[a][b] Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in 1953 as a political organization in then-Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem by Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, a Palestinian Islamic scholar from Haifa who was educated in Egypt and served as a qadi (religious court judge) in Mandatory Palestine.

[32] Hizb ut-Tahrir has been banned in Bangladesh,[34] China,[35] Russia,[36] Pakistan,[37] India,[38] Germany,[39][40] Turkey,[41] the United Kingdom,[42] Kazakhstan[43] and "across Central Asia",[44][45] Indonesia,[46][47] and all Arab countries except Lebanon, Yemen and the UAE.

[85] Olivier Roy describes the strategy as a "global, grassroots revolution, culminating in a sudden, millenarian victory", as opposed to a slog through a political process "that risks debasing the Koran and perpetuating the ummah's subjugation to the West".

[109] While one media pack published by HT emphasizes that membership "is open to all Muslim men and women regardless of their nationality, race or school of thought",[111] critics complain of the party's need for "absolute, unequivocal acceptance of the Movement's dogma", its ignoring of spiritual aspects of Islam,[112] and discouraging of free airing of views or "challenging statements".

[97] Patel also told Jamestown that if "the future Caliph" is not a member of HT, the party will offer the constitution to him as a "working document" which he can "accept, amend or indeed reject in favor of his own opinion and Ijtihad (interpretation)".

The HT "Information Pack" for the Britain Media states that "the suggestion that Hizb ut-Tahrir will be permitted to engage in an armed struggle when the Caliphate re-emerges, is absolutely false",[146][t] but Michael Whine[u][18][147] quotes HT founder An-Nabhani urging Muslims to follow the example of the original Islamic empire attacking and conquering adjacent territory of Persia and the Byzantine Empire, noting "what are we to say about the Ummah today; numbering more than one billion, ... She would undoubtedly constitute a front which would be stronger in every respect than the leading superpowers put together".

[172] Statements also conflict as to whether offensive jihad must wait for the caliphate to be established (as the head of HT Britain, Jalaluddin Patel, told an interviewer in 2004),[97] or requires only an "amir" to lead Muslims (Hizb ut-Tahrir pamphlet).

[176][177] Regarding traditional hudud penal code, the HT text Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir describes their abandonment as part of the "misinterpret[ation of] the Islamic rules to adapt them to contemporary life" that started in the late 19th century.

[181] After several Western governments condemned this sentence, Hizb ut-Tahrir issued a statement affirming that "the ruling of the Legislator, Allah the Almighty, for apostasy is death" and that a Muslim should not "seek the satisfaction of the hostile Kaffir West upon the descent of the Shar'i provision".

[193][13] Critics (Sardar, Kadri, Ahmed & Stuart) complain that the "particular sharia" advocated by HT would contravene the standards and values of "universal human rights",[19] and "was formulated in the ninth century and is frozen in history.

"[196] These limitations include not being able to hold ruling positions such as caliph, chief justice,[ab] provincial governor, or mayor; being required to cover their body (except face and hands) in public;[196][197] not being able travel without a male mahram,[ac] disobey her husband, or marry a non-Muslim.

Capitalism is based on the idea of "the separation of religion from life",[210] and supported by the "pillars" of democracy,[211] "pluralism" (the recognition and affirmation of diversity and peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles), "human rights and free market policies".

One (known as Muqadimmat ul-Dustur aw asbab ul-Muwajjabbat lah or "The Introduction to the Constitution or the Causes of its Obligation"[246]) noted those in the Dar al-Harb ("House of War", i.e. outside of the HT Islamic State/Caliphate) are "considered belligerent in government (muharibeen hukman)", even if "we have a treaty with them" or there are "no actual hostilities (qital)" with them.

[251] Founder Nabhani has been described (by David Commins) as preaching that "British plots in particular and western imperialist conspiracies in general pervade the modern history of the Muslim world and ultimately explain its main lines of political evolution.

[274] In the 1990s, Ata Abu Rashta (HT's current global leader and former spokesman) proclaimed that "peaceful relations with the Jews" or settling "for only part of Palestine" (such as the post-1967 territory of the West Bank and Gaza) is "prohibited by Islamic Law".

"[321] But a 1988 HT pamphlet stated that "if the plane belongs to a country at war with the Muslims, like Israel, it is allowed to hijack it",[322] and a June 2001 article in an online Arabic-language journal of the party argued in some detail that suicide bombings are justified in Islamic law—at least against Israelis – "as long as the enemy unbeliever is killed".

[334] Later statements asserted that "American tyranny and arrogance has reached a level that led many to believe that the only way to dent her pride is to rub her nose in the sand",[335] and that the "U.S. and Great Britain declare war against Islam and Muslims".

[339] Critics Ahmed and Stuart quote HT as describing the bombing of the Taliban by the US and UK as "a brutal war against ... the defenceless Muslims",[265] and the placing of the groups "like" Islamic Jihad, Hamas, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt (whose acts of resistance have killed numerous civilians)[340]) "on the list of terrorist organisations".

[325] Baran argues that as members become "impatience with the lack of success HT has had so far in overthrowing governments", they leave the party to create/join "splinter groups" less wedded to the idea that attacks on "enemies of Islam" must wait for a caliph.

[345] Bakri, Muhajiroun and/or its front groups desire to turn the UK into an Islamist state,[346] have praised the 9/11 hijackers as "magnificent", and bin Laden as "a hero who stands for divine justice and freedom from oppression",[337][347] claim to have recruited many young British Muslims for "military service" jihad in Afghanistan.

[227][374] Its constitution's provision for financial "revenue gained via occupation"[av] and a subordinate legal status, and special taxes on non-Muslims[aw] has been attacked as revealing a "colonialist mindset", by critics Ahmed and Stuart.

There were arrests in Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and visible public activities in the Palestinian territories, Zanzibar, and Lebanon, enjoying growing support among senior army staff, government officials, and the intelligentsia.

[438] It recruits from unemployed, pensioners, students and single mothers; "representatives of local power structures", who can protect party cells from surveillance and prosecution; and "law enforcement personnel" who can "facilitate access to sensitive information".

[107] Among the factors attributed to HT's success in the region are the religious and political "vacuum" of post-Soviet society there; the party's strong organization, use of local languages; the answers it provides to problems of poverty, unemployment, corruption, drug addiction, prostitution and lack of education; its call for unification of the Central Asian states.

[34] According to Mohammad Jamil Khan, an editor at the Dhaka Tribune, despite the ban, the group reportedly maintains "members and sympathizers within the administration, various security agencies, higher educational institutions, mosques, and madrasas" and continues to be active both online and offline, including on platforms such as websites and Facebook.

[478] On 17 September 2015, the Selangor (Malaysia) Fatwa Committee declared Hizb ut-Tahrir a deviant group and said followers of the pro-Caliphate movement who continue to spread their ideologies and teachings in the state will face legal action.

The anti-semitism charges were not upheld in German courts, but the ban was continued based on the state's finding that the group's activity opposed the idea of understanding among nations and endorsed force as a means towards its political aims.

The adepts held gatherings on the private premises recruiting newcomers among both local, including non-Muslim, and migrant populations, denouncing the Russian rule and praising the armed combat against the non-Islamic governments globally.

[525] In February 2003, the Russian Supreme Court put Hizb ut-Tahrir and 14 other groups, including foreign, such as Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood and local militant insurgents on a list of banned terrorist organizations.

As per the Court's decision, the motivation in respect of HT were their "militant Islamic propaganda combined with intolerance to other religions" and "subversive activities to fracture the society" aimed at the removal of the non-Islamic regimes and establishing the global Caliphate, primarily within the regions where Muslim populations are present".