Page 12 - Issue-24

Vol.1 Issue 24, October 2020
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A Hat Worn by All
The Historical Transformations of

The Caliphate Concept

Layla Amr Galal, Crisis Management Specialist at The State Ministry of Information

rising on rebellions and insurrections , Christians and Jews refused
The concept as (Khalifatu-Allah)
to pay their taxes or ( zakat) ,so it was inevitable to shift the term and
It is common that the concept of ‘khilafa ’ started after the death of
choose a new caliph who has the closest relation to the prophet in
prophet Muhammed (a.s.) .But ,in fact it had come into sight even
order to be legitimatized by the Umma ,this new definition was
before , as prophet Muhammed (a.s.) himself was a caliphate to Allah
problematic .it caused division upon the question of who is the one
, the concept was mentioned in Hadith and Qura ’an as (Khalifa-
who bears the claim to be the successor of Muhammad (a.s)
khulafa-khalaif) referring to the presence of a person who takes due
between these who based succession on kinship who are the Alid
responsibility and was sent to earth as caliph of Allah in order to
party,claiming that the successor should be one from the family of
release the rightful and just attitude of the man. consequently , the
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concept was reflected in the practices of ruling the Muslim Umma by Muhammad (Ali ), and those who based succession based on the
the prophet who was the head of the state , governor and sole leader special companionship of the prophet, the second party was
dominating as they were the majority , so the term of caliphate
accountable to Allah (whom he is a caliph to), he was performing
shifted in favor of this party that supported Abu Bakr to be the new
all matters concerning the Muslim Umma , being the religious leader
caliph based on two claim: Firstly , is that the prophet gave Abo Bakr
even in prayers , army commander , searching for a method of
his orders to lead Muslims in prayers during his illness so this can be
coexistence with members of other religions and conducting
seen as the prophet chose him before death by delegating him his
agreements with them specially in a time when Ansar Muslims
practices , Secondly , Abu Bakr was one of the closest companions of
emigrated from Mecca to Medina where they got entitled to Many
the prophet ,specially that he was always referring to the prophet
followers there and non Muslims as well and the Muslim Umma was
specially when he said in the Bay ’a “Obey me , as I obey Allah and
getting wider , so the concept was important to be treated that way in
his prophet ”, so since then , the concept of (Al khualafa ’Al Rashidin
order to maintain stability and unity of Muslim Umma that ’s why,
) appeared referring to the 4 caliphs who used to be the closest
during the lifetime of the prophet , no dispute took place among
companions of the prophet.
Muslim Umma.
Caliphate as dynastic monarchies
The concept as (khalifat Rasul- Allah)
The last two rightly caliphs :Othman and Ali , Although they faced
After the death of prophet Muhammad (a.s.) in 632 A.D., the
opposition within the Muslim community but the concept of
concept emerged to be compatible with the status quo of the Muslim
caliphate was the same as they used to rule according to the same
Umma , it was logic for the concept to simply mean “The succession
terms laid by Abu Bakr , specially for Ali who never attempted to
of a person by another “, derived from the word (khalaf) which is (to
gain special title based on his personal blood relationship with the
be behind), the caliph was the person who replaces and succeeds
prophet. After the death of Othman , a civil war happened between
Muhammad (a.s.) to protect religion and conduct worldly affairs by
Ali and Mu ’awiyya when the shi ’is claim caliphate to Ali and his
fulfilling all powers and activities maintained before by the prophet ,
later descendants ,this led to a division even between radical and
given that after his death , some Muslims apostatized , Arabs were
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Vol.1 Issue 24, October 2020