The Caliphate System

Introduction

The institution of the Caliphate was established in the year 632, after the death of Muhammad. After the death of Muhammad, there was no well-defined system for succession. The power was transferred to Ummah, and many new inventions started for the succession of Muhammad. The major innovation was the Caliphate system, a religious and political institution.

The Khalifa chosen was to be the sole supreme leader of Islam worldwide and he would be seen as the deputy of the Prophet. Khalifas were the sole sovereign left behind by Muhammad and they had a duty to spread Islam worldwide and gain neighbouring territories and establish the Caliphate state all over the world.

The first four Khalifas who ruled the Islamic world from 632 AD to 661 AD, legitimised their position based on close association with Muhammad, they claimed to be nearest associates of Muhammad.

They were known as Rashidun Caliphs by the Sunni Muslims, which means they rightly minded Caliphs. Shia Muslims considered only the fourth Calipha ‘Ali’, as the legitimate Caliph. The two main objectives of the caliphate were, constituting Ummah, which means creating a supra-national community under one Caliph and another objective was to raise the resources.

The Caliphate

• The system of the Caliphate was started after the death of the prophet Mohammad in 632AD.

• It was a system of rule by a single supreme leader Caliph. Who will be the political as well as spiritual leaders of Muslims all over the world.

• Caliph in Arabic means the successor. The Caliphas are the successor of Prophet Muhammad and they rule the Muslim Ummah after the Prophet, based on his teachings.

• Initially, the Caliphs were the close associates of Muhammad.

• They legitimise their power through their closed association with Muhammad.

• The Caliph became the leader of the community and deputy of Muhammad.

• The two objectives of the Caliph were to form a strong Ummah by taking control over the tribes.

• The second objective was to gain resources for making their state strong.

• There were three Caliphates in Islamic history.

The Three Caliphates

There were three Caliphates in Islamic history, the first one was the Rashidun Caliphate, the second Caliphate was the Umayyad Caliphate and the third Caliphate was the Abbasid caliphate.

Rashidun Caliphate

• The Rashidun

  caliphate was prominent from 632 AD to 661AD.

• The Rashidun Caliphate was comprised of close associates of Muhammad, who were a part of the primitive Parliament.

• The death of Muhammad led to one problem; he had not named his successor.

• There were many close associates and relatives who were in line to be named as the next caliph.

• Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad was the first choice of many people.

• The Arabs did not support Ali, and Abu-Bakar, another close associate of Muhammad was named the first Caliph.

• His first task was to wage war against tribes which had revolted after the death of Muhammad.

• He was supported by another associate of Muhammad, Umar.

• The people who supported Abu Bakar were known as Sunni.

• Abu Bakar was followed by his successor, Umar.

• Umar was the second Caliph and he saw that only the tax and trade will not strengthen the Ummah for that purpose, he turned out for military expeditions.

• He captured a large porting of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. In three campaigns, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Egypt came under the Caliphate.

The entrance of Caliph Umar (581? -644) into Jerusalem, 638- coloured engraving, 19th century

• The third Caliph Uthman, led the further military campaigns and only a decade after Muhammad's death Central Asia came under the control of the Caliphate.

• Caliph started a new administrative structure and gave control of the captured provinces to Governors, also known as Amirs. Non-Muslims were protected by the state and had to pay taxes like Jaziya and Kharaj.

• With the vast expansion of Ummah, many new internal conflicts emerged, which led to the assassination of Uthman.

• Ali became the fourth Caliph and with his accession, the rift in the Islamic world deepened.

• He waged two wars against Mecca aristocracy. Ali was assassinated by Kharji.

Umayyad Caliphate

• It was started by Muawiya in 661AD. He moved his capital to Damascus and adopted the administrative structure of the Byzantine empire.

• He introduced hereditary succession in Muslim Ummah.

• Abd al-malik became the next Caliph and reigned till 705.

• The last able ruler of the Umayyad dynasty was Marwan who was defeated in 750AD by the Abbasids.

Abbasid Caliphate

• Abbasids were the descendants of the uncle of Muhammad and they used this fact to claim their right to a caliphate.

• They massacred the Umayyads and made Abu-Abbas the caliph in the year 750AD.

• Al-Mansur 754-775AD became the next ruler of the Abbasid dynasty and established his new capital in Baghdad.

• Caliphate Harun-al-Rashid 786AD to 789AD founded the grand library of Baghdad.

• Abbasids were the longest ruling dynasties of the caliphate and the last Caliph Al-Mustasim 1242AD- 1258AD, was defeated by the new emerging power, the Ottomans.

Conclusion

Caliphate is a religious and political state which is composed of Muslim Ummah and all the people under its territory. The Caliphate is ruled by a sole sovereign Caliph, which in Arabic means the successor. The caliph is considered the successor and deputy of Prophet Mohammad. After the death of Muhammad, this institution started because he did not name his successor. The close associates and relatives of Muhammad started claiming their rights as Caliph. The duties of the Caliph were the inclusion of tribes in the Muslim Ummah and to gain resources for strengthening their state. The Calipha aimed to establish Muslim Ummah all over the world and follow the teachings of Prophet Mohammad. There were many wars of succession fought for hundreds of years for the Caliphate.

FAQs

Q1. What do you mean by Caliphate?

Ans. Caliphate is a state ruled under a political and spiritual leader called the Caliph. Caliph is considered the successor and deputy of Muhammad and he is awarded the job to spread the teachings of Muhammad.

Q2. Who were the Rashidun Caliphs?

Ans. Rashidun caliphate was a group of close associates and relatives of Prophet Muhammad. They were the first to establish Caliphate and Abu-Bakar was the first Caliph.

Q3. What were the symbols on the silver Dirham?

Ans. There were symbols of the Cross and fire altars on the silver dirhams, there were also some inscriptions written in Greek and Pahlavi language.

Q4. Who replaced the Umayyad Caliphate?

Ans. Umayyad Caliphate was removed by a movement started by Abbasids, known as Dawa. Abbasids claimed that Ummahyads are not true descendants of Muhammad and they are evil.

Q5. What was the main cause for the breakup of the Caliphate?

Ans. There were several causes for the breakup of Caliphate and the mean reason was the weakness of Abbasids and the internal squabble between iranian and arabs weakened the empire and made it vulnerable to the Ottomans.