Eye On Muslim World: Mubarak Out; Is Caliphate In? | Opinion

Rush Limbaugh, Mitt Romney and Donald Rumsfeld have all stoked similar fears of a "caliphate" stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. The Wall Street Journal suggested, "The [Muslim] Brotherhood is disciplined and organized and will no doubt fight to gain power."

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By Faheem Younus | February 18, 2011

This is what we know about Egypt: Military is engaged. Parliament is dissolved. Constitution is suspended. Mubarak is out.

And this is what we would love to know: Is caliphate in?

For those who don't know, caliphate is an institution of successorship in Islam. After the demise of the Prophet Muhammad, (the rightly guided, as it was called) caliphate -- spiritual and political successorship -- was established in 632. But from 661 to 1924, it deteriorated into a dynasty, largely providing for political unity of Muslims.


Since Turkish President Ataturk abolished the institution of caliphate in 1924, the Muslims today are bewildered over the job description, if you will, of a caliph: providing political dominance or spiritual guidance?

And that bewilderment provides fodder to the likes of Glenn Beck, who unleashed the wildest speculation on Fox News: "I believe that I can make a case in the end that there are three powers that you will see really emerge. One, a Muslim caliphate that controls the Mideast and parts of Europe ..."

But guess what? He's not alone. Rush Limbaugh, Mitt Romney and Donald Rumsfeld have all stoked similar fears of a "caliphate" stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. The Wall Street Journal suggested, "The [Muslim] Brotherhood is disciplined and organized and will no doubt fight to gain power."

This attitude of hate toward caliphate is not only misguided but also one-sided.

First, Egypt's revolutionaries -- which include many Christians -- exude a yearning for freedom, jobs and respect, not a call for radicalization, torture and fundamentalism. Thus the protesters demanded the suspension of the Egyptian Constitution to pave the way for a democratic civilian rule.

Second, I wonder if Beck was informed about the millions of Muslims who have no plans to take over the world. After all, 19 out of 48 Muslim-majority countries practice a secular form of government with a separation of church and state.

And that's the heart of the matter.

Imagine if Muslims around the world could speak with one voice on issues of gender equality, nonviolence and love for humanity under one spiritual leadership? In other words, imagine if the Muslim world had a Martin Luther King, a Gandhi, a pope and none one of them wanted to run for a political office.

That's the quintessence of a spiritual caliphate: an institution interested in being the moral voice, not the political choice of the Muslim world.

For the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, such a spiritual caliphate has not only existed for more than 100 years, but it also led them to establish missions in more than 190 countries. The first caliph of AMC was democratically elected in 1908 in India after the demise of AMC's founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the latter-day messiah. AMC's current and fifth caliph, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom.

In 2008, when the AMC celebrated its "Caliphate Centenary," U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "I hope the British Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will continue to work for peace and tolerance and towards interfaith dialogue both here and abroad."

What better way for a Muslim leader to work for peace than to stand up for the principle of separation between church and state. That is why when the Ahmadiyya Muslim caliph was invited to the U.K.'s House of Parliament on Oct. 18, his message was simple: "The Ahmadiyya Muslim [Community] and its institution of caliphate has absolutely no interest or desire to overthrow any government. That is not our purpose. "

If such a caliphate has existed for more than a century, why do so many Muslims continue to vouch for a political dominance of Islam? Why does Israel fear religious extremists controlling Egypt? Why are Americans concerned about a "creeping Shariah"? These are valid questions for American Muslim leaders. Its time they take an equally clear position on the issue of separation of church and state.

Revolutions symbolize a beginning of an era as much as they symbolize the end of one. The Muslim world, via Facebook, might have stepped into a new paradigm where the masses are embracing the concept of secular governments.

But can America embrace the concept of a spiritual caliphate?

Faheem Younus is an adjunct faculty for religion/history at the Community College of Baltimore, a clinical associate professor at the University of Maryland and the national secretary of education for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. He can be reached at faheem.younus@ahmadiyya.us.


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