swears an oath of loyalty (qasam)"In the name of Allah, I swear to protect Islam and to maintain fidelity to it; I swear to accept and follow goals, ideas and principles of HT in words and deeds; I swear to recognize the rightness of the party leadership's actions; I swear to carry out even those decisions of the party leaders that I find objectionable; I swear to direct all my energies for the realization of the party program. Allah is the Witness of my words". According to one study, "little is known" of how HT "funds its activities", thanks to the party's "clandestine modus operandi". In Western countries, members who have jobs contribute part of their income, "possibly as much as 10 percent". In Muslim countries funding may or may not come "from Iran, the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia". Because of its status of being banned in most Muslim-majority countries but legal throughout Western countries, the group differs from most Salafi organizations in being "more self-conscious, adaptive and sensitive to Western culture" despite its resolute opposition to that culture. HT has been called "secretive and hierarchical" by a former member. It uses "cover names for reserving venues, publishing propaganda and even carrying out political activity" even where it is legal. At least one former member has complained that the HT "party philosophy" and practice of referring to its study groups as halaqa—despite the fact they are studying leader Nabhani's writings and not the Quran—makes Nabhani's work "synonymous with the Quran," and that "the cult-like structure of the organisation [makes] this difficult" for young recruits to see. 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", critics complain of the party's need for "absolute, unequivocal acceptance of the Movement's dogma", its ignoring of spiritual aspects of Islam, and discouraging of free airing of views or "challenging statements". The party principle of overthrowing existing Muslim governments has been questioned as a violation of the ayah: This is supported by "several notable scholars"—according to Mateen Siddiqui—such as Ibn Nujaym, Al-Bahjouri, and Abu Hanifa. Critics also note a pattern of "a brief spell of support" followed by "failure to take power" in HT's more than 50 years of agitation. Positions and policies The party has been described as being "centralised" in leadership and strategy, with