Press Release

An Open Letter to the Media in the Russian Federation!

(Translated)

On Friday, 27th September 2013, members of Hizb ut Tahrir conducted peaceful actions and activities in several Russian cities in expression of their rejection of the war declared by the ruling authority against Islam and Muslims. This war is represented in demolished mosques, as happened in Kazan in January 2013 CE, and in the prevention of the Hijab in educational institutions, and the assassination of the member of Hizb ut Tahrir Gappaev Abdullah (Rahimahullah) on 16th September 2013, and the ban of the translation of the Holy Quran (translated by Elmir Kuliyev) on the next day directly, which will not be the last of such examples. Not to mention the ban by the Russian authorities placed on Islamic literature such as Ibn Hisham’s Seerah of the Prophet (saw), the book Sealed Nectar (Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum) authored by Safiy ad-Din al-Mubarakfuri, the book Gardens of the Righteous (Riyad as-Saliheen), and many other works of eminent Muslim Scholars from the likes of Imam al-Nawawi, whose book The Forty Nawawiyah (Al-Arba’een An-Nawawiyah) have been banned and many others…

Is all this not hostility against Islam and Muslims?!

Media outlets have commented on the activities of Hizb ut Tahrir under various headlines all which indicate the lack of these outlets of bold and unbiased professional journalism. This reminds us of the days of the Czars, when people were held like slaves and did not have the right to speak, or simply raise their eyes in the face of their masters. Some of the Russian media in hastening to satisfy their master in the Kremlin in their speeches of affection, and hackling behind a bunch of money, scrambled in publishing articles under malevolent headings such as “From the Mosques of Tchiliyabinsk the Members of a Terrorist Organization hand out Leaflets” and “Banners and Distribution of Leaflets” and “Islamists in Tyumen Protested Against the Ban of the Koran and the Veil in Russia”, and many others in the same style. The media used shameless lying and heavy fabrication against Hizb ut Tahrir to please their masters.

In this letter we want to remind the media in Russia of the simplest facts and truths, which cannot be changed by anyone:

First: Lies soon catch up with one, therefore your lying will be exposed quickly and you will be held accountable. You may be able to lie to some of the people all the time, and you can lie to all of the people some of the time, but you cannot lie to all the people all the time. This is a fact just as the alternation of day and night.

Second: You have continuously lied and deceived in your news that you publish about Hizb ut Tahrir, sometimes describing them as “Islamist Terrorists” and sometimes as a “Terrorist Organization” and other times as a “Global Terrorist Organization”, without any evidence of the validity of what you publish. We challenge you to bring forth a single evidence that connects Hizb ut Tahrir with one crime of what you remember if you can. But you will never be able because you are liars.

Third: The Muslims in Russia are part of the people who live in Russia, and are supposed to enjoy the same rights to practice the Deen they are satisfied with for themselves. If the ruling authority prosecutes them and prevents them from embracing the Deen they want, then the authorities have violated the rights of the people, and the one that violates the rights of the people is a terrorist and extremist according to your definition. Therefore the Russian government is a terrorist and extremist, not Hizb ut Tahrir or the Muslims.

The proofs of this are the persecution and violation of the rights of Muslims and their expulsion in tens of thousands of them from their country in the Crimea, Dagestan, Chechnya and others during the last century by the Russian state.

The rulers who oppress their own people and violate their rights are destined to fall from their thrones, and Russia’s rulers will be befallen by what has befallen their likes from Ghaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali. This is the inevitable fate of the tyrants.

Fourth: When people topple dictators and tyrants it does not stop with them, but they come to their helpers and their tails, and to those who have been pulling from behind them of liars and swindlers, especially those who invent lies against faithful pious believers! Reflect on where your leaders and masters are taking you, and seek refuge and stop before you head towards where they are heading. The state of falsehood remains only for an hour, whereas the state of truth remains till the end of time, and it will not be stopped by the oppression of your rulers nor your collusion with them. Take a lesson from the history of nations and people.

Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir