Hizb ut-Tahrir America May Be Ready for Its Public Debut by Madeleine Gruen

Hizb ut-Tahrir America (HTA) may perceive itself as ready to emerge from the shadows.

A leaflet credited to HTA was posted today to Khalifah.com, one of the few official Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) web sites. It is the first time that the global organization has formally acknowledged the existence of HTA.

The leaflet, originally dated October 28, 2008, is titled "Cooperate in Piety or Sin? Participation in the American Election." It calls for American Muslims not to participate in the U.S. presidential election.

In countries where HT has transitioned from a covert developmental phase to its public form it has been because the branch's membership was devoted enough to sustain potential resistance from local government agencies, its membership base was large enough to project the impression of strength, and it had influential members able to effectively persuade others of the party's objectives and methods for establishing an Islamic state.

Although we have been casually aware of HTA's presence for many years, and have seen unofficial acknowledgment of its existence by its own members, we have not seen a nation-wide public demonstration by HTA or any official web sites. Therefore, we do not have a measurable way to determine the size of HTA's membership or the depth of its influence. However, the official acknowledgment of HTA's existence, as demonstrated by the publication of the leaflet on the Khalifah web site, possibly shows that the HT leadership perceives HTA is solid enough to withstand public knowledge of its existence and the potential for additional scrutiny that comes with that knowledge.