- 10 May 2018
[Political Economy] Hizb-ut-Tahrir and the Quest for the Illusive Caliphate
[This event was organised by MEI’s Political Economy Research Cluster as part of their monthly internal seminar series.]
Attendance was open to the NUS community only – Interested participants not from NUS could email meievent@nus.edu.sg.
Abstract
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a transnational organization founded by Islamic scholar Sheikh Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani in Jerusalem in 1953. An-Nabhani formed HT with stated objectives that included the revival of the Muslim World from its perceived decline and the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate. The organization has chapter in about 58 countries in the world. Despite various attempts to re-establish the Caliphate in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and more recently in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the group’s quest for the re-establishment has remained elusive. Taking the case study of HT in Indonesia, Dr Nawab argues that the failure of the Caliphate experience in Syria and Iraq, the banning of the movement in Indonesia and the rise of other Islamist actors in the country have forced the movement to localize its message and objective. This has led to the movement focusing on the implementation of Islamic law rather than the re-establishment of the Caliphate. This presentation sought to address larger literature on how transnational political movements localize their strategies and objectives.
About the Speakers
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Nanyang Technological University
Mohamed Nawab Osman is the Coordinator of the Malaysia Program at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. His research interests include the domestic and international politics of Southeast and South Asian countries, transnational Islamic political movements and counter-radicalization. Nawab has written various papers, books and journal articles relating to his research interests. He is the author of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia: Identity, Ideology and Religo-Political Mobilisation (Oxfon: Routledge, 2018) and the editors of Pathways to Contemporary Islam (Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 2018) and Islam and Peace-Building the Asia-Pacific (Singapore: World Scientific, 2017). Some of his articles have been featured in prominent journals such as Asian Security, Contemporary Islam, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Islamophobia Studies, Sociology of Islam, Southeast Asia Research, South Asia, Terrorism and Political Violence, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Indonesia and the Malay World and Contemporary Southeast Asia. Several of his opinion pieces have been featured in leading dailies such as The Straits Times, India Express, The Nation (Thailand), Jakarta Post, Manila Times and Today’s Zaman (Turkey). Nawab is a frequent commentator on political Islam, terrorism and Southeast Asian politics on CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera, TRT International and Channel News Asia.
