A spokesperson for the supposedly ‘non-violent’ group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) has appeared on video calling for Muslims around the world to rise up against the governments of the countries in which they live, with special reference to “going abroad and visiting” the Middle East. 

Taji Mustafa – who is known for touring of British university campuses delivering lectures to young, impressionable students – gave a speech at a Friday mosque sermon last month in which he claimed: 

“Why is it that the [Muslim] armies have not moved? Is it that we don’t have armies? Is it that we are cowards? No, no, no. This Islamic nation has been blessed with men, with women, with faith, with people who long for martyrdom, with people who want to be the descendants of Saladin… Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan – we could drown this place. But what we have today is rulers who have abandoned the Quran.”

Mustafa’s words come as Britain finds itself mired in dealing with homegrown extremism which has led to over 500 jihadists absconding and moving to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside the brutal terrorist organisation ISIS. 

While counter-extremism experts have been warning about Hizb ut-Tahrir and the likes of Mustafa for years, the British government has been unable to proscribe the group for fear of being slapped down by the European Court of Justice. 

Meanwhile, HT speakers continue to tour UK universities and mosques with messages of jihad and war. Mustafa said in his sermon:

“The solution is clear: that Muslims have armies, and these armies should move. What we have today are rulers who prevent the armies of this nation from moving… It is not because we are weak, and it is not because we don’t have men or weapons. It is because the armies have been chained. The armies should be released. This is the Islamic solution… Maybe we have not reached them. You need to contact everybody you know in the army of the Muslims. Contact them, call them, visit them. Go abroad and visit them. You need to speak to them. You need to open their eyes.”

Mustafa’s comments are likely to attract the interest of the security services, who regard the incitement to visit foreign armies such as ISIS as a contravention of Britain’s counter terrorism law.

In the 2010, the Conservative Party’s election manifesto claimed that “A Conservative government will ban any organisations which advocate hate or the violent overthrow of our society, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir, and close down organisations which attempt to fund terrorism from the UK.” Cameron’s government did no such thing, allowing the likes of Mustafa to continue proselytising across the UK.

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