In recent weeks, MENA Research Center has reported extensively on the demonstrations and rallies of “Muslim Interaktiv” in Germany. Today we want to take a closer look at the ideological superstructure behind the extremists and their connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. At the protests, slogans were heard and read that criticized German politics, particularly with regard to the Gaza war, and called for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. The organizer in Hamburg was always the “Muslim Interaktiv” movement; a similar caliphate demonstration with over 3,000 participants was organized by the “Generation Islam” network in Essen at the end of last year. The same organization is behind both groups: Hizb ut-Tahrir (“Liberation Party”).
The “caliphate movement” is a transnational Islamist organization. In the Arab world and Central Asia, it is persecuted by the state. In Indonesia, it was banned in 2017 as a threat to the “multi-religious character of the state.” It has been active in Europe for a long time. Its leader lives in London, where he benefits from freedom of expression. The group was founded in Jordan in 1953 in the context of both the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and modern Islamism, which received its main impetus from the end of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. Ideologically, Hizb ut-Tahrir is related to the Muslim Brotherhood. Its goal is to establish a caliphate in place of all nation states in the Islamic world and then on the entire planet. The caliphate is designed as a theocracy and is intended to lead back to a golden Islamic age. A “Constitution of the Caliphate” from 1963 calls for the rule of an autocratic caliph elected for life. A semi-democratic parliament assumes a control function. Islamic law is the basis for all decisions. Non-Muslims are allowed to live in the caliphate as tributary “dhimmis”. This mixture of theocratic and democratic elements is similar to the “Islamic Republic” of Iran, but older than it. According to the constitution, the caliphate is “allowed” to live in peace with non-Muslim states. Representatives of the party nevertheless often speak of the obligation to wage eternal war for the caliphate’s world domination.
After the most recent demonstration by “Muslim Interaktiv”, many people asked why this group was allowed. In fact, Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Germany. In 2003, it held a congress with representatives of the Nazi party NPD. The common ground was established through anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism and the idea that Muslims do not actually belong in Germany. The German Interior Ministry issued a ban on activities. Nevertheless, Hizb ut-Tahrir continues to operate under other names.
Theologically, Hizb ut-Tahrir follows a Sunni “middle path”: sectarian hatred of Shiites, for example, is alien to the group. Its propaganda is aimed at all Muslims. Unlike political Salafism, it does not seek a religious reorganization of Islam. For them, the decline of the Muslim community is less a result of declining piety than of a lack of political leadership. The group consistently rejects nations, unlike many Islamists who often remain tied to Arab or Turkish nationalisms, for example.
There is a strategy for establishing the caliphate, the “three-stage plan”. The first stage is the establishment of cells and cadres. Members are recruited and trained. The hierarchy of the party remains secret to avoid repression. The second stage is the spread of the ideology through propaganda and the infiltration of the elites in Muslim countries. The third stage is the seizure of power in the Islamic world and thus the violent struggle. After the establishment of the caliphate, the party is dissolved. This system is supposedly derived from the life of the Prophet Mohammed. The secular name “Party of Liberation” indicates the weak position of Islamism in the Arab middle classes in the 1950s. After its failure in the Arab world, Hizb ut-Tahrir turned into a global movement.
In Germany, too, the party is horizontally and vertically hierarchical. Initiation into the sect-like movement only takes place after advanced indoctrination. Newcomers have to cope with extensive reading. This guarantees a certain elite character. In the years following the official ban, local cells opened numerous propaganda channels on social media. The successful channels now form the core of the organization: the group “Reality Islam”, which accuses a so-called “German values dictatorship”, and the group “Generation Islam”, which addresses the global suffering of Muslims. There is also the movement “Muslim Interaktiv”, which organizes martial demonstrations such as the ones in Hamburg.
The messages are based on a simple identity narrative: Muslims are hated because they are Muslims. They must close ranks and defend themselves. “Reality Islam” inundates followers with content about real and supposed threats to Muslims in Germany. Everyone assumes a “values dictatorship” of the political and media elite that does not accept “social diversity” and attacks religious freedom. “Generation Islam” is responsible for inciting anger. The group constantly spreads images of Muslim victims and non-Muslim perpetrators. Palestine, Xinjiang, Myanmar, Syria, but also topics that are unusual for Islamists, such as Saddam Hussein’s poison gas attacks against Kurds in 1988. In this way, a great story of Muslim suffering is spun, which is always backed by the “West”. During the current Gaza war, the site posted AI-generated images of German politicians with demonic faces and bloody hands.
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