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Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:55 pm
Posts: 224
Location: Dar-ul-Harab
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Reestablishment Of khilafa (Caliphate)
Once the subject of intense conflict and rivalry amongst Muslim rulers, the caliphate has lain dormant and largely unclaimed since the 1920s. According to the Washington Post surveys show that since the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Muslims almost universally have seen the war against terrorism as a war on Islam.[5] Muslims regard themselves as members of the ummah, or community of believers, that forms the heart of Islam, and as the earthly head of that community, the Caliph is cherished both as memory and ideal, many interviews indicate.[citation needed] The caliphate is still esteemed by many ordinary Muslims.[6] Tight restrictions on political activity in many Muslim countries coupled with the obstacles to uniting over fifty nation-states under a single institution have prevented efforts to revive the caliphate. Popular apolitical Islamic movements such as the Tablighi Jamaat identify a lack of spirituality and decline in personal religious observance as the root cause of the Muslim World's problems, and claim that the caliphate cannot be successfully revived until these deficiencies are addressed. No attempts at rebuilding a power structure based on Islam were successful anywhere in the Muslim World until the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which was based on Shia principles and whose leaders did not outwardly call for the restoration of a global Caliphate.
Islamist call
A number of Islamist political parties and Islamist guerrilla ****** have called for the restoration of the caliphate by uniting Muslim nations, either through peaceful political action (e.g. Hizb ut-Tahrir) or through force (e.g. al-Qaida).[7] Various Islamist movements have gained momentum in recent years with the ultimate aim of establishing a Caliphate; however, they differ in their methodology and approach. Some are locally-oriented, mainstream political parties that have no apparent transnational objectives.
One of al-Qaida's clearly stated goals is the re-establishment of a Caliphate.[8] Bin Laden has called for Muslims to "establish the righteous caliphate of our umma." [8] Al Qaeda recently named its Internet newscast from Iraq "The Voice of the Caliphate."[9]
In Pakistan the Tanzeem-e-Islami, an Islamist organization founded by Dr. Israr Ahmed, calls for a Caliphate.
The Muslim Brotherhood advocates pan-Islamic unity and implementing Islamic law, it is the largest and most influential Islamic group in the world, and its offshoots form the largest opposition parties in most Arab governments.[9] Officially sanctioned Islamic institutions in the Muslim world generally do not consider the Caliphate a top priority and have instead focused on other issues. Islamists argue it is because they are tied to the current Muslim regimes.
One transnational group particularily strong in Central Asia, and now growing in strength in the Arab World[10], Hizb ut-Tahrir (lit. party of liberation), has tried to recruit the world's Muslims to a renewed caliphate, aiming to ultimately form a pan-Islamic government.[10]
U.S. Presidential Position
United States President George W. Bush has warned repeatedly in speeches on the War on Terror that the Caliphate is at the heart of radical Islamic ideology. President Bush has said Iraq is a pivotal battleground in a larger conflict between advocates of freedom and radical Islamists.
Bush said that Al Qaeda terrorists and those that share their ideology
"hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they call caliphate, where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology...This caliphate would be a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current and former Muslim lands, stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia."[11]
On 4 February 2006 United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. allies should increase military spending to prevent the creation of a "global extremist Islamic empire."[11]
Various commentators, such as NBC and Buzzle, have criticized this approach, saying Bush is seeking to replace the red menace with a new illusory 'green menace' caliphate run by extremists, using an Appeal to fear.[12][13]. The Washington Post headed an article with the title "Reunified Islam: Unlikely but Not Entirely Radical, Restoration of Caliphate resonates With Mainstream Muslims", arguing that such a call is not radical nor only resonant with Islamic guerrilla movements.[12]
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate
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