ABSTRACT
Since its inception, Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) members have seen themselves as the chosen Muslim elites who will save the Muslim world and bring it back to its glory days. It is this belief that has drawn hundreds of thousands of its activists around the world to work towards its final goal of reestablishing the Islamic Caliphate. HT is indeed an interesting and unique organization in many senses. First, HT is one of the few Muslim organizations that remains truly transnational, with party chapters spanning North America to Australia controlled by a central leadership based in the Middle East. Second, the movement has remained non-violent despite the intense physical repression it has encountered in some Muslim countries. Third, the movement seems to be growing in strength surprisingly at the expense of Islamic political parties operating in several Muslim countries. Immediate examples that come to mind are the HT movements in Palestine and Bangladesh. Thus, HT merits a more in-depth study, which this chapter seeks to fulfill. There will be three parts to this chapter. The first part will provide some brief details about HT’s history. The second will provide an analysis of its aims, beliefs, ideology and methodology, examining how it sets out to propagate and implement them. The final part will attempt to highlight the nature of HT’s activism following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Specifically, we will see how HT has modified its strategy of engagement following the events of 9/11.
