October 21, 2012

Fethullah Gulen on "Re-Establishing Caliphate"

Q: After the abolishment of the Caliphate (Khilafah) in Turkey, many new movements to restore this institution arose, especially in India. Thinking of the fast development in our world, do you think that the Caliphate could be re-established? Or is the Caliphate an unattainable utopia? What are your thoughts?

Fethullah Gulen: When the institution of the Caliphate was abolished there were many views articulated either for this or against it. A contemporary Turkish sociologist, Ziya Gokalp, and those following his line of thought had the following approach: “The institution of the Khilafah which draws its power from the Turkish Grand National assembly has an honorable place among Muslims. If there is no such institution, the world of Islam will be similar to a rosary which has no center (imamah); all the beads would fall off.” Thinkers like Seyyid Bey believed that, “Khilafah (the Caliphate) has a wise purpose and it is the issue of the nation itself and it follows the requirements of the time. When the Prophet died, he did not mention anything about Khilafah (the succession) to his Companions. In fact, even in the Qur’an there is no verse to this effect.” Seyyid emphasizes the importance of consultation and obedience to the rulers, as mentioned in the Qur’an. These two aspects are related to administration and politics. He believes that with the caliphate of Ali, the fourth caliph in Islamic history, in the thirtieth year of the Islamic calendar, the caliphate came to an end. In this regard, he mentions the opinions of scholars of Islamic law and Islamic thought. He speaks of the historicity of Khilafah, in one sense, and suggests that one should benefit from this experience and understand the goal and the aim of Khilafah. According to Seyyid, the rulers who came after the first four caliphs were not real caliphs; in appearance they were caliphs, but in quality they did not follow the previous caliphs. With this opinion, he supported the abolishment of Khilafah as found in the following statement of Turkish parliament: “The caliph has been deposed. The institution of Khilafah is abolished since the meaning and the context of this institution has been absorbed into the government and the republic.”