Festival of Dangerous Ideas. I expect I'm going to be dumped on by many for saying what I'm about to say. But as we still believe in free speech (or at least I thought we did) I'll say it any way.
Uthman Badar should never have been asked to speak at the FODI event not because of the topic but because of who he represents; the organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.
The core international aim of Hizb-ut-Tahir is the re-creation of a unified and centrally administered Islamic state ruled under strict Islamic law. Hizb-it-Tahir claims to restrict their desire to create a Caliphate to existing Muslim countries which begs the question why are they so active in western countries including Australia. A question I have been asking for some years.
Hizb ut-Tahrirs’ interpretation of Islamic Law results in numerous extreme positions as laid out in their draft constitution. Their views are highly misogynist. They most strongly advocate that “the primary role of a woman is that of a mother and wife,” and they are not allowed to “take control of ruling” which bars women from becoming the Khaleefah or a judge. They also demand the segregation and the covering up of women. They are also sympathetic to such issues as under age marriage as recently expressed here. A recent discussion on their website talks of women being allowed to leave only with their husbands permission.
They call for homosexuality to be made illegal and strongly oppose same sex marriage. As they are totally committed to Sharia Law there's no need to spell out what this means for those charged with those offences. They also outspoken opponents of Western style democracy and instead favor a single elected Khaleefah with suffrage being restricted to Muslims only. Totally suppressing the rights of non-Muslims.
Whilst members of the organisation are committed to non-violent methods, they have been marred by continual criticism over the group’s voiced extremism; and while it does not engage in terrorist acts itself, it has been justifiably accused of being a “conveyor belt for terrorists. In the past it has supported violent groups such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Jama’ah Islamiyyah and a read of their website highlights their support of organisations such as ISIS.
So back to my original point. The discussion on honour killings is valid and should have been allowed if only to highlight the abhorrent nature of the practice and because we believe in free speech. Uthman Badar had he not been a member of Hizb-ut-Tahir should have been allowed to deliver the address so we can openly condemn it (and those who condone it and practice it) for what it is, murder.
As for Hizb-ut-Tahir Tony Abbott stated prior to the election he would ban them. We need to hold him to that now.
http://www.hizb-australia.orgHizb-ut-Tahir Australia
