Michael Safi Wednesday 18 February 2015

Group is looking to distance itself from Salafi jihadists and members thinking of clearing innocuous objects such tools, knives and books from their homes

A Sydney rally organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir against the use of images of the prophet Muhammad on 23 January. Photograph: Michael Safi/The Guardian

Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir are preparing for intense scrutiny by security agencies ahead of Tony Abbott’s announcement on Monday of new security legislation to crack down on the group.

The prime minister has signalled that “Hizb ut-Tahrir and others who nurture extremism in our suburbs” are in the sights of the government, but has not confirmed whether he will go as far as banning the group.

Leaders of Hizb ut-Tahrir are auditing the ranks ahead of Abbott’s announcement, a source close to the organisation told Guardian Australia.

“They’re telling anybody who’s Salafi-jihadi that they have to pick: you’re either with us, or you’re either with the Salafi-jihadists,” the source, who did not wish to be named, said.

“They’re worried who they’ll be responsible for knowing.”

Salafi-jihadist groups adhere to an extreme form of Sunni Islamism that calls for violent struggle.

There was also concern among some members of being unfairly caught up in broadly drafted security laws that prohibit “possessing things connected with terrorist acts”.

“People are very careful what they keep in their house. One guy was going through his house and looking at his dad’s toolbox thinking, ‘Could that be used against me?’ ” the source said.

“The reversal of the presumption of guilt means that you don’t need to commit a crime, you just need to have the capacity to commit a crime.”

Members of the group were also considering throwing out innocuous objects such as fishing knives, tools, and tyre irons, as well as radical literature and “anything that could write a story”, the source said.

Hizb ut-Tahrir campaigns for its esoteric vision of the caliphate to be established in Muslim lands, and lends rhetorical support to religious war without advocating violence. It has about 300 members in Australia.

The group has rejected the caliphate declared by Islamic State as “mere rhetoric without any weight”. Nonetheless, terrorism scholars such as Greg Barton have argued the group poses some danger by glorifying the idea of a caliphate, which could play a role in inspiring some young Muslims to join Isis.

The source said many rank-and-file members of the group were “concerned” by the prospect of being targeted by security agencies.

“Some of them are worried about facing time. How would you go facing 15 years for just saying some stuff?

“They don’t actually want to get arrested. They hold down regular jobs. [Being in Hizb ut-Tahrir] is like a hobby for them. This is something they do on the weekends and then go back to their mundane desk jobs,” he said.

A petition is circulating among Muslims groups to rally support. It condemns the Abbott government’s raft of national security laws as “abominable” and reaffirms Hizb ut-Tahrir’s commitment to “peace and security” and “robust, ideological debate and discourse”.

The petition has attracted influential supporters, a public relations coup for a group that has traditionally been on the fringes of Sydney’s Muslim communities.

Hizb ut-Tahrir also sees the crackdown as an opportunity to win over Muslims to its cause, the source said. “They say, ‘We’re just the beginning’, and people believe that.

“It confirms that the government is at war with Muslims. Whether that’s true or not, that’s what people believe when this stuff happens,” he said.

Hizb ut-Tahrir braces ahead of Abbott's promised security clampdown | Australia news | The Guardian