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(March 2022)A
caliphate or
khilāfah (
Arabic:
خِلَافَة, Arabic pronunciation:
[xi'laːfah]) is an institution or public office governing a territory under
Islamic rule.
[1] The person who holds this office carries the title of
caliph (
/ˈkælɪf
ˈkeɪ
While the importance of the Caliphate as a political power fluctuated throughout the
history of Islam, the institution survived for over a thousand years. Often acting as little more than a symbolic figurehead, the formal office of Caliph remained from the death of Muhammad in 632 until the
Ottoman Caliphate was formally dismantled in 1924.
[5] During the
medieval period, three major caliphates succeeded each other: the
Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the
Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), and the
Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517). In the fourth major caliphate, the
Ottoman Caliphate, the
rulers of the
Ottoman Empire claimed caliphal authority from 1517 and maintained
Sunni Islam as the official religion. A few other Muslim states, almost all
hereditary monarchies, such as the Abbasid caliphs under protection of the
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) and the
Ayyubid Caliphate,
[6][7] have claimed to be caliphates.
[2] The first caliph was
Abu Bakr and the last caliph was
Abdulmejid II.
The first caliphate, the
Rāshidun Caliphate, immediately
succeeded Muhammad after his death in 632.
[8] The four Rāshidun caliphs were chosen through
shura, a process of community consultation that some consider to be an early form of
Islamic democracy.
[9] The fourth caliph,
Ali, who, unlike the prior three, was from the same clan as Muhammad (
Banu Hāshim), is considered by
Shia Muslims to be the first rightful caliph and
Imam after Muhammad.
[10] Ali reigned during the
First Fitnā (656–661), a civil war between supporters of Ali and supporters of the assassinated previous caliph,
Uthman, from
Banu Umayya, as well as rebels in Egypt; the war led to the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate under
Muāwiyah I in 661.
The second caliphate, the Umayyad Caliphate, was ruled by
Banu Umayya, a
Meccan clan descended from
Umayya ibn Abd Shams. The caliphate continued the Arab conquests, incorporating the
Caucasus,
Transoxiana,
Sindh, the
Maghreb and the
Iberian Peninsula (
Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world. The caliphate had considerable acceptance of the
Christians within its territory, necessitated by their large numbers, especially in the
region of Syria.
[11][12][13] Following the
Abbasid Revolution from 746 to 750, which primarily arose from non-
Arab Muslim disenfranchisement, the Abbāsid Caliphate was established in 750.
The third caliphate, the Abbāsid Caliphate was ruled by the Abbāsids, a dynasty of Meccan origin descended from
Hāshim, a great-grandfather of Muhammad, via
Abbās, an uncle of Muhammad. Caliph
al-Mansur founded its second capital of
Baghdād in 762, which became a major scientific, cultural and art centre, as did the territory as a whole, during the period known as the
Islamic Golden Age. From the 10th century, Abbasid rule became confined to an area around Baghdad and saw several occupations from foreign powers. In 1258, the
Mongol Empiresacked Baghdad, ending the Abbasid rule over Baghdad, but in 1261 the
Mamluks in Egypt re-established the Abbasid Caliphate in
Cairo. Though lacking in political power, the Abbasid dynasty continued to claim authority in religious matters until the
Ottoman conquest of Mamluk Egypt in 1517, which saw the establishment of the Ottoman Caliphate.
The
Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of the
Ummah (
Islamic world), a caliph was a selected or elected position.
[15] Followers of
Shia Islam however, believe in an
Imamate rather than a Caliphate, that is to say a caliph should be an
Imam chosen by
Allah from the
Ahl al-Bayt (the "Family of the House", Muhammad's direct descendants).
Etymology
Before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title
malik (King, ruler), or another from the same
root.
[2] ˈkeɪlɪf
ˈkælɪf
/),
[16] derives from the
Arabic word
khalīfah (
خَليفة,
pronunciation (
help·
info)), which means "successor", "steward", or "deputy" and has traditionally been considered a shortening of
Khalīfat Rasūl Allāh ("successor of the messenger of God"). However, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was "successor
selected by God".
[2] History
Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) Succession to Muhammad
In the immediate aftermath of the death of Muhammad, a gathering of the
Ansar (natives of
Medina) took place in the
Saqifah (courtyard) of the
Banu Sa'ida clan.
[17] The general belief at the time was that the purpose of the meeting was for the Ansar to decide on a new leader of the
Muslim community among themselves, with the intentional exclusion of the
Muhajirun (migrants from
Mecca), though this has later become the subject of debate.
[18]Nevertheless,
Abu Bakr and
Umar, both prominent companions of Muhammad, upon learning of the meeting became concerned of a potential coup and hastened to the gathering. Upon arriving, Abu Bakr addressed the assembled men with a warning that an attempt to elect a leader outside of Muhammad's own tribe, the
Quraysh, would likely result in dissension as only they can command the necessary respect among the community. He then took Umar and another companion,
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, by the hand and offered them to the Ansar as potential choices. He was countered with the suggestion that the Quraysh and the Ansar choose a leader each from among themselves, who would then rule jointly. The group grew heated upon hearing this proposal and began to argue amongst themselves. Umar hastily took Abu Bakr's hand and swore his own allegiance to the latter, an example followed by the gathered men.
[19]Abu Bakr was near-universally accepted as head of the Muslim community (under the title of Caliph) as a result of Saqifah, though he did face contention as a result of the rushed nature of the event. Several companions, most prominent among them being
Ali ibn Abi Talib, initially refused to acknowledge his authority.
[17] Ali may have been reasonably expected to assume leadership, being both cousin and son-in-law to Muhammad.
[20] The theologian
Ibrahim al-Nakhai stated that Ali also had support among the Ansar for his succession, explained by the genealogical links he shared with them. Whether his candidacy for the succession was raised during Saqifah is unknown, though it is not unlikely.
[21] Abu Bakr later sent Umar to confront Ali to gain his allegiance, resulting in
an altercation which may have involved violence.
[22] However, after six months the group made peace with Abu Bakr and Ali offered him his fealty.
[23]Rashidun Caliphate at its greatest extent, under Caliph Uthman's rule
Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed. Umar, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian slave called
Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors (
majlis). Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group.
Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and later by some of his own guard. He faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by
Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a
Khawarij. Ali's tumultuous rule lasted only five years. This period is known as the
Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shi'a ("shiaat Ali", partisans of Ali.
[24]) minority sect of Islam and reject the legitimacy of the first 3 caliphs. The followers of all four Rāshidun Caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali) became the majority Sunni sect.
Under the Rāshidun each region (
Sultanate,
Wilayah, or
Emirate) of the Caliphate had its own governor (Sultan,
Wāli or
Emir).
Muāwiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor (
Wali) of
Syria, succeeded Ali as Caliph. Muāwiyah transformed the caliphate into a
hereditary office, thus founding the Umayyad
dynasty.
In areas which were previously under
Sasanian Empire or
Byzantine rule, the Caliphs lowered taxes, provided greater local autonomy (to their delegated governors), greater religious freedom for
Jews, and some indigenous
Christians, and brought peace to peoples demoralised and disaffected by the casualties and heavy taxation that resulted from the decades of
Byzantine-Persian warfare.
[25]Ali's caliphate, Hasan and the rise of the Umayyad dynasty Ali's reign was plagued by turmoil and internal strife. The Persians, taking advantage of this, infiltrated the two armies and attacked the other army causing chaos and internal hatred between the
companions at the
Battle of Siffin. The battle lasted several months, resulting in a stalemate. In order to avoid further bloodshed, Ali agreed to negotiate with Mu'awiyah. This caused a faction of approximately 4,000 people, who would come to be known as the
Kharijites, to abandon the fight. After defeating the Kharijites at the
Battle of Nahrawan, Ali was later assassinated by the Kharijite Ibn Muljam. Ali's son
Hasan was elected as the next caliph, but abdicated in favor of Mu'awiyah a few months later to avoid any conflict within the Muslims. Mu'awiyah became the sixth caliph, establishing the Umayyad Dynasty,
[26] named after the great-grandfather of Uthman and Mu'awiyah,
Umayya ibn Abd Shams.
[27]Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) The Caliphate, 622–750
| Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632 |
| Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphs, 632–661 |
| Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750 |
Beginning with the Umayyads, the title of the caliph became hereditary.
[28] Under the Umayyads, the Caliphate grew rapidly in territory, incorporating the
Caucasus,
Transoxiana,
Sindh, the
Maghreb and most of the
Iberian Peninsula (
Al-Andalus) into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 5.17 million square miles (13,400,000 km
2), making it the
largest empire the world had yet seen and the
sixth-largest ever to exist in history.
[29]Geographically, the empire was divided into several provinces, the borders of which changed numerous times during the Umayyad reign.
[citation needed] Each province had a governor appointed by the caliph. However, for a variety of reasons, including that they were not elected by
Shura and suggestions of impious behaviour, the Umayyad dynasty was not universally supported within the Muslim community.
[citation needed] Some supported prominent early Muslims like
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam; others felt that only members of Muhammad's clan, the
Banu Hashim, or his own lineage, the descendants of Ali, should rule.
[citation needed]There were numerous rebellions against the Umayyads, as well as splits within the Umayyad ranks (notably, the rivalry between
Yaman and Qays).
[citation needed] At the command of Yazid son of Muawiya, an army led by Umar ibn Saad, a commander by the name of Shimr Ibn Thil-Jawshan killed Ali's son
Hussein and his family at the
Battle of Karbala in 680, solidifying the
Shia-Sunni split.
[24] Eventually, supporters of the Banu Hashim and the supporters of the lineage of Ali united to bring down the Umayyads in 750. However, the
Shi‘at ‘Alī, "the Party of Ali", were again disappointed when the
Abbasid dynasty took power, as the Abbasids were descended from Muhammad's uncle,
‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib and not from Ali.
[citation needed]Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517) Abbasid Caliphs at Baghdad
In 750, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by another family of
Meccan origin, the Abbasids. Their time represented a scientific, cultural and religious flowering.
[citation needed] Islamic art and music also flourished significantly during their reign. Their major city and capital
Baghdad began to flourish as a center of knowledge, culture and trade. This period of cultural fruition ended in 1258 with the
sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under
Hulagu Khan. The Abbasid Caliphate had however lost its effective power outside Iraq already by c. 920.
[30] By 945, the loss of power became official when the
Buyids conquered Baghdad and all of Iraq. The empire fell apart and its parts were ruled for the next century by local dynasties.
[31]In the 9th century, the
Abbasids created an army loyal only to their caliphate, composed predominantly of Turkic Cuman, Circassian and Georgian slave origin known as Mamluks.
[32][33] By 1250 the Mamluks came to power in Egypt. The Mamluk army, though often viewed negatively, both helped and hurt the caliphate. Early on, it provided the government with a stable force to address domestic and foreign problems. However, creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until
Ar-Radi (934–41) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to
Muhammad ibn Ra'iq.
Under the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo (1261–1517) In 1261, following the
Mongol conquest of Baghdad, the Mamluk rulers of Egypt tried to gain legitimacy for their rule by declaring the re-establishment of the Abbasid caliphate in
Cairo.
[citation needed] The Abbasid caliphs in Egypt had little political power; they continued to maintain the symbols of authority, but their sway was confined to religious matters.
[citation needed] The first Abbasid caliph of Cairo was
Al-Mustansir (r. June–November 1261). The Abbasid caliphate of Cairo lasted until the time of
Al-Mutawakkil III, who ruled as caliph from 1508 to 1516, then he was deposed briefly in 1516 by his predecessor
Al-Mustamsik, but was restored again to the caliphate in 1517.
[citation needed]The Ottoman Great Sultan
Selim I defeated the Mamluk Sultanate and made Egypt part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Al-Mutawakkil III was captured together with his family and transported to Constantinople as a prisoner where he had a ceremonial role. He died in 1543, following his return to Cairo.
[34]Parallel regional caliphates in the later Abbasid Era
The Abbasid dynasty lost effective power over much of the Muslim realm by the first half of the tenth century.
The Umayyad dynasty, which had survived and come to rule over
Al-Andalus, reclaimed the title of Caliph in 929, lasting until it was overthrown in 1031.
Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba (929–1031) Map of the Caliphate of Cordoba c. 1000
During the Umayyad dynasty, the
Iberian Peninsula was an integral province of the Umayyad Caliphate ruling from
Damascus. The Umayyads lost the position of Caliph in Damascus in 750, and
Abd al-Rahman I became Emir of Córdoba in 756 after six years in exile. Intent on regaining power, he defeated the existing Islamic rulers of the area who defied Umayyad rule and united various local fiefdoms into an emirate.
Rulers of the emirate used the title "emir" or "sultan" until the 10th century, when
Abd al-Rahman III was faced with the threat of invasion by the Fatimid Caliphate. To aid his fight against the invading Fatimids, who claimed the caliphate in opposition to the generally recognised Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad,
Al-Mu'tadid, Abd al-Rahman III claimed the title of caliph himself. This helped Abd al-Rahman III gain prestige with his subjects, and the title was retained after the Fatimids were repulsed. The rule of the Caliphate is considered as the heyday of Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula, before it fragmented into various
taifas in the 11th century. This period was characterised by a flourishing in technology, trade and culture; many of the buildings of
al-Andalus were constructed in this period.
Almohad Caliphate (1147–1269) The Almohad empire at its greatest extent, c. 1180–1212
The Almohad movement was started by
Ibn Tumart among the
Masmuda tribes of southern Morocco. The Almohads first established a Berber state in
Tinmel in the
Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.
[37] The Almohads succeeded in overthrowing the
Almoravid dynasty in governing Morocco by 1147, when
Abd al-Mu'min (r. 1130–1163) conquered Marrakech and declared himself Caliph. They then extended their power over all of the
Maghreb by 1159. Al-Andalus followed the fate of Africa and all Islamic Iberia was under Almohad rule by 1172.
[38]The Almohads continued to rule in northern Africa until the piecemeal loss of territory through the revolt of tribes and districts enabled the rise of their most effective enemies, the
Marinid dynasty, in 1215.
[citation needed] The last representative of the line,
Idris al-Wathiq, was reduced to the possession of
Marrakesh, where he was murdered by a slave in 1269; the Marinids seized Marrakesh, ending the Almohad domination of the Western
Maghreb.
Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171) Map of the Fatimid Caliphate at its largest extent in the early 11th century
The Fatimids established the Tunisian city of
Mahdia and made it their capital city, before conquering Egypt and building the city of
Cairo there in 969. Thereafter, Cairo became the capital of the caliphate, with Egypt becoming the political, cultural and religious centre of the state. Islam scholar
Louis Massignon dubbed the 4th century AH /10th century CE as the "
Ismaili century in the history of Islam".
[39]The term
Fatimite is sometimes used to refer to the citizens of this caliphate. The ruling elite of the state belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shi'ism. The leaders of the dynasty were
Ismaili imams and had a religious significance to Ismaili Muslims. They are also part of the chain of holders of the office of the Caliphate, as recognised by some Muslims. Therefore, this constitutes a rare period in history in which the descendants of Ali (hence the name Fatimid, referring to Ali's wife
Fatima) and the Caliphate were united to any degree, excepting the final period of the
Rashidun Caliphate under
Ali himself.
The caliphate was reputed to exercise a degree of religious tolerance towards non-Ismaili sects of Islam as well as towards
Jews,
Maltese Christians and
Copts.
[40]The Shiʻa
Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah of the
Fatimid dynasty, who claimed descent from Muhammad through his daughter, claimed the title of Caliph in 909, creating a separate line of caliphs in North Africa. Initially controlling
Algeria,
Tunisia and
Libya, the Fatimid caliphs extended their rule for the next 150 years, taking Egypt and
Palestine, before the Abbasid dynasty was able to turn the tide, limiting Fatimid rule to Egypt. The Fatimid dynasty finally ended in 1171 and was overtaken by
Saladin of the
Ayyubid dynasty.
[41]Ayyubid Caliphate (1171–1260) Ayyubid Sultanate (in pink) at the death of
Saladin in 1193
Ottoman Caliphate
The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent in 1683, under Sultan
Mehmed IVThe caliphate was claimed by the
sultans of the Ottoman Empire beginning with
Murad I (reigned 1362 to 1389),
[42] while recognising no authority on the part of the Abbasid caliphs of the Mamluk-ruled Cairo. Hence the seat of the caliphate moved to the Ottoman capital of
Edirne. In 1453, after
Mehmed the Conqueror's
conquest of Constantinople, the seat of the Ottomans moved to
Constantinople, present-day
Istanbul. In 1517, the Ottoman sultan
Selim I defeated and annexed the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo into his empire.
[43][44] Through conquering and unifying Muslim lands, Selim I became the defender of the Holy Cities of
Mecca and
Medina, which further strengthened the Ottoman claim to the caliphate in the Muslim world. Ottomans gradually came to be viewed as the
de facto leaders and representatives of the Islamic world. However, the earlier Ottoman caliphs did not officially bear the title of caliph in their documents of state, inscriptions, or coinage.
[44] It was only in the late eighteenth century that the claim to the caliphate was discovered by the sultans to have a practical use, since it allowed them to counter Russian claims to protect Ottoman Christians with their own claim to protect Muslims under Russian rule.
[45][46]The outcome of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was disastrous for the Ottomans. Large territories, including those with large Muslim populations, such as
Crimea, were lost to the Russian Empire.
[46] However, the Ottomans under
Abdul Hamid I claimed a diplomatic victory by being allowed to remain the religious leaders of Muslims in the now-independent Crimea as part of the peace treaty; in return Russia became the official protector of Christians in Ottoman territory.
[46] According to Barthold, the first time the title of "caliph" was used as a political instead of symbolic religious title by the Ottomans was the
Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca with the
Russian Empire in 1774, when the Empire retained
moral authority on territory whose sovereignty was ceded to the
Russian Empire.
[46]The British supported and propagated the view that the Ottomans were Caliphs of Islam among Muslims in British India and the Ottoman Sultans helped the British by issuing pronouncements to the Muslims of India telling them to support British rule from Sultan Ali III and Sultan Abdülmecid I.
[47]Around 1880 Sultan
Abdul Hamid II reasserted the title as a way of countering Russian expansion into Muslim lands. His claim was most fervently accepted by the Muslims of
British India.
[citation needed] By the eve of
World War I, the Ottoman state, despite its weakness relative to Europe, represented the largest and most powerful independent Islamic political entity. The sultan also enjoyed some authority beyond the borders of his shrinking empire as caliph of Muslims in Egypt,
India and
Central Asia.
[citation needed]In 1899
John Hay, U.S. Secretary of State, asked the American ambassador to
Ottoman Turkey,
Oscar Straus, to approach Sultan Abdul Hamid II to use his position as caliph to order the
Tausūg people of the
Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines to submit to American suzerainty and American military rule; the Sultan obliged them and wrote the letter which was sent to Sulu via Mecca. As a result, the "Sulu Mohammedans ... refused to join the insurrectionists and had placed themselves under the control of our army, thereby recognizing American sovereignty."
[48][49]Abolition of the Caliphate (1924) Egyptian scholar
Ali Abdel Raziq published his 1925 book
Islam and the Foundations of Governance. The argument of this book has been summarized as "Islam does not advocate a specific form of government".
[51] He focussed his criticism both at those who use religious law as contemporary political proscription and at the history of rulers claiming legitimacy by the caliphate.
[52] Raziq wrote that past rulers spread the notion of religious justification for the caliphate "so that they could use religion as a shield protecting their thrones against the attacks of rebels".
[53]A summit was convened at
Cairo in 1926 to discuss the revival of the caliphate, but most Muslim countries did not participate and no action was taken to implement the summit's resolutions. Though the title
Ameer al-Mumineen was adopted by the King of Morocco and by
Mohammed Omar, former head of the
Taliban of
Afghanistan, neither claimed any legal standing or authority over Muslims outside the borders of their respective countries.
[citation needed]Since the end of the Ottoman Empire, occasional demonstrations have been held calling for the re-establishment of the caliphate. Organisations which call for the re-establishment of the caliphate include
Hizb ut-Tahrir and the
Muslim Brotherhood.
[54]Parallel regional caliphates to the Ottomans
Indian subcontinent
Hafiz Muhiuddin
Aurangzeb, unlike his predecessors, was considered to be a Caliph of India
After the
Umayyad campaigns in India and the conquest on small territories of the western part of the Indian peninsula, early Indian Muslim dynasties were founded by the
Ghurid dynasty and the
Ghaznavids, most notably the
Delhi Sultanate. The Indian sultanates did not extensively strive for a caliphate since the
Ottoman Empire was already observing the caliphate.
[55] Although the
Mughal Empire is not recognised as a caliphate, its sixth emperor
Muhammad Alamgir Aurangzeb has often been regarded as one of the few Islamic caliphs to have ruled the Indian peninsula.
[56] He received support from
Ottoman Sultans such as
Suleiman II and
Mehmed IV. As a memorizer of Quran, Aurangzeb fully established
sharia in
South Asia via his
Fatawa 'Alamgiri.
[57] He re-introduced
jizya and banned Islamically unlawful activities. However, Aurangzeb's personal expenses were covered by his own incomes, which included the sewing of caps and trade of his written copies of the Quran. Thus he has been compared to the 2nd Caliph
Umar bin Khattab and Kurdish conqueror
Saladin.
[58][59] Other notable rulers such as
Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji,
Alauddin Khilji,
Firuz Shah Tughlaq,
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah,
Babur,
Sher Shah Suri,
Nasir I of Kalat,
Tipu Sultan, and the
Nawabs of Bengal were popularly given the term Khalifa.
[60]Bornu Caliphate (1472–1893) The Bornu Caliphate, which was headed by the Bornu Emperors, began in 1472. A rump state of the larger Kanem-Bornu Empire, its rulers held the title of Caliph until 1893, when it was absorbed into the British
Colony of Nigeria and
Northern Cameroons Protectorate. The British recognized them as the 'Sultans of Bornu', one step down in Muslim royal titles. After Nigeria became independent, its rulers became the 'Emirs of Bornu', another step down.
Yogyakarta Caliphate (1755–2015) The
Indonesian Sultan of Yogyakarta historically used
Khalifatullah (Caliph of God) as one of his many titles. In 2015 sultan
Hamengkubuwono X renounced any claim to the Caliphate in order to facilitate his
daughter's inheritance of the throne, as the theological opinion of the time was that a woman may hold the secular office of sultan but not the spiritual office of caliph.
[61]Sokoto Caliphate (1804–1903) Toucouleur Empire (1848–1893) Khilafat Movement (1919–1924) The
Khilafat Movement was launched by Muslims in
British India in 1920 to defend the Ottoman Caliphate
at the end of the First World War and it spread throughout the British colonial territories. It was strong in British India where it formed a rallying point for some Indian Muslims as one of many anti-British Indian political movements. Its leaders included
Mohammad Ali Jouhar, his brother Shawkat Ali and
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Barrister Muhammad Jan Abbasi. For a time it was supported by
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was a member of the Central Khilafat Committee.
[62][63] However, the movement lost its momentum after the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924. After further arrests and flight of its leaders, and a series of offshoots splintered off from the main organisation, the Movement eventually died down and disbanded.
Sharifian Caliphate (1924–25) Non-political caliphates
Though non-political, some Sufi orders and the
Ahmadiyya movement[66] define themselves as caliphates. Their leaders are thus commonly referred to as
khalifas (caliphs).
Sufi caliphates
In
Sufism,
tariqas (orders) are led by spiritual leaders (khilafah ruhaniyyah), the main khalifas, who nominate local khalifas to organize
zaouias.
[67]Sufi caliphates are not necessarily hereditary. Khalifas are aimed to serve the silsilah in relation to spiritual responsibilities and to propagate the teachings of the tariqa.
Ahmadiyya Caliphate (1908–present) The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a self-proclaimed Islamic revivalist movement founded in 1889 by
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of
Qadian, India, who claimed to be the promised
Messiah and
Mahdi, awaited by Muslims. He also claimed to be a follower-
prophet subordinate to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
[citation needed] The group are traditionally shunned by the majority of Muslims.
[68]Period of dormancy
Once the subject of intense conflict and rivalry amongst Muslim rulers, the caliphate lay dormant and largely unclaimed since the 1920s. For the vast majority of Muslims the caliph, as leader of the
ummah, "is cherished both as memory and ideal"
[71] as a time when Muslims "enjoyed scientific and military superiority globally".
[72] The Islamic prophet
Muhammad is reported to have prophesied:
Prophethood will remain with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain, then Allah will raise it up whenever he wills to raise it up. Afterwards, there will be a Caliphate that follows the guidance of Prophethood remaining with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, He will raise it up whenever He wills to raise it up. Afterwards, there will be a reign of violently oppressive rule and it will remain with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, there will be a reign of tyrannical rule and it will remain for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, Allah will raise it up whenever He wills to raise it up. Then, there will be a Caliphate that follows the guidance of Prophethood.
— As-Silsilah As-Sahihah, vol. 1, no. 5
"Kalifatstaat": Federated Islamic State of Anatolia (1994–2001) The
Kalifatstaat ("Caliphate State") was the name of an Islamist organization in
Germany that was proclaimed at an event in
Cologne in 1994 and banned in December 2001 after an amendment to the Association Act, which abolished the religious privilege. However, this caliphate was never institutionalized under international law, but only an intention for an Islamic "state within the state".
The caliphate emerged in 1994 from the "Federated Islamic State of Anatolia" (
Turkish:
Anadolu Federe İslam Devleti, AFİD), which existed in Germany from 1992 to 1994 as the renaming of the Association of Islamic Associations and Municipalities (İCCB). In 1984 the latter split off from the Islamist organization
Millî Görüş. The leader of the association proclaimed himself the caliph, the worldwide spiritual and worldly head of all Muslims. Since then, the organization has seen itself as a "Caliphate State" (
Turkish:
Hilafet Devleti). From an association law perspective, the old name remained.
The leader was initially
Cemalettin Kaplan, who was nicknamed "
Khomeini of Cologne" by the German public. In Turkish media he was referred to as the "Dark Voice" (
Turkish:
Kara Ses). At an event in honor of Kaplan in 1993, the German convert to Islam
Andreas Abu Bakr Rieger publicly "regretted" in front of hundreds of listeners that the Germans had not completely destroyed the Jews: "Like the Turks, we Germans have often had a good cause in history fought, although I have to admit that my grandfathers weren't thorough with our main enemy."
[73]Abu Issa caliphate (1993 – circa 2014) A contemporary effort to re-establish the caliphate by supporters of armed jihad that predates
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the
Islamic State and was much less successful, was "the forgotten caliphate" of Muhammad bin ʿIssa bin Musa al Rifaʿi ("known to his followers as Abu ʿIssa").
[74] This "microcaliphate" was founded on 3 April 1993 on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, when Abu Issa's small number of "
Afghan Arabs" followers swore loyalty (
bay'ah) to him.
[75] Abu Issa, was born in the city of
Zarqa, Jordan and like his followers had come to Afghanistan to wage jihad against the Soviets. Unlike them he had ancestors in the tribe of
Quraysh, a traditional requirement for a caliph. The caliphate was ostensibly an attempt to unite the many other jihadis who were not his followers and who were quarrelling amongst each other. It was not successful.
[76] Abu Issa's efforts to compel them to unite under his command were met with "with mockery and then force". Local Afghans also despised him and his followers. Like the later Islamic State he tried to abolition of infidel currency and rejected nationalism.
[75] According to scholar Kevin Jackson,
"Abu ʿIssa issued 'sad and funny' fatwas, as Abu al-Walid puts it, notably sanctioning the use of drugs. A nexus had been forged between [Abu Issa's group] and local drug smugglers. (The fatwa led one jihadist author to dismiss Abu Issa as the 'caliph of the Muslims among drug traffickers and takfir') Abu ʿIssa also prohibited the use of paper currency and ordered his men to burn their passports."
[77]The territory under his control "did not extend beyond a few small towns" in Afghanistan's
Kunar province. Eventually he did not even control this area after the Taliban took it over in the late 1990s. The caliphate then moved to London, where they "preaching to a mostly skeptical jihadi intelligentsia about the obligation of establishing a caliphate".
[78] They succeeded in attracting some jihadis (
Yahya al-Bahrumi, Abu Umar al Kuwaiti) who later joined the Islamic State. Abu Issa died in 2014, "after spending most of his final years in prison in London"
[78] Abu Umar al Kuwaiti became a judge for the Islamic state but was later executed for extremism after he "took takfir to new levels... pronouncing death sentences for apostasy on those who were ignorant of scripture -- and then pronouncing takfir on those too reluctant to pronounce takfir."
[79]Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2014–present) ISIL's territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent in May 2015
ISIL has been at war with armed forces including the
Iraqi Army, the
Syrian Army, the
Free Syrian Army,
Al-Nusra Front,
Syrian Democratic Forces, and
Iraqi Kurdistan's
Peshmerga and
People's Protection Units (YPG) along with a 60 nation coalition in its efforts to establish a
de facto state on Iraqi and Syrian territory.
[86] At its height in 2014, the Islamic State held "about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq". By December 2017 it had lost 95% of that territory, including
Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of
Raqqa, its "capital".
[87] It's caliph, Al-Baghdadi, was killed in a raid by U.S. forces on October 26, 2019, its "last holdout", the town of
Al-Baghuz Fawqani, fell to
Syrian Democratic Forces on March 23, 2019.
[87]Ahmadiyya view
The members of the
Ahmadiyya community believe that the Ahmadiyya Caliphate (Arabic:
Khilāfah) is the continuation of the Islamic caliphate, first being the
Rāshidūn (rightly guided) Caliphate (of Righteous Caliphs). This is believed to have been suspended with Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad and re-established with the appearance of
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908, the founder of the movement) whom Ahmadis identify as the Promised Messiah and
Mahdi.
Ahmadis maintain that in accordance with Quranic verses (such as
[Quran 24:55]) and numerous ahadith on the issue,
Khilāfah can only be established by God Himself and is a divine blessing given to
those who believe and work righteousness and uphold the unity of God, therefore any movement to establish the
Khilāfah centered on human endeavours alone is bound to fail, particularly when the condition of the people diverges from the ‘precepts of prophethood’ and they are as a result disunited, their inability to establish a
Khilāfah caused fundamentally by the lack of righteousness in them. Although the khalifa is elected it is believed that God himself directs the hearts of believers towards an individual. Thus the khalifa is designated neither necessarily by right (i.e. the rightful or competent one in the eyes of the people at that time) nor merely by election but primarily by God.
[88]According to Ahmadiyya thought, a khalifa need not be the head of a state; rather the Ahmadiyya community emphasises the spiritual and organisational significance of the Khilāfah. It is primarily a religious/spiritual office, with the purpose of upholding, strengthening and spreading Islam and of maintaining the high spiritual and moral standards within the global community established by
Muhammad – who was not merely a political leader but primarily a religious leader. If a khalifa does happen to bear governmental authority as a head of state, it is incidental and subsidiary in relation to his overall function as khalifa which is applicable to believers transnationally and not limited to one particular state.
[89][90]Ahmadi Muslims believe that God has assured them that this Caliphate will endure to the end of time, depending on their righteousness and faith in God. The Khalifa provides unity, security, moral direction and progress for the community. It is required that the Khalifa carry out his duties through consultation and taking into consideration the views of the members of the Shura (consultative body). However, it is not incumbent upon him to always accept the views and recommendations of the members. The Khalifatul Masih has overall authority for all religious and organisational matters and is bound to decide and act in accordance with the Qur'an and sunnah.
Islamic call
A number of Islamist political parties and
mujahideen called for the restoration of the caliphate by uniting Muslim nations, either through political action (e.g.,
Hizb ut-Tahrir), or through force (e.g.,
al-Qaeda).
[91] Various Islamist movements gained momentum in recent years with the ultimate aim of establishing a Caliphate. In 2014, ISIL/ISIS made a claim to re-establishing the Caliphate. Those advocating the re-establishment of a Caliphate differed in their methodology and approach. Some
[who?] were locally oriented, mainstream political parties that had no apparent transnational objectives.
[citation needed]Abul A'la Maududi believed the caliph was not just an individual ruler who had to be restored, but was man's representation of
God's authority on Earth:
Khilafa means representative. Man, according to Islam is the representative of "people", His (God's) viceregent; that is to say, by virtue of the powers delegated to him, and within the limits prescribed by the Qu'ran and the teaching of the prophet, the caliph is required to exercise Divine authority.
[92] One transnational group whose ideology was based specifically on restoring the caliphate as a pan-Islamic state is
Hizb ut-Tahrir (literally, "Party of Liberation"). It is particularly strong in Central Asia and Europe and is growing in strength in the Arab world. It is based on the claim that Muslims can prove that God exists
[94] and that the Qur'an is the word of God.
[95][96] Hizb ut-Tahrir's stated strategy is a non-violent political and intellectual struggle.
Al-Qaeda's Caliphate goals Al-Qaeda has as one of its clearly stated goals the re-establishment of a caliphate.
[97] Its former leader, Osama bin Laden, called for Muslims to "establish the righteous caliphate of our umma".
[98] Al-Qaeda chiefs released a statement in 2005, under which, in what they call "phase five" there will be "an
Islamic state, or caliphate".
[99] Al-Qaeda has named its Internet newscast from
Iraq "The Voice of the Caliphate".
[100] According to author and Egyptian native
Lawrence Wright,
Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's mentor and al-Qaeda's second-in-command until 2011, once "sought to restore the caliphate... which had formally ended in 1924 following the dissolution of the
Ottoman Empire but which had not exercised real power since the thirteenth century." Zawahiri believes that once the caliphate is re-established, Egypt would become a rallying point for the rest of the Islamic world, leading the
jihad against the West. "Then history would make a new turn, God willing", Zawahiri later wrote, "in the opposite direction against the empire of the United States and the world's Jewish government".
[101] Opposition
Scholar
Olivier Roy writes that "early on, Islamists replace the concept of the caliphate ... with that of the
emir." There were a number of reasons including "that according to the classical authors, a caliph must be a member of the tribe of the Prophet (the
Quraysh) ... moreover, caliphs ruled societies that the Islamists do not consider to have been Islamic (the
Ottoman Empire)."
[102] This is not the view of the majority of Islamist groups, as both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb ut-Tahrir view the Ottoman state as a caliphate.
[103][104]Religious basis
The
Quran uses the term
khalifa twice. First, in
al-Baqara, 30, it refers to
God creating humanity as his
khalifa on Earth. Second, in
Sad, 26, it addresses King
David as God's
khalifa and reminds him of his obligation to rule with justice.
[105]In addition, the following excerpt from the Quran, known as the 'Istikhlaf Verse', is used by some to argue for a Quranic basis for Caliphate:
God has promised those of you who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds that, of a certainty, He will make them
Khulifa on earth, even as He caused [some of] those who lived before them to become
Khulifa; and that, of a certainty, He will firmly establish for them the religion which He has been pleased to bestow on them; and that, of a certainty, He will cause their erstwhile state of fear to be replaced by a sense of security [seeing that] they worship Me [alone], not ascribing divine powers to aught beside Me. But all who, after [having understood] this, choose to deny the truth – it is they, they who are truly iniquitous!" (
An-Nur, 55)
In the above verse, the word Khulifa (the plural of Khalifa) has been variously translated as "successors" and "ones who accede to power".
Several schools of jurisprudence and thought within Sunni Islam argue that to govern a state by
Sharia is, by definition, to rule via the Caliphate and use the following verses to sustain their claim.
So govern between the people by that which God has revealed (Islam), and follow not their vain desires, beware of them in case they seduce you from just some part of that which God has revealed to you
O you who believe! Obey God, and obey the messenger and then those among you who are in authority; and if you have a dispute concerning any matter, refer it to God and the messenger's rulings, if you are (in truth) believers in God and the Last Day. That is better and more seemly in the end.
Hadith
The following
hadith from
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal can be understood to prophesy two eras of Caliphate (both on the lines/precepts of prophethood).
Hadhrat Huzaifa narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: Prophethood will remain among you as long as Allah wills. Then Caliphate (Khilafah) on the lines of Prophethood shall commence, and remain as long as Allah wills. Then corrupt/erosive monarchy would take place, and it will remain as long as Allah wills. After that, despotic kingship would emerge, and it will remain as long as Allah wills. Then, the Caliphate (Khilafah) shall come once again based on the precept of
Prophethood.
[106][page needed]In the above, the first era of Caliphate is commonly accepted by Muslims to be that of the
Rashidun Caliphate.
Nafi'a reported saying:
It has been reported on the authority of Nafi, that 'Abdullah b. Umar paid a visit to Abdullah b. Muti' in the days (when atrocities were perpetrated on the People Of Medina) at Harra in the time of Yazid b. Mu'awiya. Ibn Muti' said: Place a pillow for Abu 'Abd al-Rahman (family name of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar). But the latter said: I have not come to sit with you. I have come to you to tell you a tradition I heard from the Messenger of Allah. I heard him say: One who withdraws his band from obedience (to the Amir) will find no argument (in his defence) when he stands before Allah on the Day of Judgment, and one who dies without having bound himself by an oath of allegiance (to an Amir) will die the death of one belonging to the days of Jahiliyyah. – Sahih Muslim, Book 020, Hadith 4562.
Leaders will take charge of you after me, where the pious (one) will lead you with his piety and the impious (one) with his impiety, so only listen to them and obey them in everything which conforms with the truth (Islam). If they act rightly it is for your credit, and if they acted wrongly it is counted for you and against them.
Muslim narrated on the authority of al-A'araj, on the authority of
Abu Hurairah, that Muhammad said:
Behold, the Imam (Caliph) is but a shield from behind whom the people fight and by whom they defend themselves.
I accompanied Abu Hurairah for five years and heard him talking of Muhammd's saying: The Prophets ruled over the
children of Israel, whenever a Prophet died another Prophet succeeded him, but there will be no Prophet after me. There will be
Khalifahs and they will number many. They asked: What then do you order us? He said: Fulfil the bay'ah(transaction/sale) to them one after the other and give them their due. Surely God will ask them about what He entrusted them with.Prophesied Caliphate of the Mahdi
Many Islamic texts, including several
ahadith, state that the Mahdi will be elected caliph and rule over a caliphate.
[107] A number of Islamic figures titled themselves both "caliph" and "al-Mahdi", including the first Abbasid caliph
As-Saffah.
[108]The Sahaba of Muhammad
Al-Habbab Ibn ul-Munthir said, when the Sahaba met in the wake of the death of Muhammad, (at the
thaqifa hall) of Bani Sa’ida:
Let there be one Amir from us and one Amir from you (meaning one from the Ansar and one from the Mohajireen).
Upon this Abu Bakr replied:
It is forbidden for Muslims to have two Amirs (rulers)...
It has additionally been reported
[115] that Abu Bakr went on to say on the day of Al-Saqifa:
It is forbidden for Muslims to have two Amirs for this would cause differences in their affairs and concepts, their unity would be divided and disputes would break out amongst them. The
Sunnah would then be abandoned, the
bida'a (innovations) would spread and Fitna would grow, and that is in no one's interests.
The Sahaba agreed to this and selected Abu Bakr as their first Khaleef. Habbab ibn Mundhir who suggested the idea of two Ameers corrected himself and was the first to give Abu Bakr the
Bay'ah. This indicates an Ijma as-Sahaba of all of the Sahaba. Ali ibni abi Talib, who was attending the body of Muhammad at the time, also consented to this.
Imam Ali whom the Shia revere said:
[116]People must have an Amir...where the believer works under his Imara (rule) and under which the unbeliever would also benefit, until his rule ended by the end of his life (ajal), the booty (fay’i) would be gathered, the enemy would be fought, the routes would be made safe, the strong one will return what he took from the weak till the tyrant would be contained, and not bother anyone.
Views of Islamic theologians
The Imams (scholars of the four schools of thought)- may Allah have mercy on them- agree that the Caliphate is an obligation, and that the Muslims must appoint a leader who would implement the injunctions of the religion, and give the oppressed justice against the oppressors. It is forbidden for Muslims to have two leaders in the world whether in agreement or discord.
Shia scholars have expressed similar opinions.
[124][125][126][127] However, the Shia school of thought states that the
leader must not be appointed by the Islamic ummah, but must be appointed by God.
Al-Qurtubi said that the caliph is the "pillar upon which other pillars rest", and said of the Quranic verse, "Indeed, man is made upon this earth a Caliph":
[128][129] This Ayah is a source in the selection of an Imaam, and a Khaleef, he is listened to and he is obeyed, for the word is united through him, and the Ahkam (laws) of the Caliph are implemented through him, and there is no difference regarding the obligation of that between the Ummah ...
(The scholars) consented that it is an obligation upon the Muslims to select a Khalif
Al-Ghazali when writing of the potential consequences of losing the Caliphate said:
[131] The judges will be suspended, the Wilayaat (provinces) will be nullified, ... the decrees of those in authority will not be executed and all the people will be on the verge of Haraam
It is obligatory to know that the office in charge of commanding over the people (ie: the post of the Khaleefah) is one of the greatest obligations of the
Deen. In fact, there is no establishment of the Deen except by it....this is the opinion of the
salaf, such as
Al-Fuḍayl ibn ‘Iyāḍ,
Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others
Government
Electing or appointing a Caliph In his book
The Early Islamic Conquests (1981),
Fred Donner argues that the standard Arabian practice during the early Caliphates was for the prominent men of a kinship group, or tribe, to gather after a leader's death and elect a leader from amongst themselves, although there was no specified procedure for this
shura, or consultative assembly. Candidates were usually from the same lineage as the deceased leader, but they were not necessarily his sons. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual direct heir, as there was no basis in the majority Sunni view that the head of state or governor should be chosen based on lineage alone. Since the
Umayyads, all Caliphates have been dynastic.
Traditionally, Sunni Muslim
madhhabs all agreed that a Caliph must be a descendant of the Quraysh.
[133] Al-Baqillani has said that the leader of the Muslims simply should be from the majority.
Sunni belief
Following the death of Muhammad, a meeting took place at
Saqifah. At that meeting, Abu Bakr was elected caliph by the Muslim community. Sunni Muslims developed the belief that the caliph is a temporal political ruler, appointed to rule within the bounds of Islamic law (Sharia). The job of adjudicating orthodoxy and Islamic law was left to
mujtahids, legal specialists collectively called the
Ulama. Many Muslims call the first four caliphs the Rashidun, meaning the Rightly-Guided, because they are believed to have followed the Qur'an and the
sunnah (example) of Muhammad.
[citation needed]With the exception of
Zaidis,
[134] Shi'ites believe in the
Imamate, a principle by which rulers are Imams who are divinely chosen, infallible and sinless and must come from the
Ahl al-Bayt regardless of majority opinion,
shura or election. They claim that before his death, Muhammad had given many indications, in the
hadith of the pond of Khumm in particular, that he considered
Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, as his successor. For the
Twelvers, Ali and his eleven descendants, the twelve Imams, are believed to have been considered, even before their birth, as the only valid Islamic rulers appointed and decreed by God. Shia Muslims believe that all the Muslim caliphs following Muhammad's death to be illegitimate due to their unjust rule and that Muslims have no obligation to follow them, as the only guidance that was left behind, as ordained in the
hadith of the
two weighty things, was the Islamic holy book, the
Quran and
Muhammad's family and offspring, who are believed to be
infallible, therefore able to lead
society and the Muslim community with complete justice and equity.
[135][136][137][138] The Prophet's own grandson, and third Shia Imam,
Hussain ibn Ali led an uprising against injustice and the oppressive rule of the Muslim caliph at the time at the Battle of Karbala. Shia
Muslims emphasise that values of
social justice, and speaking out against
oppression and tyranny are not merely moral values, but values essential to a persons religiosity.
[139][140][141][136][142]After these Twelve Imams, the potential Caliphs, had passed, and in the absence of the possibility of a government headed by their Imams, some Twelvers believe it was necessary that a system of Shi'i Islamic government based on the
Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist be developed, due to the need for some form of government, where an Islamic jurist or
faqih rules Muslims, suffices. However this idea, developed by the
marja' Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and established in Iran, is not universally accepted among the Shia.
Ismailis believe in the Imamate principle mentioned above, but they need not be secular rulers as well.
- The Nizari continue to have a living Imam; the current Imam is the Aga Khan.
- The Taiyabi Ismaili have, since the year 1130, followed the Imam's chief officer, the Dai al-Mutlaq, as they believe the Imams are in a state of hiding.
Majlis al-Shura
The
Majlis al-Shura (literally "consultative assembly") was a representation of the idea of consultative governance. The importance of this is premised by the following verses of the Qur'an:
- "...those who answer the call of their Lord and establish the prayer; and who conduct their affairs by Shura [are loved by God]."[42:38]
- "...consult them (the people) in their affairs. Then when you have taken a decision (from them), put your trust in Allah"[3:159]
The majlis is also the means to elect a new caliph.
[143] Al-Mawardi has written that members of the majlis should satisfy three conditions: they must be just, have enough knowledge to distinguish a good caliph from a bad one and have sufficient wisdom and judgement to select the best caliph. Al-Mawardi also said that in emergencies when there is no caliphate and no majlis, the people themselves should create a majlis and select a list of candidates for caliph; then the majlis should select a caliph from the list of candidates.
[143]Some Islamist interpretations of the role of the Majlis al-Shura are the following: In an analysis of the shura chapter of the Qur'an, Islamist author
Sayyid Qutb argues that Islam only requires the ruler to consult with some of the representatives of the ruled and govern within the context of the Sharia.
Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, the founder of a transnational political movement devoted to the revival of the Caliphate, writes that although the Shura is an important part of "the ruling structure" of the Islamic caliphate, "(it is) not one of its pillars", meaning that its neglect would not make a Caliph's rule un-Islamic such as to justify a rebellion. However, the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic movement in Egypt, has toned down these Islamist views by accepting in principle that in the modern age the Majlis al-Shura is
democracy but during its governance of Egypt in 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood did not put that principle into practice.
Accountability of rulers
Al-Mawardi said that if the rulers meet their Islamic responsibilities to the public the people must obey their laws, but a Caliph or ruler who becomes either unjust or severely ineffective must be impeached via the Majlis al-Shura.
Al-Juwayni argued that Islam is the goal of the ummah, so any ruler who deviates from this goal must be impeached. Al-Ghazali believed that
oppression by a caliph is sufficient grounds for impeachment. Rather than just relying on impeachment,
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated that the people have an obligation to rebel if the caliph begins to act with no regard for Islamic law. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani said that to ignore such a situation is
haraam and those who cannot revolt from inside the caliphate should launch a struggle from outside. Al-Asqalani used two
ayahs from the Qur'an to justify this:
"...And they (the sinners on
qiyama) will say, 'Our Lord! We obeyed our leaders and our chiefs, and they misled us from the right path. Our Lord! Give them (the leaders) double the punishment you give us and curse them with a very great curse'..."
[33:67–68][non-primary source needed]Islamic lawyers commented that when the rulers refuse to step down after being impeached through the Majlis, becoming dictators through the support of a corrupt army, if the majority is in agreement they have the option to launch a
revolution. Many noted that this option is to be exercised only after factoring in the potential cost of life.
[143]Rule of law
Narrated ‘
Aisha: The people of Quraish worried about the lady from
Bani Makhzum who had committed theft. They asked, "Who will intercede for her with Allah's Apostle?" Some said, "No one dare to do so except Usama bin Zaid the beloved one to Allah's Apostle." When Usama spoke about that to Allah's Apostle; Allah's Apostle said: "Do you try to intercede for somebody in a case connected with Allah’s Prescribed Punishments?" Then he got up and delivered a sermon saying, "What destroyed the nations preceding you, was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allah's Legal punishment on him. By Allah, if
Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad (my daughter) stole, I would cut off her hand."
Various Islamic lawyers, however, place multiple conditions and stipulations on the execution of such a law, making it difficult to implement. For example, the poor cannot be penalised for stealing out of poverty, and during a time of drought in the
Rashidun caliphate,
capital punishment was suspended until the effects of the drought passed.
[145]Islamic jurists later formulated the concept that all classes were subject to the law of the land, and no person is above the law;
officials and private
citizens alike have a
duty to obey the same law. Furthermore, a
Qadi (Islamic judge) was not allowed to discriminate on the grounds of
religion,
race,
colour,
kinship or
prejudice. In a number of cases, Caliphs had to appear before judges as they prepared to render their verdict.
[146] Economy
Early forms of proto-
capitalism and
free markets were present in the Caliphate,
[150] since an early
market economy and early form of
merchant capitalism developed between the 8th and 12th centuries, which some refer to as "Islamic capitalism".
[151] A vigorous
monetary economy developed based on the
circulation of a stable high-value
currency (the
dinar) and the integration of previously independent
monetary areas. Business techniques and forms of
business organisation employed during this time included early
contracts,
bills of exchange, long-distance
international trade, early forms of
partnership (
mufawada) such as
limited partnerships (
mudaraba) and early forms of
credit,
debt,
profit,
loss,
capital (
al-mal),
capital accumulation (
nama al-mal),
[152] circulating capital,
capital expenditure,
revenue,
cheques,
promissory notes,
[153] trusts (
waqf),
startup companies,
[154] savings accounts,
transactional accounts,
pawning,
loaning,
exchange rates,
bankers,
money changers,
ledgers,
deposits,
assignments, the
double-entry bookkeeping system,
[155] and
lawsuits.
[156] Organisationalenterprises similar to
corporations independent from the
state also existed in the medieval Islamic world.
[157][158] Many of these concepts were adopted and further advanced in
medieval Europe from the 13th century onwards.
[152]Early
Islamic law included collection of
Zakat (charity), one of the
Five Pillars of Islam, since the time of the first Islamic State, established by Allah's Messenger at Medina. The
taxes (including
Zakat and
Jizya) collected in the
treasury (
Bayt al-mal) of an Islamic
government were used to provide
income for the
needy, including the
poor,
elderly,
orphans,
widows and the
disabled. During the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, a number of the Arab tribes, who had accepted Islam at the hand of The Prophet Muhammad, rebelled and refused to continue to pay the Zakat, leading to the
Ridda Wars.
Caliph Umar added to the duties of the state an allowance, paid on behalf of every man woman and child, starting at birth, creating the world's first state run social welfare program.
Maya Shatzmiller states that the
demographic behavior of medieval Islamic society varied in some significant aspects from other agricultural societies. Nomadic groups within places like the deserts of Egypt and
Morocco maintained high birth rates compared to rural and urban populations, though periods of extremely high nomadic birth rates seem to have occurred in occasional
"surges" rather than on a continuous basis. Individuals living in large cities had much lower birth rates, possibly due to the use of
birth control methods and political or economic instability. This led to population declines in some regions.
[159] While several studies have shown that
Islamic scholars enjoyed a life expectancy of 59–75 years between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries,
[160][161][162] the overall life expectancy of men in the same societies was lower.
[163] Factoring in
infant mortality, Lawrence Conrad estimates the average lifespan in the early Islamic caliphate to be above 35 years for the general population, compared to around 40 years for the population of
Classical Greece[164] and 31 years for the population of thirteenth century
England.
[165] The early Islamic Empire also had the highest literacy rates among pre-modern societies, alongside the city of
classical Athens in the 4th century BC,
[166] and later,
China after the introduction of
printing from the 10th century.
[167] One factor for the relatively high literacy rates in the early Islamic Empire was its parent-driven educational marketplace, as the state did not systematically subsidize educational services until the introduction of state funding under
Nizam al-Mulk in the 11th century.
[168] Another factor was the diffusion of
paper from China,
[169] which led to an efflorescence of books and written culture in Islamic society; thus
papermaking technology transformed Islamic society (and later, the rest of
Afro-Eurasia) from an
oral to
scribal culture, comparable to the later shifts from scribal to
typographic culture, and from typographic culture to the
Internet.
[170] Other factors include the widespread use of paper
books in Islamic society (more so than any other previously existing society), the study
and memorisation of the
Qur'an, flourishing
commercial activity and the emergence of the
Maktab and
Madrasah educational institutions.
[171]Notable caliphs
- Rashidun ("Righteously Guided")
- Abu Bakr, first Rashidun Caliph. Subdued rebel tribes in the Ridda wars.
- Umar (Umar ibn al-Khattab), second Rashidun Caliph. During his reign, the Islamic empire expanded to include Egypt, Jerusalem and Persia.
- Uthman, (Uthman ibn Affan) third Rashidun Caliph, When Caliph Umar died in office aged 59/60 years, Uthman, aged 64/65 years, succeeded him and was the second-oldest to rule as Caliph. Under Uthman's leadership, the Islamic empire expanded into Fars (present-day Iran) in 650, and some areas of Khorasan (present-day Afghanistan) in 651. The conquest of Armenia had begun by the 640s.
- Ali (Ali ibn Abu Talib), fourth Rashidun Caliph. Considered by Shi'a Muslims however to be the first Imam. His reign was fraught with internal conflict, with Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (Muawiyah I) and Amr ibn al-As controlling the Levant and Egypt regions independently of Ali.
- Hasan ibn Ali, fifth Caliph. Considered as "rightly guided" by several historians. He abdicated his right to the caliphate in favour of Muawiyah I in order to end the potential for ruinous civil war.
- "Umayyad Caliphate"
- Muawiyah I, the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. Muawiyah instituted dynastic rule by appointing his son Yazid I as his successor, a trend that would continue through subsequent caliphates.
- Abd al-Malik was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in Medina was occupied with pious pursuits. He held administrative and military posts under Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) and his own father, Caliph Marwan I (r. 684–685).
- Al-Walid I was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death. He was the eldest son of his predecessor Caliph Abd al-Malik.
- Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (Umar II), Umayyad caliph who is considered one of the finest rulers in Muslim history. He is also considered by some (mainly Sunnis) to be among the "rightly guided" caliphs.
- Yazid II was the ninth Umayyad caliph, ruling from February 720 until his death in 724.
- Hisham was the tenth Umayyad caliph who ruled from 724 until his death in 743. Hisham was a great patron of the arts, and he again encouraged arts in the empire. He also encouraged the growth of education by building more schools, and perhaps most importantly, by overseeing the translation of numerous literary and scientific masterpieces into Arabic. He returned to a stricter interpretation of the Sharia as Umar had, and enforced it, even upon his own family.
- Al-Walid II was an Umayyad Caliph who ruled from 743 until his death in the year 744.
- Yazid III was the twelfth Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or 4, 744, and died in that office.
- Marwan II was the fourteenth and last Umayyad caliph, ruling from 744 until his death in 750.
- "Abbasid Caliphate"
- As-Saffah was the first caliph of the Abbasid caliphate, one of the longest and most important caliphates (Islamic dynasties) in Islamic history.
- Al-Mansur was the second Abbasid Caliph reigning from 136 AH to 158 AH (754–775) and succeeding his brother al-Saffah. Al-Mansur is generally regarded as the greatest Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. He is also known for founding the 'round city' of Madinat al-Salam which was to become the core of imperial Baghdad
- Al-Mahdi was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785.
- Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph during whose reign Baghdad became the world's prominent centre of trade, learning and culture. Harun is the subject of many stories in the famous One Thousand and One Nights.
- Al-Ma'mun, a great Abbasid patron of Islamic philosophy and science
- Al-Mu'tasim was the eighth Abbasid caliph, ruling from 833 until his death in 842. The younger son of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. He is also known for founding the city of Samarra.
- Al-Mutawakkil was the tenth Abbasid caliph who reigned from 847 until 861. He was the son of al-Mu'tasim. He is considered an influential Abbasid Caliph.
- Al-Mu'tadid was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 892 until his death in 902.
- Ar-Radi was the twentieth Abbasid Caliph, reigning from 934 to his death. He died on 23 December 940 at the age of 31. He is considered the last Caliph of early Abbasid period.
- Al-Qadir, famous Caliph of later Abbasid period, 991–1031.
- Al-Muqtafi, famous Caliph of later Abbasid period, who reigned 1136–1160.
- Al-Nasir was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1180 until his death in 1225. According to the historian, Angelika Hartmann, Al-Nasir was the last effective later Abbasid Caliph.
- Al-Musta'sim was the 37th and last Abbasid caliph to rule from Baghdad. He ruled from 1242 until his death in 1258.
- "Ottoman Caliphate"
- Selim I, the 9th Sultan, the 1st Caliph and maiden title holder of "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" of the Ottoman Empire. Under his reign, the Empire grew by seventy percent.
- Suleiman the Magnificent, the 2nd Ottoman caliph, during whose reign the Ottoman Empire reached its zenith
- Ahmed I, the 8th Ottoman Caliph, who is well known for his construction of the Blue Mosque, one of the most famous mosques and tourist attraction in Turkey.
- Abdul Hamid II, the 25th and the last Ottoman caliph to rule with independent, absolute power
- Mehmed V, the 26th Ottoman Caliph, who made the Ottoman Empire enter into World War I in 1914, which would ultimately lead to the Empire's end.
- Abdulmejid II, the 28th and the last caliph of the Ottoman dynasty. Nominally the 37th Head of the Ottoman dynasty. In 1924, Grand National Assembly of Turkeyabolished the Ottoman Caliphate and sent Mejid in exile.
See also
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- ^ Conrad, Lawrence I. (2006), The Western Medical Tradition, Cambridge University Press, pp. 15, 137, ISBN 978-0-521-47564-8
- ^ "A millennium of health improvement". BBC. 1998. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- ^ Coulson, Andrew J., Delivering Education(PDF), Hoover Institution, p. 117, retrieved 22 November 2008, Reaching further back through the centuries, the civilizations regarded as having the highest literacy rates of their ages were parent-driven educational marketplaces. The ability to read and write was far more widely enjoyed in the early medieval Islamic empire and in fourth-century-B.C.E. Athens than in any other cultures of their times.
- ^ Burke, Edmund (June 2009), "Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity", Journal of World History, 20 (2): 165–186 [177–8], doi:10.1353/jwh.0.0045, S2CID 143484233, The spread of written knowledge was at least the equal of what it was in China after printing became common there in the tenth century. (Chinese books were printed in small editions of a hundred or so copies.)
- ^ Coulson, Andrew J., Delivering Education(PDF), Hoover Institution, p. 117, retrieved 22 November 2008, In neither case did the state supply or even systematically subsidize educational services. The Muslim world’s eventual introduction of state funding under Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century was quickly followed by partisan religious squabbling over education and the gradual fall of Islam from its place of cultural and scientific preeminence.
- ^ Burke, Edmund (June 2009), "Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity", Journal of World History, 20 (2): 165–186 [177], doi:10.1353/jwh.0.0045, S2CID 143484233, According to legend, paper came to the Islamic world as a result of the capture of Chinese paper makers at the 751 C.E. battle of Talas River.
- ^ Burke, Edmund (June 2009), "Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity", Journal of World History, 20 (2): 165–186 [177], doi:10.1353/jwh.0.0045, S2CID 143484233, Whatever the source, the diffusion of paper-making technology via the lands of Islam produced a shift from oral to scribal culture across the rest of Afroeurasia that was rivaled only by the move from scribal to typographic culture. (Perhaps it will prove to have been even more important than the recent move from typographic culture to the Internet.) The result was remarkable. As historian Jonathan Bloom informs us, paper encouraged "an efflorescence of books and written culture incomparably more brilliant than was known anywhere in Europe until the invention of printing with movable type in the fifteenth century.
- ^ Burke, Edmund (June 2009), "Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity", Journal of World History, 20 (2): 165–186 [178], doi:10.1353/jwh.0.0045, S2CID 143484233, More so than any previously existing society, Islamic society of the period 1000–1500 was profoundly a culture of books. [...] The emergence of a culture of books is closely tied to cultural dispositions toward literacy in Islamic societies. Muslim young men were encouraged to memorize the Qur'an as part of their transition to adulthood, and while most presumably did not (though little is known about literacy levels in pre-Mongol Muslim societies), others did. Types of literacy in any event varied, as Nelly Hanna has recently suggested, and are best studied as part of the complex social dynamics and contexts of individual Muslim societies. The need to conform commercial contracts and business arrangements to Islamic law provided a further impetus for literacy, especially likely in commercial centers. Scholars often engaged in commercial activity and craftsmen or tradesmen often spent time studying in madrasas. The connection between what Brian Street has called "maktab literacy" and commercial literacy was real and exerted a steady pressure on individuals to upgrade their reading skills.
Sources
- Arnold, T. W. (1993). "Khalīfa". In Houtsma, M. Th (ed.). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Vol. IV. Leiden: BRILL. pp. 881–885. ISBN 978-90-04-09790-2. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- Crone, Patricia; Hinds, Martin (1986), God's Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-32185-3
- Donner, Fred McGraw (1981), The Early Islamic Conquests, Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, hdl:2027/heb.00877, ISBN 978-0-691-05327-1
- Goeje, Michael Jan de (1911). "Caliphate" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Weeramantry, Judge Christopher G. (1997). Justice Without Frontiers: Furthering Human Rights. Brill Publishers. ISBN 90-411-0241-8.
- Wright, Lawrence (2007) [2006], The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, London: Vintage, ISBN 978-1-4000-3084-2
- Holt, Peter M. (1984). "Some Observations on the 'Abbāsid Caliphate of Cairo". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 47 (3): 501–507. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00113710.
- Wood, Graeme (2017). The Way of the Strangers : Encounters with the Islamic State. New York: Random House. pp. 128–9. ISBN 978-0-8129-8875-8. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
Further reading
- The theory of government in Islam, by The Internet Islamic University
- The History of Al-Khilafah Ar-Rashidah (The Rightly Guided Caliphates) School Textbook, By Dr. 'Abdullah al-Ahsan, `Abdullah Ahsan
- The Crisis of the Early Caliphate By Richard Stephen Humphreys, Stephen (EDT) Humphreys from The History of al-Tabari
- The Reunification of the Abbasid Caliphate By Clifford Edmund (TRN) Bosworth, from The History of al-Tabari
- Return of the Caliphate to Baghdad By Franz Rosenthal from The History of al-Tabari
- Pan-Islamism: Indian Muslims, the Ottomans and Britain (1877–1924) By Azmi Özcan
- Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate from Contemporary Arabic and Persian Sources By Guy Le Strange
- The Fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba: Berbers and Andalusis in conflict By Peter C. Scales
- Khilafat and Caliphate, By Mubasher Ahmad
- The abolition of the Caliphate, From The Economist 8 March 1924
- The Clash of the Caliphates: Understanding the real war of ideas, By Tony Corn, Small Wars Journal, March 2011
- Hüseyin Yılmaz. Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought. Princeton University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-1-4008-8804-7.
External links
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Last edited on 22 May 2022, at 15:23
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