Some Questions
One of the best questions, and most difficult to answer, that came from our class asked about how the caliph is chosen or elected. This is a question that has incredible depth and cannot really be answered in a universal approach. As we know, religion is complicated and there is no way to define truisms for a vast community of believers. So, before we dive in, it is important to take a look at a few of the key terms that we need to know before we can start to answer the question.
In the early 600's (Gregorian calendar) the prophet Muhammad received a revelation from God. He began to preach the message that he had been given in the town of Mecca. The message drew a lot of criticism from the ruling class in Mecca; his message of monotheism threatened to undermine Mecca's position as a pilgrimage site for the Arabian peninsula. Eventually, this tension caused Muhammad and his followers to be driven out of the city to the town of Medina, an event that marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar known as the Hijra. It his here in the town of Medina that Muhammad began to build the umma, or community of Islamic believers. This word "umma" is critical to our understanding of the caliphate and caliph.
After the death of Muhammad, power moved from one caliph to the next in a series of elections. Members of the religious elite and scholars selected the next caliph and the Umayyad caliphate was established. The Umayyad dynasty stretched east to Iran and all the way west into Spain. It began a "golden age" of the Arab territories.
A caliphate is not an easy concept to understand. A caliphate would most closely be identified with what we understand historically as an empire. A political, social, and religious movement of people. So, while the country of Jordan would not be considered a caliphate, The Islamic State (ISIS) would be an interesting conversation. Recently, the the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria dropped their name to "the Islamic State" and their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared himself the caliph of the Islamic people. So, there really is no clear line on what constitutes a caliphate and what makes someone a caliph. And, there is not always someone holding this title like in the Roman Catholic Church, when a Pope is no longer in rule, the church elects a new one. There have been few Muslims to declare themselves the caliph since the fall of the Ottoman empire.
Great Questions!
In the early 600's (Gregorian calendar) the prophet Muhammad received a revelation from God. He began to preach the message that he had been given in the town of Mecca. The message drew a lot of criticism from the ruling class in Mecca; his message of monotheism threatened to undermine Mecca's position as a pilgrimage site for the Arabian peninsula. Eventually, this tension caused Muhammad and his followers to be driven out of the city to the town of Medina, an event that marked the beginning of the Islamic calendar known as the Hijra. It his here in the town of Medina that Muhammad began to build the umma, or community of Islamic believers. This word "umma" is critical to our understanding of the caliphate and caliph.
After the death of Muhammad, power moved from one caliph to the next in a series of elections. Members of the religious elite and scholars selected the next caliph and the Umayyad caliphate was established. The Umayyad dynasty stretched east to Iran and all the way west into Spain. It began a "golden age" of the Arab territories.
A caliphate is not an easy concept to understand. A caliphate would most closely be identified with what we understand historically as an empire. A political, social, and religious movement of people. So, while the country of Jordan would not be considered a caliphate, The Islamic State (ISIS) would be an interesting conversation. Recently, the the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria dropped their name to "the Islamic State" and their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared himself the caliph of the Islamic people. So, there really is no clear line on what constitutes a caliphate and what makes someone a caliph. And, there is not always someone holding this title like in the Roman Catholic Church, when a Pope is no longer in rule, the church elects a new one. There have been few Muslims to declare themselves the caliph since the fall of the Ottoman empire.
Great Questions!
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