The Caliphate
It is important to understand what the caliphate is, its place in Muslim society and its significance.
The cornerstone of Islamic theology, the caliphate, or khilafah, is the central, authoritarian government that was implemented after the death of the Prophet Muhammad by his disciples in 632 AD. It derives its authority from and governs by Shariah law, and is presided over by a “caliph,“ or ”successor” who holds both legislative and spiritual power.
Per the tenets of Islam, this “state” is not limited to encompassing only Muslims across Muslim lands, rather, the goal is to ultimately establish a global caliphate that would mandate people of all walks live embrace Islam and submit to being governed by Islamic law. The khilafah is also the form of government endorsed by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is why many are justly concerned over the Islamic group’s rise to power and influence in American government.
In March 1924, reformer and president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, constitutionally destroyed the “Khilafah State.” Today, an organization dedicated to the reestablishment of a global caliphate, Khilafah.com, stated that Ataturk’s move marked the end of “an illustrious era of Islamic rule” and that, since then, “the dark shadow of the West has engulfed the world.”
To illustrate what Islamists believe regarding Islam and the caliphate, consider the following passage from their unified online voice:
We assert, without compromise, that it is only by the establishment of the Khilafah State, that the practical solutions of Islam can once again provide a real alternative for the entire world. The ‘Clash of Civilisations’ first discussed by Samuel Huntington is real and inevitable. We endorse the notion that there is a civilisational difference between Islam and the West and that the problem for the West is Islam and the problem for Islam is the West. By arguing this, we also maintain Islam, as a universal ideology, came for all of humankind, Muslim and Non-Muslims, and as such it is only Islam that serves as a Rahma (mercy) for all mankind.
Khilafah.com goes on to assert that “the only challenge” to encroaching Western dominance “must come from Islam.” Thus, to Islamists, the caliphate is vitally important in their fight against Western democracy and to ensure the adoption of Islam and the implementation of Shariah law across the world.
Those who closely follow the words and deeds of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda will recall that establishing a global caliphate founded upon Islamic law has been among the militants’ most fervently declared goals.
Writing for the New York Sun in 2005, Daniel Pipes noted that the Islamists who assassinated former Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 adorned their holding cages with banners that read: “caliphate or death.” He continued:
Bin Laden himself spoke of ensuring that “the pious caliphate will start from Afghanistan.” His chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also dreamed of re-establishing the caliphate, for then, he wrote, “history would make a new turn, God willing, in the opposite direction against the empire of the United States and the world’s Jewish government.” Another Al-Qaeda leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, publishes a magazine that has declared “Due to the blessings of jihad, America’s countdown has begun. It will declare defeat soon,” to be followed by the creation of a caliphate.
While some might argue that there is a difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and state-recognized terrorist organizations, consider that the Brotherhood is no innocent lamb. Founded by an Adolf Hitler admirer, the Islamic militant group is the predecessor of Hamas, Hezbollah and even al Qaeda, and is often cited as a parent to each of the terrorist groups.
One of the reasons some believe the Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate group is via its seemingly extensive community service work. It operates under the veneer of a socially-conscious organization focused on youth-outreach, school and mosque development, and even the coordination of sporting events for the “good” of the community.
Once examined under a more discerning lens, however, the true colors of the Muslim Brotherhood emerge. Of the militant Islamist group’s dual identity, scholar Martin Kramer stated: “On one level, they operated openly, as a membership organization of social and political awakening. Banna preached moral revival, and the Muslim Brethren engaged in good works. On another level, however, the Muslim Brethren created a ‘secret apparatus’ that acquired weapons and trained adepts in their use. Some of its guns were deployed against the Zionists in Palestine in 1948, but the Muslim Brethren also resorted to violence in Egypt.
Kramer goes on to explain that the Brotherhood enforced their own moral teachings “by intimidation, and they initiated attacks against Egypt’s Jews.”
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