By DR. WAYEL AZMEH and DR. SAEED ALBEZREH
In June 2014, Daesh announced the “re-establishment†of the so-called caliphate (khilafah) and appointed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “caliph†(khalifah) of Muslims around the world. Daesh described this as “the abandoned obligation of the era†and “a dream that lives in the depths of every Muslim believer.â€1The claim that Muslims are obligated to establish a centralized state under the rule of a “caliph,†however, is grossly misguided, and needs to be examined and corrected. Indeed, while Muslims have sought to understand the eternal values of the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) teachings and implement them in varied contexts across the centuries, nowhere in these sources are Muslims mandated or even encouraged to create a “caliphate†or “Islamic state.â€
The word khalifah, as it appears in the Qur’an, literally means “vice-regent,†and is used to describe humans as the stewards or ambassadors of God on earth, who bestowed upon them the responsibility to care for God’s creation. It is not understood in the Qur’an in “political†terms, neither does the Qu’ran ever refer to the Prophet Muhammad as a head of state, prince, or king— instead referring to him as “the messenger of God.â€
As such, the Prophet Muhammad strictly adhered to the commands he received from God, which included harmonious coexistence for people of all religions, upholding justice for all, honoring other people’s beliefs, allowing people to abide by their own laws, and providing protection for other religions. In the Pact of Medina, for example, the Prophet Muhammad established protections for those living in Medina, in which each group kept its religion without interference, and created an alliance between Muslims, the Jewish tribes, and the polytheists. It is worth mentioning that in the Pact of Medina, the Prophet Muhammad never refers to himself as a political “head of state,†but rather, as a religious leader: “This is a writ from Muhammad the Prophet among the believers, the Muslims from Quraysh and those from Yathrib (Medina) and whoever joined them and struggled with them.â€
Though Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed “caliph,†calls upon all Muslims living in “Western†countries to leave their homes to move to the “caliphate,†built by and for Muslims only, this is a clear contradiction to the example the Prophet Muhammad set in Medina. When Muslims were being persecuted by Quraysh, the Prophet Muhammad sent them to Christian-ruled Abyssinia, where they would be protected under the king’s rule. The Prophet Muhammad was modeling another example for his vision of Muslims living peacefully with people of other faiths, even as a protected minority. The Prophet Muhammad also instructed his faithful to follow the law of the land in which they lived while maintaining their religious devotion, and not to establish a break-away legal authority.
The issue of khilafah (succession) arose after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 CE. The Prophet left no explicit instruction as to how his successor should be chosen, thus motivating his companions to consult (shura) among themselves—a process that has a clear reference in the Qur’an. After consultation, Abu Bakr was chosen as the new leader of the Muslims, who gave their allegiance (bay’ah) to him, thereby making him the first formal “caliph†by tribal consensus. This newly founded “caliphate†was thus born as a civic state, established on and guided by the overarching morals of the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad’s example. This succession of leadership via consent of the people continued with the next three caliphs—Umar, Uthman, and Ali—who all ruled according to the principles of the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad’s example, and eventually came to be called the four “rightly guided caliphs.â€
During Ali’s time, however, a civil war broke out and a splinter group, the Khawarij, assassinated him. Mu’awiyah took up the mantle of leadership of the Muslim community by force and ruled as a king for nineteen years, eventually designating his son, Yazid, as his successor. Nevertheless, Mu’awiyah called himself “caliph,†for he wanted to be seen as the “leader of the believers.†Thus, twenty-nine years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, a new type of caliphate—one based on hereditary kingship, rather than shura (consultation) and the consent of the governed—was established. As such, classical scholars, like Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Khaldūn, declare that the “caliphate†had ceased to exist after the four rightly guided caliphs.
Over time, the caliphate system evolved in response to changing circumstances. The idealized image of a vast caliphate unified under a central exemplary and just government is inspiring to Muslims, but it never existed in reality. Most of the 1,400 years of Islamic history witnessed multiple independent states with more than one caliphate system at any given time. These evolved progressively, from a centralized system of governance that would not accept rival caliphs, into a vast decentralized empire with many independent states pledging allegiance to their caliph symbolically, until finally, many independent caliphates came to exist simultaneously, with each caliph ruling a separate territory.
For example, in 680 CE, two competing caliphates developed simultaneously—the Umayyads in Damascus and Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca. Between 934 CE and 955 CE, up to six caliphs co-existed. Over the next 161 years, three major caliphates ruled simultaneously—the Umayyads in Damascus, Abbasids in Baghdad, and Fatimids in Egypt. With this decentralization of leadership, the “caliphate†gradually took on different forms in different Muslim societies, and came to be called by various names, including mulk, wilayah ‘am, dawlah, and milla.
The caliphate system of governance ceased to exist when Britain and the Allied powers skillfully utilized the romantic image of the caliphate to motivate the leader of Mecca, Sharif Hussein Bin Ali, to lead a revolt against the Ottoman caliphate. When they succeeded, the Ottoman caliphate was abolished in March 1924, and Sharif Hussein proclaimed himself Caliph of All Muslims. However, the British switched their support to Ibn Saud in eastern Arabia, who defeated Hussein, forcing him to give up his claim later that same year and ushering in the birth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Importantly, had the declaration of a “caliphate†been religiously mandated, the Saudis would have declared Saudi Arabia as the caliphate; but they did not.
Today, a sense of defeat dominates the Arab world following the end of the Ottoman caliphate and the subsequent colonization of many Arab countries by Western powers. This defeat has encouraged some Islamist political leaders to claim the dream of a caliphate that would free and unite all Muslims.
The American-led invasion of Iraq and the dismantling of Iraq’s central government sparked a new wave of religious polarization between the two main components of Iraqi society, the Sunni and the Shi’a.
This, along with the chaos of the Syrian civil war, created a leadership vacuum, which Daesh has filled. Daesh declared a “caliphate†under its self-appointed “caliph,†Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, claiming to follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Daesh is trying to sell its “caliphate†to some gullible Muslim youth on the Internet as a revival of the glorious dream of Muslims’ dignity, unity, and prosperity.
Daesh’s “caliphate,†however, which it equates with the ideal “Islamic state,†violates Qur’anic principles. One of those Qur’anic principles is bay’ah, which is a pledge of allegiance to a leader that confers upon him/her the legitimacy to lead. This principle of leading by the consent of the people is comparable to the modern-day social contract in which the leader pledges to serve his people and they, in return, remain respectful of his decisions. The guiding principle of Hisbah in the Islamic tradition, meaning “the promotion of good and the prevention of evil,†makes it incumbent upon the leader to ensure his people’s welfare. The responsibility to strive for the welfare of others extends to all Muslims, not just the ruler.4 Along with these core principles in the Qur’an and the Muslim tradition, there are important principles that are totally ignored by Daesh, such as assuring the equality of all people under the law and furthering the fundamental rights of all people, as defined by the five objectives of Islamic law (shari’ah): life, religion, property, intellect, and family.5 While Daesh claims to govern according to “shari’ah,†in fact they only implement their harshest, and conveniently literal, interpretations of penal code punishments, while completely ignoring the core values upheld by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, which include justice, equality, freedom of religion, and mutual consultation.
Whether a government system is called a caliphate, a sultanate, a republic, or a kingdom is of secondary importance. What is most important is to cultivate and popularize basic knowledge of Islamic history and empower Muslims in envisioning a viable future based on core Islamic values of peace, freedom, and human dignity.
