Editing Caliphate (section)

== Period of dormancy ==
{{Main|Pan-Islamism}}
{{further|Islamism|Islamic revival}}

Once the subject of intense conflict and rivalry among Muslim rulers, the caliphate lay dormant and largely unclaimed since the 1920s. For the majority of Muslims, the caliph, as leader of the [[ummah]], "is cherished both as memory and ideal"<ref>''Washington Post'', "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301816.html Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical, Restoration of Caliphate resonates With Mainstream Muslims] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011081130/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301816.html |date=11 October 2017 }}".</ref> as a time when Muslims "enjoyed scientific and military superiority globally".<ref>Andrew Hammond, (2006). ''{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171115010934/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=18746 Islamic caliphate a dream, not reality]}}''. Middle East Online</ref> Muhammad is reported to have prophesied:

{{blockquote |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. |As-Silsilah As-Sahihah, vol. 1, no. 5}}

=== Abu Issa caliphate (1993 – c. 2014) ===
A contemporary effort to re-establish the caliphate by supporters of armed jihad that predates [[Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi]] and the [[Islamic State]] and was much less successful, was "the forgotten caliphate" of Muhammad bin ʿIssa bin Musa al Rifaʿi ("known to his followers as Abu ʿIssa").<ref>Kevin Jackson, "The Forgotten Caliphate", ''Jihadica'', 14 December 2014, quoted in Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017, pp. 152–255</ref> This "microcaliphate" was founded on 3 April 1993 on the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, when Abu Issa's small number of "[[Afghan Arabs]]" followers swore loyalty ({{tlit|ar|[[bay'ah]]}}) to him.<ref name="Wood2017 p. 153">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017, p. 153</ref> Abu Issa, was born in the city of [[Zarqa]], Jordan and like his followers had come to Afghanistan to wage jihad against the Soviets. Unlike them he had ancestors in the tribe of [[Quraysh]], a traditional requirement for a caliph. The caliphate was ostensibly an attempt to unite the other jihadis who were not his followers and who were quarrelling among each other. It was not successful.<ref>Interview with Kevin Jackson, 15 December 2015, quoted in Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017, p. 153</ref> Abu Issa's efforts to compel them to unite under his command were met "with mockery and then force". Local Afghans also despised him and his followers. Like the later Islamic State he tried to abolish infidel currency and rejected nationalism.<ref name="Wood2017 p. 153" /> According to scholar Kevin Jackson,

{{blockquote|Abu ʿIssa issued 'sad and funny' fatwas, as Abu al-Walid puts it, notably sanctioning the use of drugs. A nexus had been forged between [Abu Issa's group] and local drug smugglers. (The fatwa led one jihadist author to dismiss Abu Issa as the 'caliph of the Muslims among drug traffickers and takfir') Abu ʿIssa also prohibited the use of paper currency and ordered his men to burn their passports.<ref>Kevin Jackson, "The Forgotten Caliphate", ''Jihadica'', 14 December 2014</ref>}}

The territory under his control "did not extend beyond a few small towns" in Afghanistan's [[Kunar Province|Kunar]] province. Eventually he did not even control this area after the Taliban took it over in the late 1990s. The caliphate then moved to London, where they "preach[ed] to a mostly skeptical jihadi intelligentsia about the obligation of establishing a caliphate".<ref name="Wood2017 p. 155">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017, p. 155</ref> They succeeded in attracting some jihadis ([[Yahya al-Bahrumi]], Abu Umar al Kuwaiti) who later joined the Islamic State. Abu Issa died in 2014, "after spending most of his final years in prison in London".<ref name="Wood2017 p. 155" /> Abu Umar al Kuwaiti became a judge for the Islamic state but was later executed for extremism after he "took [[takfir]] to new levels&nbsp;... pronouncing death sentences for apostasy on those who were ignorant of scripture – and then pronouncing takfir on those too reluctant to pronounce takfir."<ref>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017, p. 297, n. 14. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

=== Islamic State (2014–present) ===
{{Main|Islamic State}}{{See also|List of leaders of the Islamic State}}[[File:Territoires de l'Etat islamique juin 2015.png|thumb|upright=1|[[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIL]]'s territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent in May 2015]]
[[File:Libyan Civil War.png|thumb|upright=1|Military situation in Libya in early 2016:<br /> [[File:Location dot grey.svg|11px]] [[Ansar al-Sharia (Libya)|Ansar al-Sharia]] [[File:Location dot black.svg|11px]] [[Islamic State]]]]
A network of Islamist militants formed the [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]] affiliate during the [[Iraq War]] (2003–2011). The group eventually expanded into Syria and rose to prominence as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the [[Syrian Civil War]]. In the summer of 2014, the group launched the [[Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)|Northern Iraq offensive]], seizing the city of [[Mosul]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/caliphate-wont-last-but-its-legacy-may/story-e6frg6zo-1227017262005?nk=51e8f7ae253f68a1dc07a0006cd370bf |work=The Australian |title=Caliphate won't last but its legacy may |date=8 August 2014 |access-date=25 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28560449 |work=BBC News |title=Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Islamic State's driving force |date=30 July 2014 |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=31 July 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140731104059/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28560449 |url-status=live}}</ref> The group declared itself a caliphate under [[Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi]] on 29 June 2014 and renamed itself as the "Islamic State".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/21/isis-palmyra-syria-islamic-state |title=Isis 'controls 50% of Syria' after seizing historic city of Palmyra |first=Kareem |last=Shaheen |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 May 2015 |access-date=17 March 2017 |archive-date=30 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930133020/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/21/isis-palmyra-syria-islamic-state |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28082962 |title=Isis rebels declare 'Islamic state' in Iraq and Syria |date=30 June 2014 |publisher=BBC |access-date=23 November 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118195906/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28082962 |url-status=live}}</ref> ISIL's claim to be the highest authority of Muslims has been widely rejected.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-icrc-idUSKBN0M921N20150313 |title=Islamic State-controlled parts of Syria, Iraq largely out of reach: Red Cross |newspaper=Reuters |date=13 March 2015 |access-date=1 July 2017 |archive-date=26 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626142235/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/13/us-mideast-crisis-syria-icrc-idUSKBN0M921N20150313 |url-status=live}}</ref> No prominent Muslim scholar has supported its declaration of caliphate; even [[Salafi jihadist]] preachers accused the group of engaging in political showmanship and bringing disrepute to the notion of Islamic state.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gerges |first=Fawaz A. |title=ISIS: A History |author-link=Fawaz Gerges |pages=283–284 |isbn=978-0-691-17579-9 |year=2017 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref>

ISIL has been at war with armed forces including the [[Iraqi Army]], the [[Syrian Army]], the [[Free Syrian Army]], [[Al-Nusra Front]], [[Syrian Democratic Forces]], and [[Iraqi Kurdistan]]'s [[Peshmerga]] and [[People's Protection Units]] (YPG) along with a 60 nation coalition in its efforts to establish a de facto state on Iraqi and Syrian territory.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/world/middleeast/assad-supporters-weigh-benefits-of-us-strikes-in-syria.html?_r=0 |title=Blamed for Rise of ISIS, Syrian Leader Is Pushed to Escalate Fight |date=22 August 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-date=15 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715060520/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/world/middleeast/assad-supporters-weigh-benefits-of-us-strikes-in-syria.html?_r=0 |url-status=live}}</ref> At its height in 2014, the Islamic State held "about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq". By December 2017 it had lost 95% of that territory, including [[Mosul]], Iraq's second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of [[Raqqa]], its capital.<ref name="Wilson Center2019" /> Its caliph, Al-Baghdadi, was killed in a raid by U.S. forces on 26 October 2019, its "last holdout", the town of [[Al-Baghuz Fawqani]], fell to [[Syrian Democratic Forces]] on 23 March 2019.<ref name="Wilson Center2019">{{cite web |title=Timeline: the Rise, Spread, and Fall of the Islamic State |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/timeline-the-rise-spread-and-fall-the-islamic-state |website=The Wilson Center |access-date=27 March 2022 |date=28 October 2019 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208025300/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/timeline-the-rise-spread-and-fall-the-islamic-state |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Ahmadiyya view ===
{{further|Ahmadiyya Caliphate}}
The members of the [[Ahmadiyya]] community believe that the Ahmadiyya Caliphate is the continuation of the Islamic caliphate, first being the ''Rāshidūn'' (rightly guided) Caliphate (of Righteous Caliphs). 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]] (1835–1908, the founder of the movement) whom Ahmadis identify as the Promised Messiah and [[Mahdi]].

Ahmadis maintain that in accordance with Quranic verses (such as {{qref|24|55|pl=y}}) and a number of ahadith on the issue, caliphates can only be established by God himself. and is a divine blessing given to "those who believe and work righteousness" and uphold the unity of God, therefore any movement to establish the caliphates centered on human endeavours alone is bound to fail, particularly when the condition of the people diverges from the "precepts of prophethood" and they are as a result disunited, their inability to establish a caliphate caused fundamentally by the lack of righteousness in them. Although the caliph is elected, it is believed that God himself directs the hearts of believers towards an individual. Thus the caliph is designated neither necessarily by right (i.e. the rightful or competent one in the eyes of the people at that time) nor merely by election but primarily by God.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alislam.org/quran/tafseer/?page=1870&region=E1 |title=The Holy Quran |publisher=Alislam.org |access-date=30 June 2014 |archive-date=26 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626144851/http://www.alislam.org/quran/tafseer/?page=1870&region=E1 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{ssn|date=November 2024}}

According to Ahmadiyya thought, a khalifa need not be the head of a state; rather the Ahmadiyya community emphasises the spiritual and organisational significance of the Khilāfah. It is primarily a religious/spiritual office, with the purpose of upholding, strengthening and spreading Islam and of maintaining the high spiritual and moral standards within the global community established by Muhammad—who was not merely a political leader but primarily a religious leader. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Khilafat-e-Rashida.pdf |title=Khilafat-e-Rashidah |access-date=30 June 2014 |archive-date=9 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109181459/http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Khilafat-e-Rashida.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alislam.org/egazette/updates/the-islamic-khilafat-its-rise-fall-and-re-emergence/ |title=The Islamic Khilafat – Its Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence |publisher=Alislam.org |access-date=30 June 2014 |date=3 March 2011 |archive-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331080614/http://www.alislam.org/egazette/updates/the-islamic-khilafat-its-rise-fall-and-re-emergence/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

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). However, it is not incumbent upon him to always accept the views and recommendations of the members. 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.

==== Islamist call ====
A number of Islamist political parties and [[mujahideen]] called for the restoration of the caliphate by uniting Muslim nations, either through political action (e.g. [[Hizb ut-Tahrir]]), or through force (e.g. [[al-Qaeda]]).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301816_pf.html |title=Reunified Islam |work=Washingtonpost.com |date=13 January 2006 |access-date=30 August 2017 |archive-date=3 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803125357/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301816_pf.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Various Islamist movements gained momentum in recent years with the ultimate aim of establishing a caliphate. In 2014, ISIL/ISIS made a claim to re-establishing the caliphate. Those advocating the re-establishment of a caliphate differed in their methodology and approach. Some{{who|date=November 2010}} were locally oriented, mainstream political parties that had no apparent transnational objectives.{{citation needed|date=November 2010}}

[[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:
{{blockquote|''Khilafa'' means representative. 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.<ref>Abul A'al Mawdudi, ''Human Rights in Islam'', The Islamic Foundation, 1976, p. 9</ref>}}

The [[Muslim Brotherhood]] advocates [[pan-Islamic]] unity and the implementation of [[Islamic law]]. Founder [[Hassan al-Banna]] wrote about the restoration of the caliphate.<ref>Roy, Olivier, ''Failure of Islamism'', Harvard University Press, (1994) p. 42</ref>

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<ref>William Lane Craig, ''[http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/mackie.html Professor Mackie and the Kalam Cosmological Argument] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115155257/http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/mackie.html |date=15 January 2008 }}''.</ref> and that the Qur'an is the word of God.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Hizb ut-Tahrir's stated strategy is a non-violent political and intellectual struggle.

In Southeast Asia, groups such as [[Jemaah Islamiyah]] aimed to establish a Caliphate across [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Brunei]] and parts of [[Thailand]], the [[Philippines]] and [[Cambodia]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

=== Al-Qaeda's caliphate goals ===
{{Main|al-Qaeda}}
[[Al-Qaeda]] has as one of its clearly stated goals the re-establishment of a caliphate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin.htm |title=Ladin |publisher=fas.org |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604101231/http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Its former leader, Osama bin Laden, called for Muslims to "establish the righteous caliphate of our umma".<ref>Interview (21 October 2001) from bin Laden, ''Message to the World'', Verso, 2005, p. 121</ref> [[Al-Qaeda]] chiefs released a statement in 2005, under which, in what they call "phase five" there will be "an [[Islamic state]], or caliphate".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on-terror/alqaeda-chiefs-reveal-world-domination-design/2005/08/23/1124562861654.html |title=Al-Qaeda chiefs reveal world domination design |publisher=Theage.com.au |date=24 August 2005 |location=Melbourne |access-date=1 October 2010 |archive-date=28 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228090853/http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on-terror/alqaeda-chiefs-reveal-world-domination-design/2005/08/23/1124562861654.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Al-Qaeda has named its Internet newscast from [[Iraq]] "The Voice of the Caliphate".<ref>{{cite news |first=Karl |last=Vick |date=14 January 2006 |title=Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301816.html |archive-date=11 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011081130/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301816.html |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=30 August 2017}}</ref> According to author and Egyptian native [[Lawrence Wright]], [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], bin Laden's mentor and al-Qaeda's second-in-command until 2011, once "sought to restore the caliphate... which had formally ended in 1924 following the dissolution of the [[Ottoman Empire]] but which had not exercised real power since the thirteenth century." Zawahiri believes that once the caliphate is re-established, Egypt would become a rallying point for the rest of the Islamic world, leading the ''jihad'' against the West. "Then history would make a new turn, God willing", Zawahiri later wrote, "in the opposite direction against the empire of the United States and the world's Jewish government".<ref>Wright, 46.</ref>

=== Opposition ===
Scholar [[Olivier Roy (professor)|Olivier Roy]] writes that "early on, Islamists replace the concept of the caliphate ... with that of the emir." There were a number of reasons including "that according to the classical authors, a caliph must be a member of the tribe of the Prophet (the Quraysh) ... moreover, caliphs ruled societies that the Islamists do not consider to have been Islamic (the Ottoman Empire)."<ref>Roy, Olivier, ''Failure of Islamism,'' Harvard University Press, (1994) pp. 42–43</ref> This is not the view of the majority of Islamist groups, as both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb ut-Tahrir view the Ottoman state as a caliphate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=967&SectionID=91 |title=The Muslim Brotherhood And Copts, Historical Perspective |publisher=Ikhwanweb.com |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-date=18 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318164625/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=967&SectionID=91 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{ssn|date=November 2024}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Bieliauskas |first=Hana |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200704170005 |title=Campus Radicals – Hizb-ut Tahrir |work=[[New Statesman]] |date=17 April 2007 |access-date=17 January 2008 |archive-date=5 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105041332/http://www.newstatesman.com/200704170005 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2024}}