Caliphate, the political-religious state including the Muslims and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (632 CE) of the Prophet Muhammad. Caliphate is derived from  the Arabic lexicon, khilāfa, literally means taking the position of others in order to perform the legal and religious rights behalf on them. It is also used in the meaning of vicegerency and successor in the Qur’an.. Ruled by a caliph, who held temporal and sometimes a degree of spiritual authority, the empire of the Caliphate grew rapidly through conquest during its first two centuries to include most of Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Spain. In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets and no-one can take the place of the Prophet in his position as Messenger of God. However, other Muslims can represent his position as a ruler, for the Qur’an states:

O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger, and those from among you who are invested with authority.

The first head for Muslims in Islamic history for Muslims in Islamic history, after the Allah was prophet Muhammad the “Messenger of God”.

 In 620s A.D the western part of Asia what today is known as Saudi Arabia, the Prophet Mohammed instituted Islam and led its first followers. The idea being of a unified community of all believers is crucial in Islam, so Mohammed and his followers organized a self-governing political system that included all Muslims. There weren’t so many people at the time. In other words, Islam was founded as a religion and a state. In the last ten years of Mohammed’s life, he led military campaigns in present-day Saudi Arabia to unite disparate Arabian tribes, which joined in his state-that-was-also-a-religion. In 624 A.D. it was only in Medina, a small place. He was the head of state for a cosmopolitan society, which consists of Jews, paganist Arabs and Muslims. Mohammed’s Islamic community didn’t become a caliphate until he died in 632 AD. However, the Prophet Muhammad did not assign or mention who would be head of state or the caliphate after his death, nor did the Qur’an assign anyone for this job. Choosing a ruler for Muslims is a political issue; therefore, it is left to people. After the death of the caliph Muhammad, there was an urgent need for a successor to Muhammad, the caliph, the leader of Muslim community.

Muslims of Makkah gathered around Abu Bakr and Muslims of Medina around Sa’d bin Ubada. After extensive debates, Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s father-in-law was elected as the first ruler of the Muslim population, the caliph. His title was Khalifatu Rasul al-Allah (Successor of Messenger of God), which can be understood as the ruler who comes after the Prophet.

After the first caliph, Abu Bakr took over, until 661 when it fell into civil war. The civil war also led to the permanent division between Sunni and Shia Islam. The reason behind this division was that the Shia Muslim wanted the next caliph from Muhammad’s blood line and wouldn’t accept otherwise.

According to the Shia, the Prophet himself had left no instructions for the selection of a leader after him and advocated for ʿAlī’s claim to the Caliphate. It would be anachronistic to assume that this early group supported ʿAlī because he was a cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet.

The first four caliphs that have been called “the rightly guided caliphs” (Khulafa Rashidin) by Sunni Muslims:

1. Abu Bakr (632–4)
2. ‘Umar (634–44)
3. ‘Uthman (644–56)
4.  ‘Ali (656–61)

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Choosing a caliph in the case of the first four personalities, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali established three different ways

1. public election
2. designation by a previous caliph
3. assigning a caliph by a council

In the historical context, two different visions for choosing a leader for the Muslim community came to light.

1. Abu Bakr being the best candidate for caliphate due to his seniority in Islam and being the most respected Companion of the Prophet, as per Sunni scholars.
2. The Shia’s claim was that ‘Ali, a cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, was the most suitable candidate for he was the closest relative of the Prophet and was designated as successor by the Prophet.

The first four caliphs were chosen from the Quraysh sect. For the first time in the political history of Islam, the Kharijite sect, who separated from ‘Ali, chose their own caliph. Choosing a caliph beyond the Quraysh bloodline is a scandalous concern among Muslim scholars.

There are two views on this matter

1. any person who has necessary qualifications and knows Islamic principles can be a ruler and a caliph. The Kharijite and Mutazilate sects hold this view.
2. any person who holds that a caliph must be from the clan of Quraysh. the majority of Sunni scholars has this view.

The institution of caliphate had been used by various Muslim nations throughout history and it was abolished by the secular Turkish government in 1924. It was abolished 96 years ago; there have been several attempts to resurrected it since.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

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