The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate (book)
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Al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-ʿUzma (transl. The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate;
Author | Sāyyīd Rāshīd Rīdā |
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Original title | الخلافة أو الإمامة العظمى (Al-Khilafa aw al-Imama al-ʿUzma) |
Country | Egypt |
Language | Arabic |
Subject | Islamic State, Islamic Khilafa and Islamism |
Publication date | 1923 |
In the book, Rida postulated that the Islamic State should ideally be headed by a
The treatise would have a profound influence on Islamic scholarly circles and sparked a revolutionary variant of pan-Islamist activism that opposed all forms of Western social, political and cultural influences. Inspired by the programme of the treatise, Islamists all across the world began totally rejecting all Western political theories and emphasise beliefs in the inherent superiority of Islamic system. Rida's Caliphate doctrine would directly influence ideologues of the Muslim Brotherhood, South Asian Jamaat e-Islami and Saudi Arabian Sahwa movement.[4][5][6][7]
Purpose of the Book
In November 1922,
Rashid Rida condemned the decision of Kemalist-led
"This matter [i.e
shari'ah in regard to it in detail that which is dictated by the station in order that truth be known from the false."— - Muhammad Rashid Rida, in al-Khilafah aw al-Imamah al-'Uzma, p. 53, [10]
Turkish Rebuttal
The Turkish government rebutted Rida's treatise with their own book "The Caliphate and the Sovereignty of the People"; supported by activists and intellectuals who restricted the mission of the
Referring back to the works of classical theologians such as
(scholarly consensus) on the necessity of the Caliphate, writing:"The pious ancestors (
ahl al-hal wa al-'aqd in the ummah"— Sayyid Rashid Rida, in al-Khilafah aw al-Imamah al-'Uzma, p. 54, [12]
Qualifications of the Caliph/Imam
The first section of the book was a detailed examination on the need and urgency of the Caliphate. Bringing citations from hadith literature and works of Sunni Fuqaha like Al-Mawardi and to back up his premise, Rida asserted that the absence of Caliphate and Islamic rule was equivalent to the state of Jahiliyya (pre-Islamic pagan ignorance). Reiterating the standard prerequisites in classical Sunni doctrine on the election of the caliph, Rida stressed the Caliph caliph should be a mujtahid and from the Quraysh tribe. He advocated the principle of Arab virtue and pre-eminence, arguing that Islam attained its glory under Arab leadership and hence, Imamate (leadership) should once again return to the Arabs. Rida further identified as Hejaz and Arabian Peninsula as sacred lands where practice of all religions other than Islam have to be banished. The degeneration of Caliphate system after the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs was blamed by Rida on the actions of first Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya I. These included abandonment of the shura system of electing a caliph in favour of dynastic succession; and introduction of the asabiyya of Umayyads.[2]
While Rida stressed the importance of electing a Caliph who met all of the shar’i stipulations, he also wrote that the absence of these ideal conditions did not imply the discontinuity of the Caliphate in no ambiguous terms:
“the ‘ulama agreed that it is not permissible to swear the bay’ah for the khilafah to any except one who combines (in his person) what they mentioned of requisite qualifications, especially justice, and competence, and his being Quraysh; but, if some of the requisite conditions are not present, then the matter enters into the rule of necessities, and the necessities dictate according to their measure that it is obligatory in that instance to swear the bay’ah to him who gathers together most of the requisite qualifications ..”
— Sayyid Rashid Rida, in al-Khilafah aw al-Imamah al-'Uzma, p. 72, [13]
Types of Caliphate/Imamate
Rida classified caliphates into 3 categories.
- "the ideal caliphate", that had prevailed during the era of the Umar the Second, popularly known as "the fifth of the Rashiduin" for his religious fervour and righteousness. This type of Caliphate met all the shar'istipulations.
- "the caliphate or imamate of necessity" This category of Caliphs were those elected by the ahl al-hall wa'l 'aqd (Islamic representatives) but didn't satisfy all the religious requirements. The Caliphate of necessity was characterised by dearth of religious knowledge amongst their rulers and defective application of Islamic justice in its governance system. Rida classified many Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs under this category for their lack of religious qualifications to undertake the task of Ijtihad.
- "the caliphate of tyranny or conquest (al-taghallub bi'l quwwa)" This type of Caliphate is the one in which rulers attain and maintain power through raw force without heeding the consultation from ahl al-hall wa'l 'aqd. Rida classified most of the later non-Arab caliphates such the Ottoman Empire under this category. Rida called for the toppling such Caliphates whenever Muslims attain the necessary strength for a successful revolution.[14][15]
Rida designated the latter two categories of Caliphates as “Khilafat al-Idtirar (Compulsory Caliphate)”. Differentiating between them, Rida writes:
"the difference between this khilafah – the familiar khilafah of ‘domination’ and what came before it when both of them being permissible due to necessity is that the first issues from the ahl al-hal wa al-aqd by their choice of one who represents those who have lost some of the requisite conditions… whereas the second is an assailant of the khilafah by force of tribalism, not by the choice of the ahl al-hal wa al-‘aqd …”
— Muhammad Rashid Rida, in al-Khilafah aw al-Imamah al-'Uzma, p. 74, [16]
Rashid Rida called for the creation of the "Ideal Caliphate" modelled after the Rashidun Caliphates; envisioning it as an Islamic state established through on consultation with Islamic representatives. The contemporary Ottoman Sultanate was dercried[clarification needed] as a form of feudal model. At the same, Rida recognised the hardships for electing an Ideal Caliph and envisioned its rejuvenation as a long-term strategy. In the immediate term, Rida argued, Muslims should strive to establish an "Islamic state" which would be the "Imamate of Necessity/Actual Caliphate". "Actual Caliphate/Imamate" is a necessary stage that is required to defend the unity of Muslims and prevent anarchy. Nevertheless, even this Islamic state would not be tyrannical. Rather, the Islamic-state of necessity would also uphold social justice and root out exploitation, based on Islamic injunctions. The rulers are to be assisted in this duty by the righteous ulema, who act as the moral guardians of civilization and check the excesses of the ruler according to the Shari'ah. Rashid Rida described this intermediary socio-political system under a variety of terms, such as “Islamic government”, “Islamic Caliphate”, “Government of Caliphate”, etc.[17][5]
Governance
In the second section of the book, Rashid Rida explained about the Caliphal apparatus and the procedure for conducting an advanced and efficient governance. Rida stressed three significant religious and temporal themes which became the hallmark of Arab salafiyya movement: establishment of Islamic government based on shura (consultation), the urgency of a rejuvanted caliphate under Arab leadership, and safeguarding Islamic state-hood. The process of shura (consultation) to choose the caliph and assist him in governance was to be done by prominent Muslim representative known as the Ahl al-hall wal 'Aqd. Its members not only consisted of revered Islamic scholars, clerics, theologians and jurisconsultants, but also successful Muslim individuals in fields as diverse as literature, academia, engineering, business, industries, military, science and technology, etc.[18]
Although the Ahl al-Hal wal Aqd were qualified to evaluate the decisions of the rulers; major decisions concerning state policies and ideological stances; they are bound to defer to the counsel of senior scholars known as the
The process of legislation and passing rules and regulations were to be based on Qur'an and Sunnah. In the absence of clear textual sources from the Scriptures (i.e Qur'an and authentic hadith), the ulema should exercise Ijtihad based on the principles of Islamic jurisprudence to determine legislative rulings. Thus, the power of a ruler was restricted within the following boundaries set by Sharia:
"He [the caliph] is limited by the prescriptions of the Qur'an and the sunna, by the general example of the Rashidun caliphs, and by consultation."
Programme of the Caliphate
Rida's proposed caliphate advocated the core themes of the Arab
The Salafiyya movement regarded the West as a primary nemesis; perceiving it's assault on Islam as political, cultural and ideological. While advocating Islamic reforms like cleansing folk Sufism and superstitions, the movement also emphasised the socio-political, cultural and ideological confrontation with the West; attacking the emerging heretical Western ideas and ridding "the seeds of Western decadence".[4][5]
Envisioning the Islamic Caliphate as a critical institution needed for preserving Islamic unity and championing
“The Islamic world is in a state of anguish over the matter of its religion and the rulings of its shari’ah; subject to the whims of its rulers of different religions and confessions, the opinions of its ‘ulama, the guides of different madhahib and schools of thought, and the control of its enemies in religion and the world; and it does not have a source of agreed-upon general guidance to which to resort in that of which it is ignorant. Whenever there appears within it a reformer who castigates the people of whim, the corruptors rush to confront him and cast aspersions upon his religion and his knowledge; there is no cure for these corrupting factors and deviations except the revival of the position of the imamah, and the establishing the rightful imam…”
— Muhammad Rashid Rida, in al-Khilafah aw al-Imamah al-'Uzma, p. 121, [22]
Legacy
"Al-Khilafa Aw al-Imama al-‘Uzma" became the most significant authoritative reference for the ensuant ideologues of
Criticism
Rida's
Other authors have criticised Rida as misappropriating the works of classical jurists without taking into account their historical context.
“Rashid Rida does not contribute anything new as regards a definition in specifying the necessity of the Imamah.. the difference between him and between his predecessors among the Fuqaha of the Khilafah, such as al-Mawardi, al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah or Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzi is that these discussed an extant imamah: an imamah of reality... Rashid Rida however, directed his discussion towards an imamah and a khilafah and towards preaching about a position that had no existence in reality – given that he did not consider it permissible to account the Ottoman khilafah as being among that which deserved the term or was representative of it! Thus, the discourse of al-Mawardi – and whoever took the same position among the fuqaha – was ‘positivist’ and based on an extant reality, whereas the discourse of Rashid Rida remained somehow normative and propagandist… his conceptual relation to that [of] khilafah was incompatible and not identifiable with the relation of the fuqaha of Islamic legal politics of the Islamic Middle Ages to the khilafah of that period.” [23]
See also
- Sayyid Rashid Rida
- Islamic Political Theory of Rashid Rida
- Rashid Rida's World War Era Activities
- Abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate
References
- ISBN 978-0-415-82444-6.
- ^ JSTOR 605489– via JSTOR.
- ISBN 978-0-415-82444-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-82444-6.
- ^ – via tandfonline.
- – via tandfonline.
- ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.
- ISBN 978-0-19-932799-7.
- ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 978-0-19-932799-7.
- ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - JSTOR 605489– via JSTOR.
- ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 978-0-415-82444-6.
- ^ JSTOR 605489– via JSTOR.
- ISBN 978-0-333-27969-4.
- JSTOR 605489– via JSTOR.
- ISBN 978-0-02-866269-5.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ ISBN 978-1-84885-062-0.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link