from politics, and made themselves deities or half deities who decree laws for the people, and the opposition and the government under these systems are two faces of the same coin, and the concern of the opposition is to take the place of the government by hunting for its errors, and not with the purpose of correcting it or holding it to account.

Second: We do not hold the regime accountable on the basis of the corruption of individuals, but our account of the regime has been and still is and will remain until the establishment of the Islamic State (the Khilafah "Caliphate") on the basis of the Islamic Aqeedah; which the current regime in Sudan differs from in all its governing and political systems, for the governance is not based on Islam, nor the economy nor foreign policy, where the governance is based on the basis of a western democratic republic (a conjecture of humans), and the economy is tied to the funds of international usury, which introduced us the resource of ruin, and the foreign policy is subject to the so called International Bill that the great Western states control (America, Britain, France and other states of Kufr). And with this foreign policy South Sudan was separated, and the rest of the territories of Sudan were prepared for fragmentation and shredding, and it is enough that we still are ruled by the disaster constitution of Nevasha; which is Western dictates in which Islam had no portion. Islam is not simply slogans, but laws either directly from the Allah's (swt) Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw), or built on correct Ijtihad, and the issue is not Islamists reaching authority, but Islam reaching authority, and the reality now in the entire world is that Islam is not in authority, even if some Islamists are in authority, they govern with the same contemporary Western systems, as is in Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey...

The crisis, brother, is indeed political, and the unrest and confusion that are taking place today are not because we rule by Islam, but because we are Muslims ruled by other than what Allah (swt) revealed, so there is a dichotomy between the Aqeedah of our ideology Islam, and between the laws and systems of life that we adopted without the ideology.

Third: The writer's accusation of the approach of political Islam that it is defective and a delusion, and that it is just slogans and that there is no clear agenda for governance and politics and economy and such, this is a serious accusation, and words that are not delivered even by the enemies of Islam, so how can they be delivered by a Muslim who says the Shahadatayn?! We give the writer the benefit of the doubt and say that he is ignorant of Islam that it is not just a priestly religion, and that it is a system of life in all its aspects, because accusing Islam of being deficient in laws dealing with politics and economy and society and such is to accuse it of being incomplete, and Allah (swt) has completed this Deen, so there is no reality or incident or issue that does not have a law in Islam, the one who knows this knows this and the one who is ignorant of this is ignorant of it, the Almighty (swt) says:

(الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسلامَ دِينًا)

"This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor to you." [al-Ma'ida: 3]

And the Almighty (saw) says:

(وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَى لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ)

"And We have sent down to you the Book making everything clear, as a guidance, and mercy, and glad tidings to those who submit." [al-Nahl: 89]

And this means that everything has a law in Islam.

The Prophet (saw), who is the infallible Prophet, the just ruler, and the visionary leader, has ruled by the laws of Islam in all aspects of life; political, economic, and social systems and others. And he (saw) defined to his companions and to all the people that the political system after him is the rightly guided Khilafah "Caliphate" on the path of Prophethood. He (saw) said:

كَانَتْ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ تَسُوسُهُمْ الأَنْبِيَاءُ كُلَّمَا هَلَكَ نَبِيٌّ خَلَفَهُ نَبِيٌّ وَإِنَّهُ لا نَبِيَّ بَعْدِي وَسَتَكُونُ خُلَفَاءُ تَكْثُرُ قَالُوا فَمَا تَأْمُرُنَا قَالَ فُوا بِبَيْعَةِ الأَوَّلِ فَالأَوَّلِ وَأَعْطُوهُمْ حَقَّهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَائِلُهُمْ عَمَّا اسْتَرْعَاهُمْ

"Banu Israel used to be ruled by Prophets, whenever a prophet died, another came after him, and there is no Prophet after me, but there will be Khulafa'a and they will number many." They said: "what would you order us to do?" He (saw) said: "Fulfill the Bay'ah (pledge of allegiance) to them one after the other, and give them their due right, surely Allah will account them for that which he entrusted them with."

Thus, the rightly guided Khulafa'a ruled after the prophet according to the rules of Islam in governance, politics, economics, and social affairs, etc., and did not take one rule from others. The Islamic state remained during more than three centuries the first state; politically, economically, militarily, scientifically and culturally ... It did not fall down except when it abandoned some of the Islamic laws, and allowed the laws of disbelief to enter its lands. Hence it was destroyed by the hands of the disbelieving colonialists and their slaves among the Muslims; who are fascinated by the West and its culture. Then, happened what befallen Muslims today; their state was divided into scanty little cartoon statelets-ruled by beasts who do not fear Allah in the Ummah, but are afraid of their masters in the disbelieving Western countries. As a result of this, came those who seek to reconcile Islam and Western secularism, adding fuel to the flames!

The question we would pose to the writer: Can Allah commands us to rule by that which He has revealed, yet there is nothing in what He has revealed systems of life and rules for us to govern and be governed by them?! Did not Allah in His Holy Book said:

(وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ)

"And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers." [Al-Ma'ida: 49]

Did not Allah the Almighty said:

(فَلا وَرَبِّكَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا)

"But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves". [An-Nisa: 65]

Did not our Lord the Almighty in his Holy Book say,

(وَأَنِ احْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَلا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَنْ يَفْتِنُوكَ عَنْ بَعْضِ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُصِيبَهُمْ بِبَعْضِ ذُنُوبِهِمْ وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنَ النَّاسِ لَفَاسِقُونَ)

"And judge, [O Muhammad], between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations and beware of them, lest they tempt you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you. And if they turn away - then know that Allah only intends to afflict them with some of their [own] sins. And indeed, many among the people are defiantly disobedient". [Al-Ma'ida: 49]

Allah the Almighty is high above, by great sublimity, that He orders us to do something that does not exist and is not real, or that which is an illusion as the writer said. So, we say that the method of Islam in governance and politics is a bright fact as the sun in broad daylight; Our Lord says:

(فَإِنَّهَا لا تَعْمَى الأَبْصَارُ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ)

"For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts". [Al-Hajj: 46]

So if the writer was serious and truly searching for the truth he would have searched Islam deeply, as he requested others to do, and would have reached the indisputable truth that Islam is beliefs, acts of worship (Ibadat), rules, transactions, punishments and a complete way of life from Allah, the Subtle, the Acquainted.

We, at Hizb ut Tahrir, from the basis of a Muslim being a mirror of his faithful, call upon the writer to study Islam as a complete method and way of life. We have prepared this method as the systems of life on the basis of Islam in detail in books, pamphlets issued by the party. We call him to study and adopt it if he finds it right, or to point out the fault if he finds faults; it is his duty as a Muslim. It is also our duty as a political party seeking to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing the second Khilafah "Caliphate" on the method of Prophethood; to elevate the Ummah from tyranny, and take the reins of the stray world today and lead it to goodness and justice.

We emphasize to the author that the Sudan he requested the Islamic groups and parties to put a clearly defined thought on the basis of which, is the illusion. Thus, the Sudan is not an idea from which system emanates, rather, the Sudan is a characteristic of people who live in a specific geographical area. It needs, like other countries, a correct ideology for its people to build upon which their lives, and to organize their affairs according to it.

We in Sudan are Muslims; so fundamentally, the great ideology of Islam should be the source from which the systems life; political, economic, social and others, emanate and are built upon. This is the way out for Sudan and all the lands of Islam, and also for the whole world.

Allah the Almighty has promised the empowerment of this Deen, not for those carrying its slogans, and turning back its rules and systems, but for the sincerely truthful who hold Islam as a message of guidance and light, who know its rules, and are committed to its method in all matters, big and small. Allah the Almighty says:

(وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا)

"Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them..." [An-Nur: 55]

We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path.

Ibrahim Othman (Abu Khalil)
Official Spokesman of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Sudan