Prohibited From Participating In Elections, HTI Movement Has Operated In Indonesia Since The New Order

JAKARTA - Members of Commission II of the House of Representative (DPR) submitted a proposal regarding the prohibition of former members of the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) organization from participating in election contestations, i.e. the Presidential Election, Legislative Election, and Regional Election (Pilkada).

The proposal submitted by Golkar Party politician Zulfikar Arse Sadikin on the basis of HTI is no longer in line with the basic consensus in the nation and state. In addition, according to him, HTI has been declared by the government as a prohibited organization.

Looking at history, the HTI movement in Indonesia has existed since the New Order era. Reported by VOI from the Journal of Islamic Studies ISLAMUNA, HTI is a trans-national Islamic movement that operates through preaching as well as politics.

Abd. Rahman al-Baghdadi is the person who brought HTI to the country in the mid-80s. Before entering Indonesia, the movement was founded in Palestine in 1953 by Shaykh Taqiyuddin al-Nabhani.

The main objective of Hizb ut-Tahrir is to carry on the life of Islam and to carry back Islamic preaching to all corners of the world. In addition, the movement invites Muslims to participate in khilāfah Islamiyah alā minhāj al-nubuwwah.

Various HTI steps were implemented to achieve its goals, including by carrying out tatsqif (guidance and cadre), tafa'ul (interaction) with the ummah, and istilām al-hukmi (receiving power) from the ummah.

Some of HTI's activities that often get attention are demonstrations, seminars or public discussions, publication through the media, and establishing relationships with various Islamic organizations and power.

The way HTI won hearts in Indonesia is through the da'wah movement of Tarbiyah activists, salafi youths, Jama'ah Tabligh activists, and Hizbut Tahrir syabab. The movement then succeeded in influencing activists, the majority of which were driven by young people.

Active for decades, the HTI movement was officially stopped by the government on July 19, 2017. Through the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the HTI movement was stopped and banned because it was considered to threaten the integrity of the country.