The Caliphate

A caliphate (Arabic: خِلافة khilāfah) is a state under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (/ˈkælɪf, ˈkeɪ-, kəˈlif/, Arabic: خَليفة khalīfah.
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The Ottoman sultans then claimed the title and used it until it was abolished by the Turkish Republic on March 3, We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval.

Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. He and his three immediate successors are known as the "perfect" or "rightly guided" caliphs. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: The claim that the caliph had transferred his authority to the Ottoman sultan is generally considered an 18th-century invention.

The question of his right to the caliphate the political-religious structure comprising the community of Muslims and its….


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The Arab conquest In Egypt: Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. It has additionally been reported [73] 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 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: People must have an Amir It is forbidden to give an oath to two leaders or more, even in different parts of the world and even if they are far apart. It is forbidden for Muslims to have in the whole world and at the same time two leaders whether in agreement or discord.

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. The Shia schools of thought and others expressed the same opinion about this. Al-Qurtubi said in his Tafsir [86] of the verse, "Indeed, man is made upon this earth a Caliph" [87] that:.

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, nor between the Imams except what is narrated about al-Asam, the Mu'tazzili Al-Ghazali when writing of the potential consequences of losing the Caliphate said: The judges will be suspended, the Wilayaat provinces will be nullified, It is obligatory to know that the office in charge of commanding over the people ie: In fact, there is no establishment of the Deen except by it Once the subject of intense conflict and rivalry amongst Muslim rulers, the caliphate laid dormant and largely unclaimed since the s.

For the vast majority of Muslims the caliph as leader of the ummah , "is cherished both as memory and ideal" [91] as a time when Muslims "enjoyed scientific and military superiority globally".

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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. In the summer of , the group launched the Northern Iraq offensive , seizing the city of Mosul.

The members of the Ahmadiyya community believe that the Ahmadiyya Caliphate Arabic: 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 —, the founder of the movement whom Ahmadis identify as the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. 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. 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. 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. 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. A number of Islamist political parties and mujahideen called for the restoration of the caliphate by uniting Muslim nations, either through political action e.

Those advocating the re-establishment of a Caliphate differed in their methodology and approach. 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:. 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.

The Muslim Brotherhood advocates pan-Islamic unity and the implementation of Islamic law. Founder Hassan al-Banna wrote about the restoration of the Caliphate. 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 [] and that the Qur'an is the word of God. Al-Qaeda has as one of its clearly stated goals the re-establishment of a caliphate. Scholar Olivier Roy writes that "early on, Islamists replace the concept of the caliphate In his book The Early Islamic Conquests , 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. 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. The Shia 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.

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. 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 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:. The majlis is also the means to elect a new 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. 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 , the Muslim Brotherhood did not put that principle into practice.

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.

CALIPHS AND THE CALIPHATE – Encyclopaedia Iranica

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!

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We obeyed our leaders and our chiefs, and they misled us from the right path. Give them the leaders double the punishment you give us and curse them with a very great curse' 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.

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The following hadith establishes the principle of rule of law in relation to nepotism and accountability [] [ non-primary source needed ]. 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? 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. 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. According to Noah Feldman, a law professor at Harvard University , the system of legal scholars and jurists responsible for the rule of law was replaced by the codification of Sharia by the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century: During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution , the Caliphate understood that real incentives were needed to increase productivity and wealth and thus enhance tax revenues.

A social transformation took place as a result of changing land ownership [] giving individuals of any gender , [] ethnic or religious background the right to buy, sell, mortgage and inherit land for farming or any other purpose. Signatures were required on contracts for every major financial transaction concerning agriculture , industry , commerce and employment. Copies of the contract were usually kept by both parties involved. There are similarities between Islamic economics and leftist or socialist economic policies. Islamic jurists have argued that privatization of the origin of oil, gas and other fire-producing fuels, as well as lakes, waterways, and grazing land is forbidden.

Some have even claimed that "Pasture" might be applied to all agricultural land, though they are in the minority. Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah said: It does not include privately owned farm land, orchards, groves, etc, as it is a well known fact that the Companions of Prophet Muhammad, held privately owned orchards and farm lands in the first Islamic State at Medina.

They also make exception in the case of processing, packaging, and selling water, as long as there is not dire need for it by the people. The legal ruling by the majority of Ulema is that water is public property, while it is still in the lake, river, etc, but when it is put into a container, it becomes the property of the owner of the vessel. Sheikh Al-Fawzan, considered one of the worlds top Islamic Scholars, says: 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 , [] circulating capital , capital expenditure , revenue , cheques , promissory notes , [] trusts waqf , startup companies , [] savings accounts , transactional accounts , pawning , loaning , exchange rates , bankers , money changers , ledgers , deposits , assignments , the double-entry bookkeeping system , [] and lawsuits.

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. 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 worlds first state run social welfare program.

The demographics of medieval Islamic society varied in some significant aspects from other agricultural societies, including a decline in birth rates as well as a change in life expectancy. Other traditional agrarian societies are estimated to have had an average life expectancy of 20 to 25 years, [] while ancient Rome and medieval Europe are estimated at 20 to 30 years. Lawrence estimates the average lifespan in the early Islamic Caliphate to be above 35 years for the general population.

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, [] and later, China after the introduction of printing from the 10th century. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For the ship, see USS Caliph. For the butterflies, see Enispe butterfly.

Ottoman Caliphate

For a list, see List of Caliphs. Profession of faith Prayer Fasting Alms-giving Pilgrimage. Rashidun and Rashidun Caliphate. Expansion under Muhammad, — Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphs, — Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, — Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Caliphate. This article needs additional citations for verification.

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Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. December Learn how and when to remove this template message. Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam Iqbal s. Principles of State and Government Asad Ma'alim fi al-Tariq "Milestones" Qutb Governance of the Jurist "Velayat-e faqih" Khomeini Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. Political aspects of Islam and Divisions of the world in Islam. List English translations by Ahmadis. Abrogation Biblical narratives Esoteric interpretation Hermeneutics Persons related to verses.

Islamism and Islamic revival. Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIL's controlled areas at its extent in May left , and current [ when? Governance of the Jurist. Majlis-ash-Shura , Shura , and Majlis. Sharia and Islamic ethics. Islamic economics in the world. Islamic capitalism and Bayt al-mal.


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For a more comprehensive list, see List of Caliphs. Historical Memory and Contemporary Contexts. Its History, Teaching, and Practices. Retrieved 30 June Managing Diversity in Organizations: Retrieved 26 March The Rise and Fall of the Crusader States". The New York Times. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. The Life of Muhammad. The Life of Mohammed. Prophet's pbuh Death - Dr. Sayed Ammar Nakshwani - Ramadhan ". Muhammad, Messenger of God. Retrieved 10 May Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures.

The Historiography of Islamic Egypt: Concise Encyclopeida Of World History. Provincial Administration in the Almohad Caliphate — The Cambridge History of Islam: The Story of the Ottoman Empire, Pan-Islam in British Indian Politics: A Study of the Khilafat Movement, — The Politicization of Islam: Between Integration and Secession: Retrieved 5 June Prayer in the City: Retrieved 8 March The Review of Religions.

Retrieved 9 March A Brief History 2nd ed. Islamic caliphate a dream, not reality. Retrieved 25 August Islamic State's driving force". International Business Times UK. Princeton University Press Kindle Edition. Archived from the original on 11 May Retrieved 10 April Wensinck, Concordance de la Tradition Musulmane vol. Brill Publishers , — The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism". State University of New York Press.

Al-Hashiyah ala al-Usul al-Kafi in Arabic. Social Justice and Salvation for the Masses. Not Helping the Oppressed. Retrieved 9 December Retrieved 27 May The American Journal of Comparative Law. The Journal of Economic History. Comparative Studies in Society and History. Some Conclusions and Problems". It is agreed that all agricultural societies conform to a given demographic pattern of behaviour, which includes a high birth-rate and a slightly lower death-rate, significant enough to allow a slow population increase of 0.

Other demographic characteristics of this society are high infant mortality, with — deaths per within the first year of birth, a lower average life expectancy, of twenty to twenty-five years, and a broadly based population pyramid, where the number of young people at the bottom of the pyramid is very high in relationship to the rest of the population, and that children are set to work at an early stage. Islamic society diverged from this demographic profile in some significant points, although not always consistently.

Studies have shown that during certain periods, such factors as attitudes to marriage and sex, birth control, birth and death rates, age of marriage and patterns of marriage, family size and migration pattems, varied from the traditional agricultural model. No less than three separate studies about the life expectancy of religious scholars, two from 11th century Muslim Spain, and one from the Middle East, concluded that members of this occupational group enjoyed a life expectancy of 69, 75, and Kevin Jaques", Journal of Islamic Studies , 18 2: The ability to read and write was far more widely enjoyed in the early medieval Islamic empire and in fourth-century-B.